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February 7, 2008

Tales From the Scales: Thomas's Promises

“We’ve got some work to do,” Rosalie Jones said with a sigh as she learned her weight at last week’s initial weigh in. Jones and fellow Center for Minority Health staffer Tiffany Kinney faced the numbers together as members of the CMH-based team Thomas’s Promises.

They, along with Vikki Garner, Angela Hicks, Angela Howze, Karen Reddick and team captain Mario Browne have joined forces as members of the team named for CMH director Stephen Thomas.

Kinney noted that having the team for support is a benefit. “You don’t want to be the slacker,” she admitted. She and Jones joked that anyone who wanted to stop for a hamburger on the way to the weigh-in might risk being kicked off the team.

Team members haven’t devised a detailed strategy, but for now are focused on getting moving. Their plan is to alternate between walking the stairs in Crabtree and Parran halls and exercising along with CMH Healthy Black Family Project participants in classes such as yoga and body toning at the Kingsley Association in East Liberty.

“We want to consume our own product,” team captain Browne said, noting that the CMH staff work on the Healthy Black Family Project, which aims to help participants avoid diabetes and high blood pressure.

“We are the people that we serve,” he said. “We experience the same issues, the same time challenges, the same stress with family and work.” And, like anyone, they also struggle with getting and staying motivated, keeping active and eating well. “We decided to unite as staff and support one of our own products,” he said.

While Jones and Kinney each hope to lose 25 pounds, the number of pounds the team hopes to lose as a group hasn’t yet been tallied, Browne said.

In addition to the official weight race team members, other CMH faculty and staff are encouraged to move along with the group. Browne said the CMH office members will support each other regardless of their official team status.

Faculty member James Butler didn’t sign up as a team member, but he’s not letting that dissuade him. He plans on walking with the group, adding that his goal is more to tone up and maintain rather than lose substantial amounts of weight. “Maybe five pounds,” he said.

He’s looking forward to an extended cruise with his wife this summer. “And I want to be cruise-worthy,” Butler said.

Browne said communication among group members will be through email and word-of-mouth since the office is small and staffers see one another frequently. He said he would like the weight race activities to add another aspect to their interaction. “We don’t want it to be just like what we already do together, which is work,” he said. Rather, he wants the team to have an opportunity to take a break from work and lower stress levels, in turn giving team members more energy to do work tasks together.

Browne said he’s noticed that participants on “The Biggest Loser” often don’t have a well-developed game plan at the start. “They just want to be on the show and lose weight,” he said. As the weeks go on, he said, they evolve and develop a strategy. “I suspect that’s how our team will be,” he said, adding he’s interested in seeing what works or doesn’t work for his team.

—Kimberly K. Barlow


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