Baltimore's Dr. Phil Challengers Plan Holiday Meals
Baltimore Group Loses 65 Pounds In Five Weeks
POSTED: 3:11 p.m. EST November 17, 2003
BALTIMORE -- The holiday season presents the next challenge for eight Baltimore-area women who have allowed WBAL-TV 11 to follow their progress in Dr. Phil's Ultimate Weight Loss Challenge.
The women are reading Dr. Phil McGraw's new book while trying to make changes in their lives that will ultimately result in significant weight loss, WBAL-TV 11 News Health Alert reporter Donna Hamilton reported.
And after five weeks, the women are bonding, meeting regularly and getting a kick out of watching themselves on WBAL-TV.
They're also enjoying the support they receive from each other.
"I think I lost 4 pounds over the last two weeks," Renee Cooper said.
"I've recouped my pound gain to a 5-pound loss [during] tonight's weigh-in," Kathy Rappold said.
"But that was on vacation," Hamilton said.
"But it was like, 'Oh my God, they said it on TV," Rappold said.
For most of the women, the losses don't come easy.
"Key No. 2: healing feelings, it's tough," Kim Lyons said. "A lot of stuff's coming up that I know I need to deal with, and if I don't, I'm never going to get off this roller coaster."
Lyons and several of the other women have to confront the difficult emotional issues tied to their eating, Hamilton said. Dr. Phil said many people eat as a way to medicate themselves, most often in response to negative emotions.
"I've had some serious 'ah-ha' moments," Kathy Meister said.
Meister, the Shock Trauma nurse, said a bad day led her to eat a half dozen peanut butter cups.
"I realized it and I intervened and it was a good thing," Meister said.
The weight loss program's emphasis is on behavior modification.
The women are consulting with personal trainer Stephen Holt and e-mailing registered nurse and dietitian Kim Altshuler. There's no rush to lose weight, but the women are enjoying the changes they're seeing.
So far, Meister has lost 3½ pounds, Rappold: 4 pounds, Angela Tate: 5½ pounds, Sharon Baker: 7 pounds, Cooper: 7½ pounds, Lyons: 9 pounds, Sunday Godfrey: over 14 pounds and Rose Bean: 15½ pounds.
"For the first time in my life, I actually look forward to getting on the scale each week because I know that I've been successful," Godfrey said.
As for total weight, the Dr. Phil challengers began at just over 1,838 pounds. Now, they are more than 65 pounds lighter.
The holiday season will be a challenge for the women, but several of them said they're carefully planning their meals now to keep from overindulging.
Stay with TheWBALChannel.com and WBAL-TV 11 News for the latest health updates.
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