Page 4 of 5
"I come here at 6am and exercise for about two hours," Holt says during a break from his workout. "As soon as I get off work I come back and exercise again -- six days a week. Right now this is my life." Holt has gotten down to 343 pounds, having shed some 140 pounds since last November.
"George has pretty much gone through a complete mind and body transformation," said Todd Dewey, who manages the Center's exercise facility. "When he first started coming here he would go off in the corner and not talk to anyone. But once the weight started coming off his personality changed. Now he comes in here and helps get everyone else fired up."
Kris Eldred, 35, was much like Holt when she first came to the Center last summer. She had ballooned to over 325 pounds, and was miserable. "I was sick all the time, I was developing lots of medical problems, and I just decided it was time to make a change," she says.
Although Eldred has been relatively active growing up in Michigan, everyone in her family loved to eat, and dinner was always a big deal.
"We didn't care about diet and nutrition, we just ate," she said. As a result, she was heavy all through high school. "It was tough," she said. "I missed out on stuff like dating and going to the prom." When Eldred graduated, she weighed 275 pounds.
Once she started working and wasn't as active, things only got worse, and she topped out at 350 pounds. Finally, last summer, Eldred had had enough. Her doctor referred her to Cleek, who put her on the same weight management program as Holt.
"It wasn't easy," Eldred admits. "In the beginning I didn't think I could do it. I'm a big chocoholic. I used to sit down at night with Ben and Jerry and have a good old time. So giving up all that sweet stuff was hard. But once living healthy became part of my routine, it became so much easier."
To help keep her willpower intact, Eldred carries a picture around with her that was taken last Easter when she was at her heaviest (one in which she's barely recognizable compared to how she looks now). "If I go to the grocery store and I'm feeling tempted, I just take out this picture. That way I can walk right by the ice cream aisle and instead get some yogurt."
Eldred now weighs 222 pounds, having lost some 100 pounds since last summer. "My personality has completely changed. I'm more outgoing. I've had people at work tell me I seem so much happier now. I'm going out and doing things now instead of sitting home."
Unfortunately, the Center where Eldred, Holt and about 50 other members gather regularly to exercise and give each other support will be shut down at the end of June. Moreover, it's the only weight-management obesity program in Charlotte to offer lifestyle and nutrition counseling, as well as an exercise facility.
Because most insurance companies don't cover obesity as a health benefit, members had to pay for the weight program out of their own pocket, which didn't make for a very promising long-term financial picture. And Carolina HealthCare System, the hospital group that owns the practice, declined to make any further investments in the Center.
"We lost money the first year of operation," says Cleek. "The only way to turn a profit at a facility like this is to put people in a 13-week program then shuffle them out the door and bring in new members. But obesity is a chronic disease; treatment needs to be long-term. So looking at a quick revolving door is not my idea of quality care.
"With obesity being the number one chronic disease in this county, I don't see how you can ignore it," Cleek continued. "Multiple studies have shown that by treating obesity you reduce doctor visits, medication costs and hospitalization, so you get improvement all the way around."
"We need facilities like this," said Eldred. "I could never go to a regular gym and feel comfortable. There's just more of a support system here. Everyone here knows what I'm going through."
