703 AMXS Airman stays fit through skills gained in Better Body, Better Life class

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Tammie Ramsouer
  • JBER Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  Service members have obligations to uphold when they join the military: serving their country, deploying at random times, and staying fit and healthy to meet those demands.

Service members may reach a point in their military careers when their weight is not what it used to be and fitness success is more difficult to attain. Many programs cater to Department of Defense ID card holders including service members, their families, retirees and civilians.

One program that can help with weight loss is the Better Body, Better Life program hosted at the Health and Wellness Center on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.  Implemented in early 2012, the five-week program provides education to lose weight, eat properly and live a healthy lifestyle.

"Each class within the program includes a nutrition, fitness and behavioral component," said Lisa Schuette, 673d Aerospace Medical Squadron health educator and registered dietician. "We will be partnering with behavioral health from the 673d Medical Group, and they will be teaching the behavioral component of the program."

The role of behavioral health is to teach students stress and sleep management as well as goal setting, Schuette added.

Some class participants know how to eat healthily, but attend for the behavioral aspect of the class.

"Their behavior will prevent them from keeping on their weight-loss or healthy-living track," Schuette said. "This is why we have the behavioral component."

Tech. Sgt. Leonard Simmons, an expediter assigned to the 703rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, recently attended the program at the HAWC.

"My reason for attending the class was a recommendation from my doctor to lose weight," Simmons said. "I'm a husky guy, so losing weight is difficult for me."

Maintaining physical fitness became a challenge for Simmons after an injury.

"My pain slowly progressed through the years doing group physical fitness training with my unit," he said. "Last summer, I was exercising heavily and my hip popped out of place. After going to the emergency room to have my hip put back into place, the pain was no longer tolerable."

After his injury, Simmons was subjected to fitness restrictions, keeping him from doing normal physical fitness activities. Physicians diagnosed him with degenerative hip failure in November 2014 after multiple tests.

"That's when my doctor told me I would need surgery to fix my hip," he said.

Since Simmons' doctor told him surgery was needed, he was advised to lose some weight before, and keep the weight off, after the procedure.

"The doctor sent me to nutritional medicine on the installation. [They] gave me plenty of options to lose weight," Simmons said. "What interested me most was the BBBL program."
Simmons said he was excited to begin the class and learn what he could do to lose weight for his surgery and live a healthier lifestyle.

"At the very first session, I came in very open minded to give anything a shot," he said. "I was very surprised that everything I was doing to try and lose weight was the wrong way of losing weight. I was eating the same foods every day."

As Simmons learned how to eat a balanced diet and decide what foods are better to eat, the weight started coming off much faster than before.

To help program participants, Sarah Bergeron, HAWC health and fitness consultant, helps with proper stretching and workout routines for those who may have an injury or do not have knowledge of what type of physical activities to do.

"Each of the BBBL classes has different areas of fitness that the individuals and I focus on," Bergeron said. "After the class and I go over specific fitness goals they have, I bring them to the exercise room and put those into practice. I believe this method is most helpful for the individuals to learn the what and why before they learn how to execute an exercise."

With the help of Bergeron and the BBBL program, Simmons has learned what he can do to keep physically active despite his injury.

"Sarah has helped me figure out what I can do within my limits with my injury as well as possibly take it a step further," Simmons said. "She also taught me that if I do the same exercises repeatedly, those same muscle groups will [recognize] the exercise and won't work as hard. She showed me different exercises I can do on different days of the week."

Simmons has also taken the initiative to use a smartphone application to help him keep track of his diet throughout the day.

"[The application helps] me with my food portions and choosing what types of food to eat," Simmons said.

When participants of the class download the application to their phones, Schuette can see their progress and help remind them of what they may be missing in their daily diet.

For individuals like Simmons, it was simply lack of information, which prevented him from losing weight, Schuette said.

"Providing the information to our participants and to have them understand healthy eating habits is one of our goals," Schuette said.

Simmons weighed 264 pounds when he began the BBBL program.

"I now weigh 248 pounds since finishing the sessions," he said. "I plan on keeping all the knowledge I have learned from the program in my daily life for me and my family."

His goal is to weigh 220 pounds by October.

"I would highly recommend the class to anyone looking to lose weight, begin a healthier lifestyle and even for basic nutritional information," Simmons said. "It is definitely a class that you [have to be] willing to do yourself, and you have to be committed to your goals that you have coming into the class."

For more information about the BBBL program or other related programs, call the HAWC at 551-2361.