Women enjoy night out chocked with inspiration and information for their family's health

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[April 20, 2015]  LINCOLN - On Friday, April 17, over 120 women participated in the Ladies’ Night Out held at Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital. The event was sponsored by ALMH, Healthy Communities Partnership and the ALMH Auxiliary.

Healthy Communities Partnership Executive Director Angela Stoltzenburg welcomed everyone to a night of “education and inspiration.” Stolzenburg discussed HCP’s initiative to provide education keep everyone healthy through programs such as the 5-2-1-0 program, “an obesity prevention program promoting a daily lifestyle of 5 fruits and vegetables, no more than 2 hours of screen time, at least 1 hour of activity and 0 sugary sweetened beverages.”

Television show, Season 16 of the Biggest Loser finalist Sonya Jones was the keynote speaker. Jones provided a motivating and inspirational speech on the journey to health. Starting with a Question and Answer time, she fielded questions such as whether it was everything she hoped it would be and exclaimed that the Biggest Loser transformed her life.

For those who wondered about the criteria for the show, she noted that the contestants had to be 100 pounds or more overweight. When asked if they taught [contestants] how to cook foods, she explained that there was not a chef, but there was a nutritionist on site and the show stocked their fridges with good, healthy food, though they could eat what they wanted. In answer to other queries, Jones said she “sucked at challenges” and “will not provide personal training.”

When someone asked how many hours were spent working out on the show, she stated that it was six to eight hours a day -- they would wake up, work, and eat; following this cycle 3-4 times a day. Answering a question about the time frame of the show, she reported that she was at the ranch June 9 to November 1, returned home for six weeks, and was back for the finale from January to February. Now that she is back home, she says her goal is 45 minutes to an hour running five days a week when her Achilles tendon is not acting up. When someone asked whether it was hard to maintain weight without an intense workout schedule, she said, “No, I work out and count calories.” In response to inquiries about her motivation to go on the show, she replied that she needed to work on her self-worth and doubt, [and] was tired of feeling gross and yucky, with her weight on her mind all the time.

Asked if there was a time she was ready to give up, she said there was “one time” that she felt very frustrated. She said that the show does provide a counselor, Dr. Hogan, who talks to them about how they feel [as they lose the weight].

Another questioned whether losing weight has been made her think more clearly and she stated that while she grew emotionally and spiritually [plus] walks taller and has more confidence, she does not necessarily think more clearly.

Answering whether she feels like she can just bounce out of bed, she explained that she is not a morning person and has many irons in the fire [between] teaching, being a track coach, and church activities. She said also still talks to the two other top three finalists Toma (Dobrosavljevic) and Rob (Guiry) occasionally.

Jones then asked the ladies to raise their hands if they had to organize, reorganize, and make a plan to walk through the doors (for the event) and if they felt “overwhelmed, frazzled, and underappreciated.” She said she wanted to honor the women in attendance as she exclaimed, “No one else on the planet can do what you do.” She listed all the tasks women do such as laundry, cooking, giving medicine, providing motivational talks, and wiping noses.

Jones reminded the ladies that the power of one is not because of multi-tasking, but (because of) who you are—love, value, passion, and compassion—it is not because of what you do, but who you are.

Jones encouraged the audience to “extend the same mercy and grace to yourself as you do to others,” noting that, “we are good at building others up, but hard on ourselves.” She reminded everyone that it is okay to struggle, question, not have all the answers, scream and cry, and push autopilot.

Jones said that she referred to herself and contestant Lori (Harrigan-Mack) as “Tigger and Eeyore” Jones was always up and when Lori asked her how she did it, she said, “sometimes, you just do.”

In week 10 of the show, she had a meltdown—saw Ali (Sweeney) out on a run and told Jen, today may be the day we lose you. Jones said she pulled the red kettleball and it “broke her”—she wanted to give up and go home, but had to go through autopilot for a day and a half. She was scared to death, but had to go through the valley to get back to it. She now believes that the view is more beautiful and said it is important to know your mountaintop is on its way.

Jones closed by reminding all the ladies, “You’re stronger than you know, better than you believe, and irreplaceable in the lives of those who love.”

After Jones’ inspirational address, Sarah Helm of the Healthcare Foundation introduced the two breakout sessions: a discussion about leading your family through a healthy change by central Illinois working mom, Angelia Foster and a healthy cooking demonstration on prepping produce from Chef Justin Cooper of Cooper’s StrEATside Bistro. The women split into two groups for these sessions.

