Losing to win: Weight loss winners share stories
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Ferguson moved to Newport from Phoenix, Ariz., “ten years ago with my girlfriend, he said. “Then we got married and had a daughter. We love it here. Ferguson s wife, Jacqueline, works at Sam Case Elementary School where their 8-year-old daughter Stormi is a student.
“We just had Stormi s Sweet 16 Halfway There birthday party last month, and I did not get any cake, Ferguson noted, with a sparkle in his eye. “My daughter saying, Daddy, you re fat, “ was primary inspiration for his success, he added.
Ferguson has worked as a waiter at Port Dock One restaurant on the Newport Bayfront for more than six years and credits the support he received from his family and his co-workers as invaluable to his accomplishment. The owner of Port Dock One helped spur him on by agreeing to pay him 10 for every pound he lost during the contest, “and she assumed that I would lose 20 or 25 pounds, he said.
His colleagues hung the weekly contest update published in the News-Times on the wall at the restaurant and gave him constant encouragement. “Every week, as I gained on (fellow contestant) Robert Thompson, they would rub in my face meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy and other goodies, but always they told me that I was going to win this contest, he said. Thompson and Ferguson were neck and neck throughout most of the competition, and were tied at several points. “And let me say, Robert Thompson put up one heck of a fight, Ferguson said.
His contest-winning recipe: Eat less and exercise.
“I took the dogs for about an hour-and-a-half walk every day, up and down the hills behind the swimming pool and I carried hand weights, he said, “and I was very careful about my diet. I had a banana and an apple in the morning, a small glass of V8 juice, and a small glass of milk with my four o clock dinner at the Port Dock One, sometimes a bowl of my wife s homemade cabbage stew during lunch, and that s all folks. I gave up coffee, soda pop, evening eating, birthday cake - “
Port Dock One was instrumental in helping him achieve his goal, Ferguson said, as the restaurant offered a nutritious menu item for him each day “and it was delicious every day, he said. “If anybody wants to know what meal that is, come down to the Port Dock and I will point it out to you.
Ferguson s daughter accompanied him to each weekly weigh-in: Their goal was for him to be able to pick her up and, with the two of them together on the scale, register fewer pounds than his starting weight.
At the beginning of the contest, Stormi weighed 69 pounds and over the course of three and a half months, she grew a bit to weigh 71 pounds. It was a proud moment, Ferguson said, when during the final weigh-in, he picked her up and together they weighed nine pounds less than when he started: He had effectively lost the equivalent of a small person.
When the contest ended April 20, the crew at Port Dock One threw Ferguson a party, and after giving him a ribbing for losing four times the weight she had expected, his boss happily handed over an 800 check - which went toward new clothes. “I couldn t even wear my uniform anymore, he said, “they said it looked like I was wearing a parachute. Work should be a lot easier, when the tourist season hits I won t be as heavy; and everybody notices they don t bump into me as often when we re scooting by each other.
After receiving the 1,000 contest prize, “I thought about it for a long time and I came up with the idea to give the check to my wife and daughter, and I said, You figure it out. The next day, they gave me the check and said, Use it toward your motorcycle you want to get, Ferguson said. He has his eye on a Honda Rebel, the same bike he had 20 years ago.
Ultimately, Ferguson s participation in the Lose To Win contest was part of a larger plan. “I used this contest to lose weight to prepare myself for the Newport Marathon in June, he said. “I am signed up and ready to go, and I m just about to begin serious marathon training. I ve never run a marathon before. I am 41, it s now or never.
The lifestyle changes Ferguson has enacted have stuck, he said, and he continues to enjoy daily healthy meals at Port Dock One. He has, however, splurged on some junk foods since the contest ended, but noted “there has not been the gratification in going back to eating the foods I have been splurging on; they just don t seem to cut it anymore. Apples are my new best friend. Honeydew melon and pineapple are the most delicious things in the world. I feel great.
