This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon: Tracey Mack used to cringe at the sight of an older photo of himself as an overweight man. That image -- and a fear of becoming obese -- prompted him to get serious about physical fitness.
JeWania Grandberry reached a similar conclusion about the value of regular exercise because being overweight meant enduring times when “everything hurts.”
The two offered engaging testimonials Sunday at Central Baptist Church during the kickoff session of Fit City, a year-long health and wellness initiative on obesity. The program is sponsored by the St. Louis Beacon and several community partners, including Central Baptist and New Sunny Mount MB Church.
Mack, a 6th grade teacher, said the photo that made him change his habits was taken during a father-son camping trip in the Ozarks region in south central Missouri.
“I was embarrassed by that picture,” he told the audience, “because I realized that if I didn’t start doing anything different, I would eventually weigh 300 pounds.”
Standing erect and fit in a suit, he grabbed a pair of pants from his overweight days. He easily slipped them on over his trousers and later pulled at the waistline to show how much he has slimmed down.
Grandberry said she made several efforts to lose weight before settling on a routine that began when she was still working at the now- shuttered Hostess bread company. She’d keep workout clothes in her car and jog in Tower Grove Park immediately after work. In addition to jogging, she said she began limiting her intake of fried fish and chicken to once a month.
People were clapping by the time Grandberry got around to the announcement that she had lost 35 pounds after years of being an “emotional eater” who “was tired of hurting.”
The appetizing lunch provided by Schnucks for the Sunday program included no fried food. The menu served to the audience of about 150 consisted of green salad, chicken salad, chick pea salad, fresh fruit and whole wheat rolls. The idea, said the grocer’s executive chef, Scott Drake, was to show people an example of a meal light in calories but with a lot of flavor.
“I am happy that you enjoyed it,” he told the audience, “and if you care for some more, you can always come back up.”
After lunch, participants were encouraged to rise and participate in some exercises that can easily be done at home or at work. Precious Green, a fitness instructor from the YMCA at the O'Fallon Park Rec Complex, had the group doing squats and stretches.
Rev. Alice C. Price, executive minister at Central Baptist, noted that the Fit City program was brought to her church’s attention by Rev. Clyde Crumpton, director of program development at New Sunny Mount MB Church.
Price said, “I am just happy that Central Baptist is in on the ground floor of this because sometimes when people think of church, they think only of the spiritual.” She added that many residents “are in an environment where there’s always a lot of grease, a lot of sugar, a lot of fat, and we don’t know any different. We are only doing what we have learned to do.”
Fit City can help to tackle this issue, she said, adding physical fitness is important also because “you cannot serve God with a sick body.”
Rev. Crumpton said Sunday’s event “went well” and he promised that the next session at New Sunny Mount on April 21, will include more testimonials “to get people engaged” and aware of the prevalence of obesity and health problems resulting from it. He also suggested that solutions must extend to looking at economic and political forces that influence health issues on the north side in particular.
Many participants said they welcome the program. “I see a lot of young adults die early of heart attacks,” says Deena Cox, operations manager for a restaurant and a member of Central Baptist. “We should eat better and exercise more. Programs like this help us understand why.”
Dr. James Whittico, a longtime member of Central Baptist, says the event reminded him how far the church has come in focusing on health issues. A ministry related to health dates back to 1948, begun by himself, Whittico says. “It was called the education committee and later the health ministry. I like this (Fit City) because we are responsible for health education programs throughout the year for the congregation.”
Organizations that took part in the kickoff event were the Grace Hill Health Centers, the American Heart Association, the Institute for Public Health at Washington University, Nurses for Newborns, and the YMCA program at the O’Fallon Park Rec Complex.
Fit City
The St. Louis Beacon is embarking on a year-long initiative on obesity. Our focus is on north St. Louis where the rates of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease are disproportionately high. We are holding neighborhood conversations and programs to address the problem. Through a grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health and support for community engagement from the Public Insight Network, the Beacon will report on scientific research on obesity, the success and failures of programs to reduce obesity — as well as the stories of local individuals.
