My name is George Hughes Jr. I have belonged to
TOPS # TX 914, Houston since February 9, 1989.
It has taken me a long time to reach this point in my life,
eight years to be exact, but it was worth the wait
and I couldn't be happier.
My story is unlike most overweight people.
I have talked to a lot of them and they all say the same thing:
they've been overweight all their lives.
I'm the opposite. I was a very thin child.
My grandfather used to worry about me and asked if
I ever ate. It wasn't until I stopped playing baseball, and
discovered television and Nintendo, that I began to gain weight.
Me at 296 lbs.In the fall of 1985, when I entered fifth grade, I had gained a lot of weight
over the summer. It wasn't bad at first but, as we all know, kids are cruel
and they began to make fun of me. It lasted all year and the weight just
went up and up. I was a nine year old kid. I didn't care about the way I looked.
I was comfortable and in all honesty, I didn't eat that much. I wasn't
getting enough out of the house activity since I stopped playing sports.
The weight gain continued as did the ridicule I got for being so overweight.
I lost all my friends that I had because I had been hurt so much that
I didn't know how to keep friends and make friends anymore.
I believed that everyone hated me because I was fat and no one
wanted to be my friend. As I look back on it now,
I can remember pushing people away for no reason.
One night, as I was driving home with my aunt, the subject turned to school
and how I was picked on a lot and she could tell how much it hurt me
and how sad I was. She told me about TOPS.
I had never heard of TOPS before and I was really scared to go
but I wanted to lose this weight so I begged my mom to take me.
She agreed and we went that following Thursday.
I loved the meeting so much that we joined right on
the spot. I was so scared to get on that scale cause
I didn't want to see how much I weighed. My mom talked
me into it and at 12 years old, 5' 7", I weighed 215 lbs.
It was a shock but I was dead set on getting this weight off.
Over the next six months, the weight came off.
The kids at school stopped with the names when they
realized I was losing weight. After receiving my 30 lb. loss charm,
and noticing that things at school were getting
better, I went back to my old ways. I was happy now
and that's all I really wanted. I didn't realize how fast
the weight can come back when you stop trying. When
I think back on it today, I realize why I lost that first 30 lbs.
I was losing it for someone else. I was losing it be accepted
at school. I wasn't losing weight for myself. I didn't feel fat.
I was 12 years old. I was kid. You don't think about weight loss
at 12 years old. All I wanted was to have friends and to
stop being talked about all the time.
From that point on, I turned into a yo-yo. I gained a
lot of weight and I grew taller so it didn't show as much
as it used to. I had my ups and my downs but, through it all,
I stayed in TOPS and became very involved. TOPS turned
into a fun social group for me. I didn't care about losing
weight anymore and my weight went up and up over
the years. I'm not ashamed to say it but, over those
8 years in TOPS, my weight soared from 182 to 296.50,
my highest weight recorded on March 26, 1997. I had
grown from 5' 7" to 6' 3" so, yes, it didn't show as
much but I felt it. I saw it every time I looked into
the mirror or looked at pictures that were taken of me.
Over those eight years, I had gotten on these kicks
where I would lose 30 lbs. and gain it back plus some.
I did real well when I wanted to. I even won 1st Place Texas State
Teen Division Winner in 1993. I was so happy when I received the
notice about the award in the mail but I felt like a failure up on stage
at SRD because I had gained most of the weight back at that time.
I didn't think I deserved it but I didn't want to tell anyone
that I had gained it back.
In March of 1997, I had an ear infection that left me without an appetite.
I lost six pounds that week and it put me under 290.
I thought to myself that this was a turning point. It's time to
lose this weight. It's time to lose this weight for me, no one else.
I wanted to look better. I wanted to feel better. I knew I could do it.
I've done it before. But I knew I couldn't do it alone. So, I sat down
one day and I prayed to God. I begged him to help me lose this weight.
I knew it would take all me but I needed strength, will-power,
and determination. I had it all the time but he gave me the power
to go for my dreams. From that point on, I was a loser!