Linda Plaster walks it off
During the 14-week run of the News-Times Lose To Win contest, Linda Plaster, 48, of Newport lost 24.04 percent of her body weight for a total weight loss of 50 pounds.
And she did it the old-fashioned way, by eating less and exercising.
Her primary motivation was close to her heart - both literally and figuratively. Plaster s sister, Lisa Vancleave, passed away in November and the autopsy revealed “extensive signs of coronary artery disease, and she was always heavy - heavier than me, Plaster said. “That was a big wake-up call. When you sit down when you re 48 years old and read your 45-year-old sister s autopsy report, if that doesn t wake you up, nothing will.
Plaster is a familiar face to many in the community who come into regular contact with her at JC Market in Newport, where she has enjoyed a career for nearly 30 years. Being in the public eye, she noted, also helped fuel her resolve to achieve a higher level of physical fitness. A marathon walker since 2004, “I picked up my exercise and quit eating junk food. There was no special diet, I did it the old-fashioned way of watching what I ate, she said.
Plaster amped her routine to include an hour-and-a-half to two hours of exercise each day, six days a week; logging in about 55 weekly miles. “I never have felt better. My doctor has me off half of my blood pressure pills and I ve gone from a size 16 to a size 8, she said. “And I still eat stuff. That s one thing that I found successful for me, once a week I did something I wanted to do - if I wanted a piece of chocolate, I ate it. If I wanted a bowl of ice cream I did it. That way, you re not denying yourself. I could still eat a broad spectrum of anything I wanted, I just kept my calories to about 1,200 or less a day and was really careful about how much I ate - a lot of fruits and vegetables and a lot of walking.
The 100-calorie snack packs available at many markets, including cookies and popcorn, were also a help. “You can still have cookies, but you ve got one little package and when you re done, you re done, she said. “That was really a big help.
Her experience through the past few months has brought about a lasting lifestyle change, she emphasized, with no going back. “I ve lost weight before, but never like this. Instead of calling it a diet, it really is a lifestyle change; and my family has been very supportive, she said, noting the invaluable encouragement she received from her husband Chris Plaster, and children, Stepanie Kalez, 26, Jennifer Kalez, 25, Landon Plaster, 12, and Katie Plaster, 10.
“And I had support from co-workers, and even strangers on the street, she continued. “I d be out walking on the Bayfront or something and I d get high fives and You go girl! and I m so proud of you! - it was a lot of good will and good wishes and a lot of help from a lot of people.
She also noted she was not named as a weekly winner even once during the contest s run. “I lost a consistent 3 to 4 pounds a week the whole time, it never was one big week and then not a good week, she said. “It was all very consistent.
Learning how to walk effectively was key to her transformation, and is a skill Plaster said she would enjoy sharing with others. “Debbie Durkee, my very dear friend and mentor, taught me the love of walking about four years ago. If anybody out there wants to learn how to walk - not just to lose weight, but for fitness - I m willing to start a group, she said. “I m not a fitness instructor, but I have a lot of experience and I m proof that it can work.
Variations in her fitness routine also contributed to her success, as did visits to the Newport Recreation Center on days when the weather was too stormy for outside activity. “Some of my walks are as short as 3 miles and some are 15 miles; I think that helped keep my metabolism going, because I changed what I did quite a bit - I kept my body guessing what I was doing. I would be thrilled to help others like Debbie helped me, and show others what I know and how to get started.
Interested readers may contact Plaster at JC Market in Newport, “or I m listed in the book, she said.
A portion of the 1,000 prize money has already gone toward supporting a healthy future. “I bought two new pairs of training shoes, that was the first thing I did, Plaster said. “We have a big family reunion in July and I think we ll probably save some and use it when the whole family s here. My nephew from Tennessee loves to go deep-sea fishing and I would be tickled to death to take him.
“So we re going to just spend it on family and be very grateful.
Related: Losing to win: Weight loss winners share stories
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Losing to win: Weight loss winners share stories: from www.newportnewstimes.com
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