Fitness Challenge 2007

Transformations

By Milo Bryant
THE GAZETTE

In our fifth year of the Fitness Challenge, we, hopefully, have something that’s a bit special. Instead of two winners, we have four - each with goals that mirror those of other Gazette readers.

There’s a 45-year-old dancer who wants to get back into the swing of things and a 55-year-old teacher who fought cancer and now wants to keep up with her fifth-graders. There is the 46-year-old rocket scientist (no joke) who’s about as flexible as a 2x4 reinforced with rebar, and a 16-year-old who wants to play varsity basketball.

So, let’s welcome Lisa Hamilton, Pat Mooney, Tim Allison and Emma Jacks - this summer’s brave souls who are sure to inspire more than a few of us.

Emma Jacks
Emma wants to play basketball and play it well. But as her father, Holger, put it, “Emma has a problem with her weight. The thing that makes us saddest is the effect it has on her athletics. She has tried, along with us, many attempts to live a healthier life, but things just keep happening to derail our plans, but we want her to develop a healthy lifestyle.”

Over the next 12 weeks, we’ll learn from Emma how to be a healthy teen. Our schooling will include learning more about physical education - something I think there’s far too little in our classrooms.
View Emma's profile

Lisa Hamilton
Hamilton is a technical writer who just might provide this summer’s comic relief. She had the best line of the essays: “My waist is bigger than my boobs: I am a sphere with arms and legs — and worst — a double chin.”

Hamilton’s letter brought about laughter. But her issues are serious and nothing to laugh about.

Hamilton used to dance professionally. Her body was toned and tight yet graceful and flexible. Somewhere between then and now, Hamilton became a couch potato.

She tried rebelling against the couch only to find that her body wasn’t able to do what it once could. That realization, coupled with a new body shape, made her self-conscious, keeping her away from the gym.

Physical strength isn’t Hamilton’s issue. Dietary habits and maintaining motivation are. We’ll find ways to help.
View Lisa's profile

Tim Allison
One of the biggest gripes we get with the Fitness Challenge is from folks who say we never choose anybody who is in good shape but wants to find a way to get better.

Well, Allison is a triathlete who has qualified for a national half-ironman competition. A half-ironman encompasses a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bicycle ride and a 13.1-mile run.

And we all thought rocket scientists were smart!

Allison can complete similar competitions in 5 hours, 5 minutes. Still, he wants to do it faster and more efficiently and believes that having better flexibility and upper-body strength will help him achieve that goal.

I don’t know a lot about the dynamics of triathlons, but I know how to make muscles stronger and more flexible. Along with some advice from Allison’s coach, we’ll see if we can make a good athlete even better.
View Tim's profile

Pat Mooney
Now, Mooney is going to get me in trouble with a few doctors — again.

I treasure my doc, and I’ve had doctors as clients, so my conversations about situations such as Mooney’s have been extensive.

Mooney’s situation in short: In the past five years, she has had a double mastectomy and a hysterectomy. After each surgery the doctor told her to rest, which is understandable. But after her hysterectomy, Mooney said her doctor told her to not “lift more than 10 pounds” for a year!

Mooney had a transflap surgery after the mastectomy - abdominal fat was transferred to the breasts. Mooney said she was told to rest her abdominal muscles.

“I haven’t tried a sit up in about a year,” Mooney said. “I stopped using my body after those surgeries. I got scared to use my body.”

Sadly Mooney isn’t alone. There are many folks scared to use their bodies because of doctors’ orders. There are legitimate issues. But I’ll forever question a doctor who tells me I can’t do something for a certain amount of time without giving explicit reasons why - reasons that go well beyond the abdomen needing time to heal.

We’ll see if we can get Mooney to trust her own body again and start using it to do the things she enjoys.
View Pat's profile

There we have our version of the Fantastic Four. In a couple of weeks, we’ll see how we can involve a little “Physique Transformation” in the exercise programs.