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January 2, 2009

Local man loses 125 lbs through TOPS

By KANDACE MCCOY

kandace.mccoy@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — As resolutions go, losing weight is perhaps the No. 1 New Year’s Resolution made each year by individuals. One local man has proved that resolution is possible by losing approximately 125 pounds.

Kevin Devoy says he has had problems with his weight his entire life. As he began to near the age of 50, “health implications” made him decide to do something about it.

“I had lost weight through fad diets, but I would gain it back and then some,” Devoy explained. “Having a support group helped to keep me focused on what I needed to be focused on.”

Devoy joined the non-profit organization TOPS — Take Off Pounds Sensibly — in January 2007. Weighing in at 315 pounds, Devoy attended weekly support group meetings and kept a food diary.

“[TOPS] doesn’t tell you what diet to go on —that’s between you and your doctor. They don’t tell you what you should weigh; that’s also between you and your doctor,” he said.

At TOPS, Devoy would weigh himself each week, privately, and during the meeting, each member would have a “moment of accountability” — a time to claim whether individuals lost or gained weight. The group also encourages the keeping of a food diary, as well as keeping track of exercise, a practice of which Devoy was dedicated.

“People write down every single thing they eat for an entire week as well as track water intake and exercise,” he noted. “When you first start, you’ll be very surprised how much you are eating. Picking up an item like a peppermint, which is about 25 calories — if you do that [every day] every week, it’s the same amount as a cheeseburger.”

Devoy says during the time he was losing weight, he limited himself to 1,200 calories a day and eating three meals a day — breakfast, lunch and dinner — with snacks in between. Now that he’s lost 125 pounds, he limits his calorie intake to between 2,000 and 2,500.

“You can’t lose weight without eating. If you’re starving yourself to death, you’re going to overeat,” he said. “When limiting calories you will quickly limit the types of food you eat. You can go out and get a big burger, fries and a drink and you’re done for the day. So I found myself making much smarter food choices mainly because we didn’t want to waste calories — we treated it like a bank account. We didn’t want to waste [calories] on pie when it could be a whole dinner later.”

Devoy and his wife Tracy both joined TOPS at the same time and by keeping the food diary they were able to not only take weight off, but keep it off. Devoy’s wife lost 50 pounds in 10 months.

However, Devoy, who is also the local TOPS chapter leader, stressed that exercise is very important whenever trying to lose weight.

“One thing I try to stress to everybody, because we have a wide variety in the group [young and old] is that everyone has some kind of exercise they can do. I can now run a marathon, which was totally impossible before. Not everyone can do that, but everyone can do some form of exercise.”

And for those who are still contemplating whether to make losing weight a resolution, Devoy says if you’re dedicated, it’s possible.

“You have to remember that I lost all this weight and I’m not special,” he remarked. “If I can do this, anyone can do this. I have struggled with weight my entire life. It is possible for anyone. You just have to be dedicated.”

The local chapter of TOPS meets every Wednesday in the basement of the Care First Medical Center from 5 to 6 p.m. Elevators are also available for access to the basement, Devoy said.

For more information about TOPS, you may call 237-9689.

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