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The "models" were to wear an item from their old wardrobe over something that fits now, and then peel it off as the details of their personal success stories were read out to the class.
No weighting around
Beautiful losers show off their progress
By Mary K. Nolan
Additional Articles by this Columnist
The Hamilton Spectator
Cathie Coward
'Model' members from the Upper James Weight Watchers group held a fashion show. Front, from left: Megan Locicero, Marilyn McGhie and Hedy Fordham. Back, from left: Margaret Houghton, Debbie Martin, Kathy Gordon, Nancy Holwerda.
It wasn't that kind of fashion show.
There were no stick chicks with pouty faces and unnatural gaits prancing down the runway. No celebrities in the front row. No cocky designers basking in applause at the end.
These were real folks with real bodies, modelling real clothes they had never intended to wear again.
In fact, some of the seven females who took to the stage at their Weight Watchers class a few weeks ago had to borrow garments to wear to the event because they'd thrown out all their old "fat" clothes.
It wasn't really a show of fashions, anyway, but of fortitude and focus and unflinching determination on the part of the participants. And it was a show of encouragement and support for their fellow class members, who are travelling the same path.
The evening was the idea of long-time member Hedy Fordham, who has lost a pound for every year she's been alive -- 71 of them.
"I first joined Weight Watchers in Winnipeg back in 1974," says Fordham, whose weight woes began when she tried to quit smoking as a young bride, and she then went on to have two babies. "I lost it all and had to come back and do it a couple more times before I got the message: It's a lifestyle. But there were all kinds of bad diets in between."
The petite Fordham has been at her goal for more than three years, and faithfully attends classes for members on the maintenance part of the WW program. Most of them, as well as many who are still working toward their goal weight, seemed to be struggling in the weeks before Christmas, so Fordham figured they all needed a boost.
She decided to hold the fashion show in January, when the fattening festive season is over and most weight-loss programs are welcoming new members. It wasn't hard to convince half a dozen other members to join her, including 10-year-old Megan Locicero, who has lost 37.4 pounds. Their individual weight losses ranged from 32 to 92 pounds, with a total loss of 401.2 pounds at last count.
The "models" were to wear an item from their old wardrobe over something that fits now, and then peel it off as the details of their personal success stories were read out to the class. After answering questions from the audience, each one would share a helpful bit of wisdom or tip for success.
First up was 51-year-old Hamilton Public Library archivist Margaret Houghton. She thought she'd have to scrounge something to wear, having pitched all her old clothes since losing 32 pounds, but eventually found a skirt and blouse at the back of the closet.
The 5-foot-9 Houghton, who joined a Weight Watchers At Work program at the library three years ago, was rail thin until she hit her late thirties.
"I was one of those people who could eat anything and everything and not gain weight. I used to get teased because I was so thin," she says. "Then my metabolism changed but my eating habits didn't. I did a fad diet and took off 50 pounds, but I put more than that back on."
Houghton reached her goal last April, but still zips up to Weight Watchers after work on Tuesdays for weekly meetings and monthly weigh-ins.
"I was tired of being tired, tired of knowing I didn't look good," she admits. "I'll be coming to classes for the rest of my life.
'Model' members from the Upper James Weight Watchers group held a fashion show. Front, from left: Megan Locicero, Marilyn McGhie and Hedy Fordham. Back, from left: Margaret Houghton, Debbie Martin, Kathy Gordon, Nancy Holwerda.
"It never gets easier, but it's doable. I often think 'I'd love to eat that,' but I don't.
"The resolve comes more easily now, and there are things I used to eat, like deep-fried food, that I can't anymore."
Unlike Houghton, 40-year-old Nancy Holwerda has had a weight problem all her life.
"I've been on a 100 million diets," she says, "and I've been to Weight Watchers thousands of times. I'd get close to goal, but I couldn't reach it. I'd get to a point and then I'd get stuck and kind of give up.
"When I turned 39, I thought 'Before I'm 40, I'm going to try again.'
"The 'goal' word never entered my vocabulary until just before Christmas, and now, for the first time in my life, I'm almost there," says the day-care worker who has lost 91.8 pounds from her 5-foot-8 frame and has fewer than 20 to go.
"This time, for some reason, I made the decision and was so focused. I never hit a plateau," says Holwerda, who was partly motivated by the fact that as a single mother she wants to make sure she's around for her two kids and to set a good example for them.
She says her advice to WW classmates was not exciting or inspiring but important nonetheless: "Write in your food journal every day."
Houghton told them to "Stick to it" and "Remember you're not doing it for anybody but yourself."
Fordham quoted from an essay written by Rabbi Bernard Baskin and published in The Hamilton Spectator on New Year's Eve.
"The headline said Greet 2003 With Renewed Spirit, and he wrote 'We forget there is no failure except in no longer trying.'
"I thought that was really appropriate," Holwerda says.
Also participating were Debbie Martin, who has dumped 41 pounds, Kathy Gordon at 74 pounds down, and Marilyn McGhie, lighter by 54 pounds.
The fashion show was such a success that the group hopes to stage another one -- and the dynamic Fordham, who plays golf six times a week during the summer, has bigger plans for the next one.
"We'll do something," she vows. "Maybe get (WW spokesperson, ex-Duchess of York) Sarah Ferguson here.
"That's it," she says with building enthusiasm. "When I get back from my holidays, look out Fergie, here I come."
mnolan@thespec.com or 905-536-4689.