Foster, who works at Passavant Hospital and is the mother of five children between the ages of 11 and 23, shared that when she moved to [the Central Illinois] area, she lost her mother to gastric cancer 30 days after the diagnosis. In 2012, a very overweight Foster decided to have gastric sleeve surgery to reduce her risk of cancer, and also ended up being able to be taken off of diabetic, high blood pressure, and cholesterol medication. Due to her feelings of shame though, she did not tell people she was having surgery.

At the time her husband, who was 100 pounds overweight had debilitating Rheumatoid arthritis and was on disability. Her husband’s rheumatologist told him he could not do any more for him until he lost weight. For her husband, the catalyst for change was the thought that he would not be able to walk his daughters down the aisle. He had tried numerous diets, but nothing worked.

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Foster and her husband did the research about what needed to change and he met with a therapist, physical therapist, and therapy group.

Her dad, who lives with them, was diabetic and eating a lot of Fudge Rounds (and sharing them with her girls).

On April 15, 2013, Foster’s husband had surgery, but aside from her, no other family member knew about it. A few hours after surgery, he began to throw up blood and there was fear he would not make it through the rest of surgery. Foster was forced to tell her family about the surgery. Her shocked mother-in-law offered to drive over from Ohio and proceeded to call several friends. As word about the surgery spread the kids got the idea that their dad was dying of cancer. It turned out that a suture rupture between his stomach and intestine caused all the blood loss. Four surgeries later, it is fixed, his Rheumatoid arthritis is in remission, and he has lost weight.

Foster says that there is a process for families to make healthy changes. One must consider the catalyst and do research plus decide on expected outcomes and what changes are needed. She said you must also ask questions such as:

  • How will you lead your family?
  • Are you personally ready?--She wasn’t, because could not even tell her best friend about the surgeries.
  • What buy-in will you need?--For her husband, telling the kids he wanted to walk them down the aisle got them invested in it.
  • How will you communicate?—You need to address fears and tell truth, communicating about uncomfortable things. (Foster’s family does “communication Friday night” where they talk about their week).
  • How will you manage those resisters?—She asked her dad to keep the fudge rounds in his room. He is now off several medications and has lost a lot of weight.
  • How will you measure the engagement of your family?—In Foster’s family, it means mom beating dad on the track, the kids choosing no soda on Fridays, her letting them choose some of the foods. In addition, the girls loved seeing the transformation of their dad.

She closed by telling the women to have a support system, trust those around you, and let friends know how they can help you. She reminded everyone that it can be small incremental changes using the tools provided.

In the other breakout session, Justin Cooper, who has degrees from the Cordon Bleu and Art Institute of Phoenix taught the women about cooking with produce. He owns and operates a food truck in Williamsville, grew up on a farm and uses a lot corn and beef in his cooking.

Cooper talked to the ladies about finding the best produce. He gets vegetables such as asparagus and radishes from nearby farms, but notes that striving to find the freshest produce can be challenging. His recipes are based on what he can get that week.

Cooper then shared tips for finding and cooking fresh produce. He advised that for asparagus, you should make sure it is bright green, has closed ends that are not fibrous, and grab from the back of the produce aisle. He said that to avoid waste, the stalks can be used in soups. When cooking, he will toss in salt, pepper, and olive oil, and bake at 425 degrees for about 15-20 minutes. For kale, he says you should avoid yellow spots and look for little leaves. Toss the stems in stock to avoid waste and saute the rest of the kale. With spaghetti squash, he says to look for bright, vibrant color. You can cover it with garlic oil, season it and cook it at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes, rotating it halfway through that time. After cooking, he suggests adding tomatoes and fresh herbs. Cooper said that with vegetables, the key is to look for vibrant colors and dry stems.

As the evening drew to a close, all the women came back together for scrumptious desserts. ALMH employee Lynn Matson thanked the Auxiliary and Pink Shutter for all their hard work. There was also a drawing for various door prizes donated by Heads R Turning, Lincoln Theater 4, and YMCA of Lincoln. Farm Bureau employees Dave Opperman and Angela Westen, along with Atlanta farmer Vicky Huelskoetter representing the Logan County Chapter of Illinois Farm families, closed out the evening’s activities. Opperman stated that they are trying to get people to tour farms and learn about agriculture.
 


Westen spoke about having local moms tour farms and food banks to become more educated about GMO’s and agriculture. She noted that a lot of misinformation surrounds agriculture.

Huelskoetter has a sustainable farm her family hopes to keep going for generations to come. She explained that locally grown products are becoming popular and she takes some of their produce to farmer’s markets. She also educates people about their farming practices. The Farm Bureau is organizing a free Logan Ag Flavors event on June 7 from 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. to give people a chance to sample some locally grown products.

The 2015 Ladies’ Night Out was an enjoyable, inspiring, educational, and refreshing time for the many in attendance.

[Angela Reiners]

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