Missouri News

Last year Missouri TOPS presented SRD 2011 . . .

Our Winners were:

Missouri State King

Joshua Hamilton

83.00 pounds lost

Hi, my name is Joshua Hamilton and I am proud and humbled to be your 2010 State King.
I was born on November 20, 1979 to good and loving parents. I remember my Mom as being heavy when I was small, but my Dad has always been slender. My brother and I tended to be like Mom. A little heavy as children and teens. We always lived in the Independence area, where I attended grade school and high school.
Because of my disability- which is Autism and OCD- I was teased and made fun of. I did make friends despite this. Because of the teasing and bullying I turned to food for comfort and as a binge mechanism. I was somewhat stable in my younger years, but when I became a teen-ager the weight really began to add up. I started eating lots of junk food at school and at home, partly because of the pressure and I wasn’t comfortable with myself. My parents were concerned about my eating habits and tried to keep the bad foods away from me…. But that didn’t work. At school I bartered or just asked other students for food. At the end of High School I weighed 300 pounds. I was wearing a 4X shirt and wore sweatpants or anything that was stretchy and comfortable. I graduated from Williams Chrisman and started working at the IBS workshop. I moved in 1999 into an apartment with a room mate. That is when I received a wakeup call. I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. The doctor gave me no medications but put me on a diabetic diet plan and I lost 40 pounds by eating and exercising to tapes. It was a struggle. In 2001 a former coworker had joined TOPS and was losing weight, so I thought maybe that would help me. I joined MO 0182, Kansas City and began my journey. I met a lot of new people who became friends and inspired me, like Mona Higgenbottham. And they were supportive of me. I began eating healthy and drinking lots of water and exercised daily. With their help I almost made it to goal that year. I became a division winner at the 2002 SRD, where I met a whole bunch of people. I did alright for a couple of years and then became cocky and hit a wall. The weight came back in 2 years time. Family and friends became concerned about my health again. My second wake up call again was at the doctor’s office. With a blood test I found my triglycerides to be 497. NOT GOOD! Again he didn’t put me on any medication but said to lose weight. My third wake up call was after SRD 2006 when my staff member said she would no longer take me to my chapter meetings if I didn’t start eating right and exercising. I listened and began to lose each week again. In 2006 I moved to Grandview and transferred my membership to MO 0054, where I already had a few friends. That’s when I began charting my food intake. I would exercise and walk before breakfast 5 or 6 days a week. I began to lose again and was a division winner 2 times at my chapter. I got below 200 pounds in 2008 after going to IRD in Chicago where I was inspired by the winners and speakers. In 2009 and 2010 I didn’t do well- gaining back 30-35 pounds. Then at the 2010 SRD at St. Charles, Don Dillard and Bonnie Rafferty’s stories inspired me. After SRD I thought about moving to Springfield, MO because I wasn’t happy where I was living. The food was not healthy there and we ate a lot of fast food, junk food, and everything we shouldn’t. An old friend told me about a place in Independence. After talking with my caseworker she said that if I was to move there would be no more processed food, and that I would have to cook more and cook healthy. I agreed. So in July of 2010 I said goodbye to my TOPS friends at Grandview and moved to Independence, MO. In August I visited TOPS MO 0291 and transferred my membership there. I had already started eating and cooking healthy, exercising, and filling out a food chart. I began to lose- EVERY WEEK. The chapter continued to support me and inspired me to keep on losing. And FINALLY, on November 29, 2010, I reached my goal, after 9 long, hard years. I lost 83 pounds while in TOPS. As you can see, I never gave up in spite of the roadblocks and my disabilities. So you can do it too.
I owe it all to my family, friends, TOPS chapters and mostly to God. Without all of them I would have never reached my goal.
Thanks to Randy Paul and Mary Farr and Bonnie Rafferty who have helped and have been there for me on this long journey, and thanks to you my TOPS friends.

