FEATURES
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A13
No longer tipping the scale: TOPS encourages healthy choices
By TAMMY MALGESINI
COMMUNITY EDITOR
Barbara Buckwalter is a bit of
a cheerleader for Hermiston TOPS
Club #OR 9110.
TOPS, which stands for Take
Off Pounds Sensibly, encourages
people to make healthy choices in
reaching appropriate weight goals.
The Hermiston woman, who
currently serves as the group’s
weight recorder, rallies support
for fellow club members. In addi-
tion, Buckwalter has a few things
to cheer about herself. More than
a dozen years ago, she attained
her target weight and now has
KOPS status — Keep Off Pounds
Sensibly.
Buckwalter’s sometimes over-
the-top enthusiasm gets a royal
laugh from other club members.
Several years ago she said she
would dye her hair purple if the
group had no weight gains for
two weeks in a row. Earlier this
month, Buckwalter made good on
that promise — using a rinse in her
hair. At a recent meeting, she wore
a stocking cap — fi nally unveiling
her purple locks when the group
sat down to convene its fi rst meet-
ing of 2020.
“Our group has done really
well,” Buckwalter said. “There
are ups and downs, but our yearly
average weight loss per person is
9.24 pounds.”
Hermiston
resident
Silke
Clough, who currently serves as
the club’s leader, said Buckwal-
ter and others in the group pro-
vide positive reinforcement and
support in her weight loss journey.
Over the years Clough, who is now
73, has focused on exercise, such
as walking and hiking, as well as
intermittent dieting, in her efforts
to lose weight.
Although she became a KOPS
about 10 years ago, Clough has
since tipped the scale too much to
maintain that distinction. To remain
a KOPS, a member’s weight can
fl uctuate up to 3 pounds above or 7
below their target weight.
“It’s not uncommon to have
some ups and downs,” she said.
“You just have to get back with it
and stay focused. I won’t give up.”
Identifying as a KOPS for more
than a decade, Buckwalter said she
continues to attend meetings for
ongoing support and to encourage
others. Years ago, she learned that
if she wasn’t proactive with her
weight, she would yo-yo back and
forth with gaining and losing.
“I need to stay accountable
to the scale and to other people,”
Buckwalter said.
Club co-leader Roma Hall is
all too familiar with the ups and
downs. However, the Hermiston
woman is on top of the world these
days, as she’s lost more than 130
pounds since November 2018.
Hall, who along with her son,
IF YOU GO
WHEN: Tuesdays, 8-8:30 a.m.
weigh-in; 8:45 a.m. meeting
WHERE: Landmark Missionary
Baptist Church, 125 E. Beech
Ave.
INFO: 541-580-8668,
theotherbarb02@gmail.com
ONLINE: www.tops.org
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
TOPS member Marie Naugher stands on the scale on Tuesday during the weekly weigh-in as Barbara Buckwalter
records the weight and calculates pounds lost or gained.
The Hermiston TOPS member
who loses the most weight each
week receives the “Naked Woman
Trophy” (on the right) and the
second-place loser gets the Topsie
trophy imprinted with the words
“Honey, take it from me … you look
fabulous.”
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Hermiston TOPS member Donna Southwell exults on Tuesday morning
after her weekly weigh-in as Sandy Cliff prepares to give her a high fi ve.
Russell T. Hall, and a good friend,
Patricia Womelsdorf, started the
local TOPS group in November
1994. In recent years, Hall’s son
and friend died from heart attacks,
both attributed to obesity.
“After that, I was scared,” Hall
said. “I thought, ‘Hey, I’m going to
die’ … and that’s what got me.”
Several doctors had recom-
mended that Hall consider having
bariatric surgery. TOPS supports
weight-loss surgeries if they are
medically necessary.
Prior to the surgical procedure,
Hall was taking nearly 20 medica-
tions, including insulin and three
different high blood pressure pills.
These days, she’s down to fi ve. In
addition, Hall had ambulation dif-
fi culties, suffered from back pain
and was facing a possible organ
transplant if her kidney function
continued to deteriorate.
The benefi ts of losing weight,
CRYPTOQUIP
Hall said, are numerous, includ-
ing simple things like being able
to walk rather than using an elec-
tric scooter when grocery shop-
ping. Also, she is much happier
with choices when looking for
new clothes. Local stores, Hall
said, just don’t carry very many
pretty things for overweight
women.
“I just feel so much better,”
she said. “Since my surgery, I‘ve
changed how I eat. I can eat any-
thing I want, just in moderation.”
However, things like potato
chips, licorice and pastries are too
tempting. Recognizing them as
trigger foods, Hall avoids having
them around.
TOPS Club Inc., which was
established in 1948, refrains from
paying celebrities to endorse its
program. According to its website,
it also doesn’t “promise quick fi xes
or promote unrealistic images of
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Barbara Buckwalter records each member’s weight during the weekly
weigh-in and calculates pounds lost or gained. Buckwalter recently dyed
her hair purple to make good on a promise to dye her hair if the group had
two weeks in a row of not gaining.
the ‘perfect’ body.” Instead, TOPS
weighs in on a person’s overall
health. And, while they don’t guar-
antee weight loss by merely attend-
ing meetings, they do offer support
as people work toward attaining
healthy weight goals, which are
established by the member’s doc-
tor or health care professional.
The program has changed over
time. Some past techniques may
have included the member with the
most weight gain during the week
being required to take a ceramic
pig home with them.
“Back in the day, they did things
differently,” Buckwalter said.
“There’s no shaming these days.”
Clubs utilize incentives to help
in motivating members to stay on
track with weight goals. Contests
can result in winners receiving cer-
SUPER CROSSWORD: 6 FROM THE FAB 4
tifi cates, charms, prizes or cash
awards. After the weekly weigh-in,
results are announced and the top
“loser” of the week gains posses-
sion of a traveling trophy for the
remainder of the meeting.
The meeting agenda includes
announcements, the singing of
motivational songs and presenta-
tions about health-related topics.
The idea is to build camaraderie to
support each other.
“We’re not just a weight loss
group, we’re more like family,”
Hall said. “We’re there for each
other no matter what you’re going
through.”
———
Contact Community Editor
Tammy Malgesini at
tmalgesini@eastoregonian.com
or 541-564-4539.
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