I had lost over 10 lbs. by the time S.R.D. 97 was held.
I was so moved at SRD that year, as I was every year, that I was
dead set on coming back with a loss and getting back on track.
I wanted to be a KOPS and I pledged that this would be my year.
After the pictures of S.R.D. were developed,
and I realized how much weight I had gained,
I got really depressed.
I looked huge in the pictures
and I knew I had to do something about it.
I prayed more and more and you know what?
I did come back with a loss after S.R.D. and the
weight did start to come off. Slowly by surely I lost it.
Sure, I had my ups and downs. We all do.
I gained a few times. Gains are normal. Everyone has a gain every
now and then no matter how much you try. I was losing each week
but, it wasn't enough for me. I didn't understand why until I realized
I wasn't getting enough exercise. I would do okay on the weekends
with no exercise and then work hard at the gym during the week so I
would lose on Thursday's. The losses were usually one pound or two
because I had to get what I gained over the weekend off.
This just wasn't going to work.
I hated the gym. I knew I would have to tone this body of mine up
if I was able to lose all this weight but I couldn't take the gym anymore.
I dropped out of the gym in September of 97 and in October I started walking.
I also joined Cyber TOPS in October. Cyber TOPS is like a TOPS meeting 24/7.
TOPS members, from all over the world, send and receive hundreds of e-mails
of encouragement and support every week. Walking and Cyber TOPS
was a turning point in my life. I had lost 40 lbs. up until October.
I had done it before but I always gained it back. I was determined not to do it again.
The first week I joined Cyber TOPS, I gained 2.5 lbs. The next week I
started walking and I lost 7.5 lbs. I was thrilled! I increased my walking
to four miles every night. I was walking with my mother
and some of my other TOPS pals.
We had a great time walking. Rain, sleet, snow (in Houston),
and hail....we were out there every night. From that moment on,
I lost 3 lbs. every week. I ate sensibly, sticking with vegetables, fish, chicken, fruit, etc.
and I walked my four miles every night no matter what.
I didn't go out with friends on the weekend cause I couldn't miss my walking.
If work would scheduled me to close, we would have to talk.
I lost 27 weeks in a row and I was never happier in my life.
The holidays were hard but I was able to do it. It took a lot of prayer,
support, determination, and encouragement but I did it.
I didn't have a gain over the holiday's and I started the new year off right.
My dream was to reach my weight goal by March 1998 so I could
stand up as a KOPS as S.R.D. 1998 in Corpus Christi, Texas.
I reached goal on February 13, 1998, with 100.5 lbs. lost
from my highest weight in TOPS. TOPS will recognize 70 lbs.
'cause I gained over my orginal starting weight.
The night I reached KIW was so emotional.
Those last two pounds to goal were the hardest but I did it.
Life just kept getting better and better. I was notified by mail that
I was 1st Place State Mens Division Winner with 76.5 lbs. lost.
I cried when I told my mother the news. I was so happy.
I was Chapter Division Winner as well. My chapter also voted me
Most Inspirational and Most Improved.
They will never know how much that meant to me.
I was also able to enter the baggy garment parade at S.R.D.
going from a 46/3X to a 34/L.
Life was grand and I was on my way to being a KOPS.
Me
today......196.5 lbsI thank God every day for Esther S. Manz.
She made my dream come true. She created this wonderful organization
that has given me so many memories and so much love.
I'll never forget people like my Area Coordinator, Caryl Pfeiffer,
and my Area Captain, Becky Vandenberg, who have always been there for me
and who have always had kind words to say to me no matter
what weight I was at. I thank God every day for the best TOPS chapter around.
I thank God for Cyber TOPS and the great friends I've met through the internet.
I thank God for giving me a wonderful mother who has stood behind me with
support and praise through it all. I'll do the same for her as she makes
her way towards her goal. But most of all, I thank God for giving me the will-power,
determination, and strength to realize if you work hard enough,
DREAMS DO COME TRUE!