Hi !! I'm Laurel and this is our site that my
hubby made for our chapter and me. I
belong to a great organization called TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) since
February 1996. With this great group, I
have been able to lose 76 1/2 pounds and maintain it since January 1997. TOPS does NOT give you a diet
to follow, pills or anything like that, it only gives us the support we need to
do one of the most difficult tasks you can imagine-- lose weight and keep it
off! All members are there for the same
reason- weight loss. Now, TOPS wants
you under Doctor's care, but since it advocates sensible eating and exercise
for weight loss, you basically are on your own as to how you want to do it. The support plays a major part of it. Admitting I couldn't do it alone was a big
step for me. I belong to a great group,
TOPS #GA 449, Harlem. The best thing I
can say about TOPS, is that when you
join them, you're joining a family and that family cares. You can get all the caring that sometimes we
can't get in our regular lives. Just
having the accountability of weighing in each week and knowing someone cares
enough to ask "How'd you do?" keeps me coming, even after maintaining
for 3 1/2 years now. TOPS recognizes
your weight loss achievements by monthly awards, possibly state awards and they
even have International awards. The SRD
pictures are from the Georgia State Recognition Day and IRD is the Big
one--International Recognition. Now,
any member can attend these functions and the inspiration gained is well worth
it. After attending the 1999 IRD in
Kentucky with me, my hubby joined TOPS to take off those last few pounds that
didn't seem to budge after losing around 40 initially with me. I had been after him to join for 3 years,
but it took one little IRD to convince him.
Men are a minority in TOPS, but that is slowly changing. Robert met his goal in September 1999,
losing 33 1/4 pounds to his goal. He
graduated as a KOPS(Keep Off Pounds Sensibly) in Macon, Georgia on March
31-April 1 at SRD and was also crowned our State King for 1999 with the most pounds
lost to goal of all men in Georgia for that year. I am as proud of him as he is of me, we lost it together, just as
we put it all on together. We are still
eating buddies, just eating sensibly now!
We attended another IRD together, this time in San Antonio, Texas and
this time as TOPS members and both KOPS!!
Does it get any better???