Missouri State Queen

Theresa Roe

126.00 pounds lost

Being Mo state queen is truly a dream come true for me. There have been several years when I was so angry with myself and would cry when I saw how much the queen lost, knowing I could have been queen that year. But all things happen for a reason. I could not have made it this far without Jesus in my life. He really is my Savior. He saved me from my addiction to food and now I know all things are possible with Christ.

My story starts differently than most people with weight issues. For as long as I can remember, I have been 5ft 8 inches tall and weighed 125#. I grew up in the Twiggy era and always watched the beauty pageants. So even at my weight, I thought I was fat. After all, the beauty pageant contestants at my height only weighed 110#. So I struggled through my teen years and early 20s trying to get to 110#. Needless to say, that never happened. Now I look at pictures of myself from back then and cannot believe I thought I needed to lose weight.

I started gaining weight after I got married in 1987. The first time I needed to lose weight was in 1990, I weighed 207#. I went to The Diet Center and lost 67#. But then life happened and I started gaining the weight back, and more. Then the children came along. We all know how time consuming they are. There was no time to eat right, exercise and think about myself. So over the next few years I watched my weight steadily go up. I tried many diets, like all of us here. I was always looking for the quick fix, even though I knew it did not exist.

In November 2006, I was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer. Fortunately, I only had to have radiation therapy. On one of my first follow up visits with my radiation oncologist, she discussed the correlation between being overweight and having breast cancer. In April 2009, she offered me a diet program that works quickly and has been proven to be safe, no drugs, no surgery. But I was insulted and left her office in a huff, with no intention of going back to her. After all, what did she know about being overweight, she was a skinny little thing.

By June, I was borderline diabetic, my triglycerides were 344, and my cholesterol was 190. I was wearing a size 24, my blood pressure was high and I was on 4 different blood pressure meds and an anti inflammatory med for joint pain. I have a family history of diabetes and high blood pressure and heart disease. On top of all the health issues that were popping up, I felt miserable, was lethargic and had low self esteem. I did not feel attractive at all. My husband rides a motorcycle and I would ride with him. He told me I was getting to heavy for him to handle on the bike. That really hurt my feelings but also hit home. So I called my doctor and told her I was ready to get on whatever diet she had to offer. She put me on Take Shape For Life using 5 meal replacements and one lean and green meal a day. The weight started falling off and quickly. I felt great, was rarely hungry, that was usually if I went past 3 hours without eating, and best of all, I did not have any cravings. I had found the quick fix I was looking for, and the best part, it was the healthiest diet plan I ever did. After just 2 months my triglycerides went down to 47 and my cholesterol went down to 126 and I was no longer borderline diabetic. I lost 100# in 9 ½ months. I reached my goal on April 15, 2010. I now wear a size 12, I am off all my blood pressure medications and only take my anti inflammatory as needed, which is not very often. And now I ride my own motorcycle, but when I do ride with my husband, he now says he lost his “backrest”, my belly.

I have tons of energy now, am able to keep up with my children and my 7 grandchildren. I am much happier and healthier and feel good about myself and my life. I teach water aerobics twice a week and walk 1-2 miles twice a week. So as you can see, it does not take hours of exercise every day to lose weight and maintain.

I am leader of my TOPS group 903 Festus and have been for a few years, but this is the first time I feel like I am setting a good example. I hope to help them all reach their goals.

As I got closer to my goal, fear started to set in. I knew it was going to be hard work to keep the weight off. A friend of mine told me about an internet program called Setting Captives Free. It is a free website to help people overcome their addictions by placing our focus on Jesus instead of our addictive behavior. So I did that 60 day program and it did bring my focus back to Jesus and my faith has grown so much since then.

A couple really exciting things have happened to me since reaching my goal. In September 2010, my boss nominated me for the BJC Health Hall of Fame. Only one person from each BJC entity wins. I won and got to represent SLCH on the field before a Cardinal game. Then got VIP treatment in the BJC box. It was a fun filled day.

