KansasTOPS

2012 State Royalty

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2012 Kansas State King

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Jerry Hardwick

TOPS® KS 415
lost 62.25 pounds to goal!

SUCCESS STORY

I have been overweight most of my adult life. Although it did not seem to bother me very much, I was still active, and healthy, even played sports. I came to realize that my weight was getting out of control with I weighed 267 lbs. and a 42 inch waist, the most that I ever weighed. I have tried to lose; I would lose a little but gained it back and a little extra.

My problem was I love to snack in the evenings, not because I was hungry, I just wanted something to do so I turned to snacking.

It wasn’t until June of 2011 that I took my being overweight serious. The church that I attend started a TOPS club, I thought that I would join and see what it was all about. It was nothing like what I thought it would be, there was no special food to eat, and there was not even any exercise to do. It was about accountability, you were going to be held accountable to other people! That is what I needed.

My first night at TOPS I weighed in at 262.25, 5’10” and a 42” waist. I was on my way to losing weight; I started to watch what I was eating, exercising, and a little weight lifting.

It has been tough for me, because changing my eating habits was not an easy thing to do, especially in the evening; it was hard to give up snacking. It is hard to break old habits, but once you get your mind to think of the right foods to eat, the exercise you should be doing, then before you know it you have new habits.

I look at it like our bodies are like an engine in a car. You keep putting clean oil in and it will last a long time. You put good food in your body, and your body will know how to process it. You put bad or junk food in your body, then it will store it as fat, because the body does not know how to process it. It has been a journey for me; I have reached my goal, and became a KOPS thanks to TOPS, and the people that hold me accountable.

Before After

2012 Kansas State Queen

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Julie Brock

TOPS® KS 153
lost 127 pounds to goal!

SUCCESS STORY

I had been chubby all my childhood and teen years. And I have back problems from several slips and falls on steep stairs, plus I was bucked off a horse. So exercise wasn’t a priority to me, neither was being serious about watching what I ate.

When I met my husband, who was in the Navy and we were married, we traveled every 2-3 years between his sea and shore duty.

Through this time I had 3 kids and after each one I kept gaining with very little exercise or a proper diet. When we were stationed in Newport, RI for one year, my girlfriend and I were told about a TOPS group and we decided to join it. I needed to lose 100 pounds plus. Trying to lose it seemed so overwhelming but I finally decided I really needed to do it, and joined Jan. 1979. I was asked to be the Weight Recorder and my girlfriend became my assistant. I was very encouraged and did pretty well.

When my husband retired in 1981 we moved to Hutchinson. After a few months I transferred to the BEST GROUP I have been in. My mother joined that same day to encourage me and to lose a few pounds.

Through the years of my weight going up and down and even up above my starting weight, they have stood beside me with support and encouragement. Always there telling me I could get the weight off and to not give up. I’ve gained some wonderful friends. I have been Leader, Co-leader, wt recorder and asst. wt recorder, plus had other jobs in this club.

I have had many physical problems and still do, but the weight loss has helped a lot. I started dialysis in July of 2012. So diet and exercise, plus watching fluid intake are all important.

I am proud to have finally become a KOPS and have some control over my lifestyle with healthy eating and chair exercise. I walk with a walker. I only regret that my mother passed away 11 yrs ago and she had become a KOPS and didn’t get to see me become KOPS. I feel better now than I have in a very long time and I feel better about myself. I’ve lost a whole person and gained confidence in myself. Don’t be discouraged or feel bad if you mess up, just get back up and get with it again. You are worth it and YOU CAN DO IT! Let your fellow TOPS members help you. NEVER GIVE UP!

Thanks to God for strength he gives me every day, and to my husband and children for their love and support, and my TOPS friends, my other family, who encourage me and I try to do the same for them.

Before After

2012 Kansas State King Runner-up

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James Nuttle, Jr

TOPS® KS 106
lost 19 pounds to goal!!

SUCCESS STORY

In the winter of 2000, I was retired from the Kansas Turnpike as a Toll Collector. I still farmed and was taking care of a small cow herd. While I was feeding the cows one morning I had a minor stroke that hospitalized for about 3 days. I was very lucky; all I needed was to control my cholesterol with diet, pills, and 81 mg aspirin. I always enjoyed eating and the dieting part I didn’t do very well. I usually controlled my weight by balancing it with my work.

My wife Mary belonged to TOPS for several years and was a KOPS. What she was doing seemed to work. My sister, Eda Woolf belongs to TOPS chapter in Claflin, KS and was also a KOPS, and an active member of her group and looked great. I had become type II diabetic, overweight and uncomfortable.

I joined TOPS 0106, El Dorado in 2008. My first ten pound loss was fairly easy, but losing down to goal was hard. I finally decided in the winter of 2012 and also attending Kansas TOPS SRD that I could do better. I mainly cut my portions down and cut out my snacks. One of my biggest problems was pot luck dinners. The Senior Center, churches, and other organizations like to get together and eat. They seem to average about one per week and I have to work to hold my portions down and not sampling each dish. It’s still my biggest problem.

Before After

2012 Kansas State Queen Runner-up

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LInda Hingst

TOPS® KS 820
lost 102.25 pounds to goal!!

SUCCESS STORY

Like most people I have always loved food. I started struggling with my weight when I was in Junior High. I joined TOPS in 1994 weighing 271, and over the next 3 years lost 100 lbs and was a 1^st Place Division winner at SRD.

In 1996, my father had a stroke and came to live with my family. I was his main caregiver and stopped going to TOPS. That was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made! It didn’t take long and I started putting back on the weight I’d lost. I became pregnant with my 7^th child, another reason to keep eating, right? My father passed away in December 1998, and my baby was born February 8, 1999. We knew he would have a heart issue, but what we didn’t know was that he would have Down Syndrome. He was in intensive care the first 2 months of his life.

I continued to put on more and more weight. I was still grieving over the loss of my father and now grieving for my son; who would never be able to do things that other children could do. I knew I had to start taking care of myself and lose weight, my children needed a healthy mom to live to take care of them. My mother died of a massive heart attack in 1979 and I didn’t want my children to be without a mother.

In 2009 I re-joined TOPS, I needed the accountability and encouragement I had gotten from being in TOPS.

Although I’ve tried and failed before, I know this time something is different, I’m different. I’ve changed the way I think about food and exercise. I now eat to live, not live to eat. I choose healthier, lower calorie options and exercise 5-7 days a week.

It took me almost 4 yrs to reach my goal, but I made it.

I have many to thank for my success, my Lord and Savior, for the determination and strength, my family, my TOPS family and other friends. A big thank you to my son, Mark, my biggest cheerleader and inspiration.

One of my favorite quotes is “If you make mistakes, there is always another chance for you. You may have another chance any moment you choose, for the thing we call “failure” is not the falling down, but staying down.” So never give up, you can make it to your goal too!