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 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] |