When my boys were little, I always wanted to be able to play with them in the play places at McDonalds, but was always too big to even try. This past summer, I was able to go to Ft Rucker, AL for the birth of my 7^th grandchild. While I was there, my 3 year old granddaughter and I walked to the playground in the evenings. I had as much fun, if not more fun than her, climbing on the various ladders, going through the tunnels, going down the slides and running around the playground with her. As silly as it may sound, it was a real thrill for me.

I know you have all heard this before, but being a KOPS is not the end of the road. It is more work than losing weight. I have to be honest and say that I struggle almost every day and know it is going to be a lifelong journey to keep the weight off. But I am truly blessed with a wonderfully supportive family and friends. And I cannot say enough good about my TOPS group. They really come through when things get tough by sending cards, and giving hugs, along with encouraging words. However, my biggest supporter is Jesus. He goes shopping with me and when I want junk food, I pray to Him and most of the time, I can manage to get out of the store without the junk. All the glory really goes to Him.

I just want to say this is really a thrill for me and has always been my ultimate goal for the last 13 years. Thanks to everyone who helped me get here. And thank you God.

Missouri King Runner Up

Ronnie Mason

78.00 pounds lost

I have been overweight for as long as I can remember. As a child I hated PE because I was embarrassed at my weight. In January of 2009 I weighed 267 lbs. I was thinking about quitting smoking but knew if I did, I would be over 300 lbs. and die anyway. I was talking to Kem Helvey one day and told her I needed to lose weight. She suggested TOPS. I thought, Why not? She had lost over 100 lbs., so I went to the next meeting and joined TOPS 502, Wright City.

I started counting calories. I kept low calorie foods available in the refrigerator. I still ate well but just the right kind of foods. Instead of peanut butter and cookies, I had celery sticks and cottage cheese. Instead of cake and ice cream, I made desserts with sugar free puddings, sugar free jello and fruit cocktail.

I have also ate a lot of boiled shrimp. Fellow TOP member Carl Unnerstall suggested putting away the ridding lawn mower and using a push mower which I did. After the TOPS meeting on Wednesday, I allowed myself a special treat. I started out eating 2500 calories a day. I hit a lot of plateau’s to where I had to drop my calorie intake. By eating 1500 calories a day I reached my goal of 189 on August 25 and have stayed there for eight months. I credit my success to my TOPS club for their support and to Kem Helvey for dragging me to my first meeting. Also the wonderful leadership of Norma Ordelheide, and the rest of the leaders, contest chairman and everyone who sent me cards and encouraged me. Their support has been wonderful. Thank you ! Thank you very much!!

Missouri Queen Runner Up

Jessica McGaugh

107.50 pounds lost

I am just your average mother and wife who let food become my life. You know that saying “Do you eat to live or do you live to eat” I ate to live. I knew I was overweight and I knew I needed to do something about it but it just never seem to sink in. I love to watch and read about weight loss success stories but never gave it one thought that I would be one of those people standing here in front of you sharing mine. My story begins by meeting a local from my hometown who lost over 100lbs and who had shared her success story along with inviting me to TOPS. I went to a meeting and I was hooked. I joined and that’s when my journey began. I’m not going to stand here and tell you it has been easy, but let me tell you it has been FUN! TOPS held me accountable each week. I looked forward to my weigh-ins; I wanted to be the biggest loser for that month. I love attending the weekly meetings and learning how to eat healthy and maintain a healthy weight. Losing weight is not easy but with a support group like TOPS we all can do it! We all can be King and Queens. I want to give a special thanks to Bonnie Rafferty who took her time to share her story and invite me to TOPS, along with thanking my friends in my TOPS group #327 and to my husband and kids who stood by me throughout this wonderful journey it is such an honor to be receiving this spot as runner up Queen for Missouri. Thank you TOPS.

Jessica and her daughter model the jeans

Jessica used to wear!