Article published April 13, 2009
Accountability keeps weight loss on track
Tricia Dunn has lost 60 pounds in 11 months
Tricia Dunn is the weight loss challenge winner for the month.
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THE BLADE/JETTA FRASER
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By JC REINDL
BLADE STAFF WRITER
On the second Monday of each month The Blade will feature one of the participants in Lucas County's Million Pound Challenge.
She tried Slim-Fast, dabbled in diet pills, went to Weight Watchers, and warmed to the South Beach Diet.
But for Tricia Dunn of West Toledo, a career accountant, each of these past dieting experiences lacked a key ingredient: structure.
"I needed the structure and the reportability, and someone to help me develop the tools to make healthy decisions," explained Mrs. Dunn, who is the finance and operations director at Notre Dame Academy.
Since signing on last year to a supervised diet and lifestyle program through Mercy Health Partners, Mrs. Dunn has dropped 60 pounds in 11 months and is on track to lose a final stubborn 10 pounds before year's end.
For her efforts, she has been named the Million Pound Challenge participant of the month."She really is a fine example of losing weight and keeping it off," said Brenda Bal, Mrs. Dunn's health educator at Mercy Weight Management Center.
The Blade is a sponsor of the county weight loss challenge, and those who enroll can track their weight through a private journal on the Blade's Web site, toledoblade.com.
Mrs. Dunn joined the Mercy Weight Management Center program in May, 2008, but traces her journey to an earlier visit with her cardiologist, who urged her to take a serious approach to losing weight.
At the time she was 206 pounds, borderline diabetic, and battling high cholesterol. "It was just something that I knew I needed to do," she said.
Mrs. Dunn said she started off in the Mercy program with a daily limit of just 1,100 calories. Her diet consisted almost entirely of 110-calorie protein shakes and two daily "entrees" of 250 calories or less, as well as vitamins and plenty of water.
"It was very stringent," she recalled. "But once you get into a habit, it becomes a habit."
She began attending the program's weekly group meetings and weigh-ins, and continues to keep a food journal of everything she eats. She also checks in regularly by phone with Ms. Bal, who provides an additional layer of accountability.
Early in the program, ir she woke up especially hungry, she would eat an extra protein shake or one of the diet's low-fat, low-calorie candy bars. "They stress that you should stay full - so you don't eat the bad foods," she said.
For exercise she lifts free weights and takes brisk 30 to 45-minute walks every other day on her home treadmill.
A devout Catholic, Mrs. Dunn also turns to prayer to help her through the diet's challenging moments. Her husband, Mike Dunn, has also been crucial in her journey.
"I don't think I could have done it without him being my shoulder to lean on," she said.
In December Mrs. Dunn made the transition to the diet's maintenance phase, which broadens her food options but still is focused around the program's protein shakes and entrees.
The maintenance diet stresses filling up on fruits and vegetables as much as possible.
"This is not a deprivation program," Ms. Bal said. "It is about eating enough of the right things so that the high-calorie things crowd themselves down."
Mrs. Dunn recalled how she was first struck by the dramatic nature of her weight loss last September while lugging a 10-pound bag of ice aboard her family's boat. She had lost 30 pounds by that point.
"I said to my husband, 'I can't believe I lost three of these!,'•" said Mrs. Dunn, who has since doubled that weight loss. "To know that I was once carrying that much extra weight is just amazing."
As this month's highlighted weight loss challenge participant, Mrs. Dunn will receive a free one-year family membership to any branch of the YMCA and JCC of Greater Toledo, four Toledo Mud Hens tickets, two tickets to a Detroit Pistons home game, a month of free classes at Mercy Weight Management Center, and a $50 gift certificate to an area restaurant.
The Blade is a partner in the Million Pound Challenge along with Lucas County, the city of Toledo, the YMCA, the area's two largest health-care systems - ProMedica Health System and Mercy Health Partners - the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library, the Northwest Ohio Restaurant Association, BCSN Network, WTOL-TV, Channel 11, and several other health-related and fitness groups.
Contact JC Reindl at:
jreindl@theblade.com
or 419-724-6065.
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