Even now, many of us are either trying to initiate a New Year’s resolution to reduce the pound and shape it, or have already given up hope.
Not Mary Read. Willis residents were recently named TOPS Virginia Queen in 2020. That is, she lost more weight than any other female TOPS member in the state that year and reached her target weight.
Reed was at the bowling alley last year and enjoyed one of her regular pastimes when she learned about her honor.
“I’m just starting to cry,” Reed said. “It was great to know that I represent Virginia as well as the branch. I was so proud of myself that by doing this and sharing the story I was able to help others.
Reed’s achievements, the ones that escape many, weren’t the result of miraculous diets or celebrity fitness videos. She said she wouldn’t go to the gym and she said spandex wasn’t involved. She has acquired some of her movements around farms shared with her husband, as well as through bowling leagues, local parks and hiking outings hosted by the recreation department.
People are also reading …
But what is important to her success is the TOPS program. Without that peer network, it would have been much harder to lose her weight, Mary says.
TOPS — “Take Off Pounds Sensibly” — Released in 1948. A Milwaukee head of household named Esther Manz invited some friends to create a support group for weight loss and health improvement efforts. The chat over the kitchen table has created thousands of chapters in the United States and abroad.
Despite its scope, nonprofits are not engaged in advertising and have no brand line of food to buy. It’s all about motivation, encouragement, and a good choice.
“We don’t go on a diet,” Reed said. “We change our lives.”
Reed has been a TOPS participant for many years. She started working in Florida in the mid-1980s and her colleagues asked her if she would attend the meeting. After she met and married her husband from Virginia, she moved to Floyd County in the early 1990s, and there was no TOPS meeting for some time while she settled on her new life.
“And the boy was happy I was back because I got it!”
She explained that her biggest problem was lifestyle. Her husband works as a truck driver and runs a beef cattle on a 100-acre farm. He stayed home most nights, but his schedule can be volatile.
“”[It’s] It’s hard to keep balance … when you don’t know when to eat dinner, “she lamented.
In 2002, she began joining the Blacksburg TOPS Group at the Blacksburg United Methodist Church on Thursday night. Meetings include weighing, sometimes special programs, and perhaps contests where participants give up potato chips for a week and challenge themselves to see what happens. (Mary helps hold the contest.)
Then, in a year with little silver lining, Mary’s weight loss resulted in an unexpected increase — from COVID. In no time she didn’t eat out much. In addition, the cancellation of almost all organized social events has eliminated the temptation of food everywhere at such rallies. And, just in case, Reed succeeded in her knee arthroplasty in February 2020, strengthening her ability to become her active again.
She lost £ 71 by helping around the farm, enjoying activities such as bowling, hiking and gardening, and following the TOPS model. Her weight is currently about 130. She no longer notices her legs are unstable or is looking for a place to sit for many hours.
“I can’t believe I’m when I pass by and see myself reflected in the glass door,” Reed said.
One of the things she missed for COVID was a regular face-to-face meeting where other TOPS winners were honored. However, her church held its own celebration for her (with a makeshift throne), and TOPS held a zoomed version of their ceremony.
Of course, being named TOPS Virginia Queen does not mean that your work is done. Reed admits that there are still days she wants to spoil, and she immediately acknowledges support from the TOPS chapter that helped her get going. She keeps her crown where she can see it every day, and when she sees it, it reminds her of what she has achieved.
“I still can’t believe it’s real,” she said.
..
