The Holthaus Family – Charles Holthaus wrote in their application essay, that in the 25 years he and his wife Alicia have been married, they have “managed to gain another person between them” referring to the 140 pounds they have put on collectively over the years. Starting their family in their 40’s through the adoption of their daughter Rebecca and son Ryan, “put us at a disadvantage to begin with (age wise), let alone being overweight and out of shape”. In addition, as a 30 year veteran of the Harford County police force, Charles felt his strength and endurance had diminished over the years due to lack of exercise and a poor diet. His family, he said, was ready for not just another diet, but a lifestyle change. The Family Fit 4 Life initial screening of blood pressure, body fat, and cholesterol was a sobering reality check for the couple, but they were up for the challenge.
The McDermott Family – Karrie McDermott is a busy woman. Raising her 9 year old son Colin on her own, working full time at Upper Chesapeake Health, and pursuing a nursing degree, Karrie writes, “As I’m sure you can imagine the stress of a busy lifestyle and such heavy responsibilities has unfortunately led my son and me down the path to poor eating and an unhealthy lifestyle”. Having struggled with her own weight all her life, Karrie was concerned that her own child was overweight and not very physically active. “I so desperately want my child to be in good health, and I don’t want him to suffer the ridicule of other children like I did as a child”. The McDermott clan made a great team and lived up to their commitment to work hard and make positive changes.
The Gibson Family – “We are a family of overweight people who have struggled with our weight our whole lives”, writes Gene Gibson. “I’ve always wanted to get into better shape, but even the Navy couldn’t get the weight off of me.” Son Bradlee at 13 is already 6 feet tall and over 200 lbs, and “that hurts me because I don’t know what to do to help him. I’ve tried to get him involved in sports, however, being out of shape he gets frustrated very fast.” Wife Melissa is committed to exercise, but becomes frustrated because she doesn’t lose weight. She’s had success in the past, but it just doesn’t seem to last. His plea of “Please help us with this issue, it would mean a lot to me as a dad and a husband.” as well as their commitment to give this their all made them perfect candidates for Family Fit 4 Life.
The Wehrman Family – Emma Wehrman is a girl with goals. At 13 years old she saw the ad for the Family Fit 4 Life contest, decided it was perfect for family, and submitted an application. “I believe my family really needs this. I am 13 years old and overweight. Being “bigger” and a teenager is not very easy. I’ve gotten some pretty nasty comments. I just want to feel comfortable in my own skin and be healthy. I really want to prove you can change your health.” She is also concerned about her sisters Sarah and Katie, as well as mom Jen, wanting them to get fit and feel good. Her real concern is held for her dad Mel though as she laments that without a positive lifestyle change, that he might possibly not make it to her wedding. “We all just sit around the computer or TV and we always, always, always eat on the run. Also, there has been a lot of stress in the family and we need to spend much more time together.” Emma’s letter rang familiar with many of our Harford families and the frantic demands of modern family life so many of us experience.
The Cannon Family – Mom Toni Cannon wrote,”The mom of the family is always taking care of the needs of others: work, the family, church needs and community service. She forgot to take care of herself and got lost”. The family, although relatively active, was in need of learning a healthier lifestyle. The girls Christian and Courtney enjoy running and dad Will loves to shoot hoops, but everyone was always “on the go in different directions”. A primary problem was eating on the run. They wanted to learn how to eat healthier and either learn how to prepare quick healthy meals or how to prepare healthy meals in advance. “We would like to become a healthier family, learn to eat better, get better fit, and DO IT TOGETHER.”
Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2010
Hopefully the rest of our family did too! Then Saturday, we had the spinning challenge. For anyone that has never done spinning, I guarantee you it is TOUGH!!! I always ride the stationary bikes but the spinning bikes are a whole new world! For this challenge we had 20 minutes to ride as far as we could. Gene won this one with an amazing 12.1 miles!!! Wow! I didn’t do half bad with 10.6 miles, which I can’t even imagine doing before coming to the Arena Club!
It’s ok though, we were still recovering from the strength challenge on Tuesday!
