COUNTDOWN TO SUMMER WELLNESS

FINAL REVEAL

They did it!

Over the course of six months, our “Chance for a New You” contest winners lost a total of 125 pounds. Like many Long Islanders, our participants were busy people, caught up in the stress of life, and the pounds, unfortunately, continued to mount. Years of yo-yo dieting often led to failure. This time however, thanks to the support of the Wellness Advisory Board of experts, our contestants were victorious.

To recap, Wellness brought together nutritionists, Lauren Slayton MS RD and Caren Tishfield, RD of Foodtrainers and Mindful Menus (Caren or Lauren@Foodtrainers.net), fitness Trainer, Jane Petix (Jane@SeeJaneTrain.com) and life coach Lori Snyder (loriimagecoach.com). The Board’s mantra throughout was: “slowly and consistently losing weight is much healthier and there is more of a chance of long-term weight loss maintenance.”

Dianne Vitucci

40 pounds and underwent a major transformation, cutting five inches off her hair and digging her “sexy” smaller clothes out of her closet—some with the tags still attached. On the career front, after 20 years as a teacher at Park Shore Nursery School, she accepted a new challenge—Educational Director of the school.

“It’s a whole new lifestyle for me and one that I am living everyday. Like the Bon Jovi song says, ‘It’s my life. It’s now or never.’ I feel like I learned a new skill, how to be good to me—and you can’t put a price on that.”

TURNING POINT:

“Wrapping a regular-sized bath towel around my waist and it fit. I walk taller; I have more self esteem, really.” Vitucci’s family and friends offered constant support. Her sister Joanne is the cheerleader. Her husband, Nick, marvels that even their “too” busy grown children, Nikki and Steven, find time to meet Vitucci at the gym for a workout. Vitucci’s neighbor Heather walks with her, incorporating jogging intervals to rev it up. Her boss, Bob, sends her home early once a week so she can work out with trainer, Jane Petix, whom Diane affectionately calls “GI Jane,” recalling how tough the initial workouts seemed.

Advisory Board

Fitness Trainer: “Dianne was willing to try anything and when she did achieve something she thought was impossible, it built up her confidence which helped her stay motivated.”

Nutritionists: “Dianne made the mind-body connection and has begun to incorporate treats, like a slice of pizza, back into her diet.”

Life Coach: “That’s how you begin to live off your positive. Success breeds success. So, as you incrementally achieve smaller goals, you feel more capable which reinforces positive behavior and propels you toward your higher goal.”

FUTURE GOALS:

“My cholesterol dropped 50 points,” says Vitucci, “But my blood pressure was still high. I’m thankful I found out it was hereditary. I always blamed it on my weight. I’m mentally ready to accept doing something about it by taking Diovan.”

Vivian O’Mara

of Garden City, a teacher’s aide at Stratford Elementary School, shed 35 pounds, dropped two sizes—and her old habits of procrastinating. “This has been an incredible journey,” she says. “At first I was excited about being chosen, then nervous. But, I realized it was not about winning or losing, it was about learning how to manage a healthier lifestyle. It starts by making small changes in choices everyday to make a big change in your life.”

O’Mara has; she retired in June and now has renewed energy for the next phase of her life—enjoying an active lifestyle with husband Mark. In just six months, O’Mara’s borderline diabetic blood sugar levels improved and her cholesterol dropped. She had some colds that derailed her progress this past winter, but didn’t give up. “Even while on vacation in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, pre-planning a workout and snack strategy kept me grounded.”

TURNING POINT:

“After a few weeks, exercise became part of my life, as I would feel guilty if I didn’t do anything by 9 p.m. I would go to the basement and hop on the treadmill for at least a half hour.”

Advisory Board

Fitness Trainer: “Vivian creates her own cocktail: seltzer, a splash of cranberry juice and lime. It looks pretty to hold at parties, you feel social and are getting hydrated in between each drink. She learned to incorporate new skills into her life like visualizing the day ahead and how you will approach it in a new way.

Nutritionists: “Vivian is eating foods in their natural form now, really staying away from the crutch of processed foods.”

Life Coach: She learned to replace negative words or phases with positive thoughts to help create a successful mind set.

FUTURE GOALS:

O’Mara has a family reunion, wedding and a 40th high school reunion coming up. “Those special events are a great incentive. I don’t want to look at the photos and say, ‘well imagine if I had kept at it.’ I want to look at the photos and say, I’m proud that I did it and am still doing it.”

Ben Carenza Jr.

of Lindenhurst, hit his goal and lost 50 pounds as well as dropping three pant sizes, going from size 42 to 36. His enthusiasm was so contagious, even his boss lost 19 pounds.

Carenza found that sweet spot between balancing home, a hectic job and learning to ask for healthier choices while dining out anywhere.

“Life is too short,” Carenza said all through this series. “I want to be here for a long time. I used to get winded walking up and down stairs. Not anymore.” Carenza used to hate eating fish and now he eats it practically every day and loves it! “I’ve not only altered my approach to food, but my taste has actually changed. I never thought I’d enjoy what I thought were diet foods. I never realized how many carbs I was eating.”

TURNING POINT:

“Even on vacation with my wife Stacey, I stayed focused.” Carenza ordered fruits and salads for lunch and brought his own 100-calorie snacks along.

Advisory Board

Fitness Trainer: “Ben works well with check points and revamps his workout every two weeks.”

Nutritionists: “Ben was the Fad Diet King. He previously never had trouble losing the weight, but inevitably would gain it back. Maintenance is going to be Ben’s biggest challenge.”

Life Coach: Carenza learned how to find “alone time” within his busy schedule.

FUTURE GOALS:

Carenza shed his old habits, creating a healthier life structure. He just accepted a major promotion to Deputy Director of the Long Island Division of local 237 Teamsters Union, representing 2,800 people Island-wide.

THE HARD WORK BEGINS

Sometimes maintenance can be tougher than weight loss. The Wellness Advisory Board offered our winners these tips.

Nutrition - Add treats back into your diet by: planning it out; exercising portion control; eating guilt-free and staying on track during the next meal. (Tishfield & Slayton)

Fitness - “If you are going on vacation or a business trip, call ahead and find out if there is a gym, pool or area to walk. Don’t let the hard work you’ve done go to waste. While away, the goal is to maintain what you have and keep moving. Don’t be weekend warriors, which doesn’t build strength to your body and often leads to injuries. You are better off consistently exercising with at least a half hour a day than two hours twice a week.” (Petix)

Lifestyle - “Build in “me” time. Get out that sewing kit, or like Ben, refurbish an old ’68 Chevy. Re-assess your goals monthly and adjust your schedule to always plug back into yourself.” (Snyder)
—Walsh

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