WINNING AT LOSING
P.E.I. woman sheds 97 pounds and gains a crown
P.E.I. woman the queen of TOPS as she sheds 97 pounds and gains a crown
Despite a loving husband and two children, Lisa Cooke of O’Leary found her social world was shrinking by the day as her weight ballooned.
“It was hard just to breathe and walk to work from my nearby car. It was hard to do a lot of things,” reminisced Cooke. “I couldn’t move much. I avoided stairs and even going to the theatre. I just tended to stay home because it was hard to walk great distances. I mean, I carried almost 100 pounds.”
Many times over Cooke would fail to maintain her hard-won weight loss.
“I would lose some weight, then quit and the weight would quickly come back, but then I joined TOPS that was in our community. I was the first member in our meeting in O’Leary quite a few years ago, so it’s been a lifelong journey for me.”
TOPS stands for Taking Off Pounds Sensibly, and preaches exercise and portion control. The non-charitable corporation based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has members in chapters located worldwide. It’s not a diet but rather fosters a lifestyle change for a lifetime.
“I lost 47 pounds the first year and started walking to the beach. I snowshoe – never snowshoed before. I kayak, and before I wouldn’t have even attempted to get in a boat. I get out now and enjoy life,” said Cooke.
She was crowned TOPS Queen recently at Summerside’s Credit Union Place in front of a cheering crowd, for losing a total of 97 pounds and maintaining her weight.
“I have so much more energy and my breathing is so much better,” commented Cooke. “My sciatic nerve that was causing me back pain is no longer a problem.
“Mentally I am just more positive because anything physical creates more endorphins. It’s made quite a difference in my life.”
Cooke said she eats protein, veggies and fruits “as opposed to the bad stuff — and less of it.”
“I feel like a completely different person because I can get up, move, and go. I couldn’t imagine carrying around that weight anymore. Now I do more things with my husband, and I can pretty much keep up with him.”
A key element to TOPS is support.
Mary Arsenault, 77, of Charlottetown, attended the TOPS event to support other members with their incredible weight loss journeys.
She joined in 1966 in New Glasgow, N.S.
“At first it was to help shed a few pounds (70 pounds), but now it’s to maintain what I have lost. And I needed somewhere to check in to keep me on the straight and narrow.”
Runner-up TOPS Queen, Gail Shea, of Tignish, said, “I’ve lost 50 pounds over a period of six months and I have maintained that weight loss for almost a year now.
“Before I had sore hips, sore knees, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, so now all that has basically disappeared.”
Each year, a different member of the P.E.I. club is crowned provincial king or queen in a celebration for reaching their weight loss goal and maintaining that weight over a period of time.
“It’s a great group of people who will support you because everyone is striving for the same thing, and losing weight is difficult,” concluded Shea.
More information is available at: www.tops.org.