Janis Gray has been attempting to maintain a weight-loss program for years. She found it difficult to follow through with any of her diets – until she decided to participate in the ‘Take the Weight off Challenge’ through the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

‘I’ve been wanting to lose weight for a long time,’ said Gray, senior student records recorder of international relations. ‘Because this program was taking place in the building where I work, with the women I know, it made it very easy to participate.’

The program was designed to create an incentive for weight loss as well as to give back to the community, said Michelle Walker, placement coordinator in Maxwell and organizer of the program. For eight weeks, the 39 participants recorded their weight losses or gains and listened to a guest dietitian, nutritionist or trainer speak. Participants were required to pay a $20 entry fee, which went toward prizes at the end of the program and a $200 donation to both the Samaritan Center and the Food Bank of Central New York.

‘The catch to the program is that each week, if you gained weight, you had to pay a dollar,’ Walker said. ‘If you lost weight, all you had to do was pay the original $20. We’re doing something good for ourselves, but it’s good for other people too.’

‘It’s a wonderful way to reach out to the greater Syracuse community,’ said Dale Johnson, executive director of the Samaritan Center. ‘Because you weigh a little less, others can eat a little more.’

Checks were presented to the two beneficiaries yesterday in Eggers Hall. Anne Lily Hrynyk, assistant director of development and marketing for the Food Bank of Central New York, stressed the importance of this kind of donation. She said that the Food Bank distributes 10 million pounds of food per year, which is equivalent to almost eight million meals. The Food Bank also collaborates with the Samaritan Center in the Kids Caf program, which distributes meals for elementary- to high school-aged children through the Boys and Girls Clubs of Syracuse.

‘Without the program, many of these kids wouldn’t have anything to eat at dinner,’ Hrynyk said. ‘It was a total surprise for us to get this money. It helps our bottom line and enables us to buy more food.’

‘It’s most appropriate that these awards are going to people who don’t have the luxury of overeating,’ said Jeffrey Straussman, associate dean and chair of the department of public administration at Maxwell.

Once the charity funds were distributed, Walker announced the winners of the challenge. Scoring was based on the percentage of body fat each participant lost. The winner, Neelakshi Medhi, lost 8.78 percent of her total body fat and received a check for $297.60.

‘I basically was just watching what I ate and participating in a regular workout,’ said Medhi, a social sciences graduate student in Maxwell. ‘I just have to maintain my weight. I’d like to work with weights more; before I was more concentrated on aerobics.’

‘It was a good incentive to lose a few pounds,’ said Jackie Wells, secretary and office coordinator in the geography department, who placed second in the competition with a total body fat percentage loss of 8.74 percent. ‘My basic diet plan was to eat less and move more.’

Gray, who finished fifth in the competition, said that the positive group environment motivated participants to lose weight. Her diet plan began with going through her kitchen and throwing away all foods with empty calories, including cookies and ice cream. She started out eating Lean Cuisine, but has begun cooking for herself and trying to design healthy meals. She said that she doesn’t miss eating junk food at all and that she gave very little thought to the process.

‘It’s a life change,’ Gray said. ‘I have a lot of weight to lose, but I don’t care. My ability to walk has improved significantly, so now I can increase my exercise. You just have to have a very long-range attitude about it. If you focus on the end result, the path is too far away.’

‘I think everybody here is a winner,’ Walker said. ‘Some have lost consistently through the program. This is a lifestyle change, not a quick fix.’

Published on April 14, 2004 at 12:00 pm