Participants vow to continue healthy habits even after end of Kaua‘i’s Great Weigh Out

KAPA‘A — Over a year’s time, Anna Velasco of Anahola stayed away from fatty foods, ate more fruits and vegetables, and exercised six days a week.

In the process, Velasco, who stands 5 feet, 1 inch tall, whittled her weight from 214 pounds to 154 pounds, allowing her to gain control of her life and to live a healthier lifestyle.

Velasco was hailed as one of the success stories during the closing ceremony of the Kaua‘i’s Great Weigh Out and Me Too! program held at the Kapa‘a Neighborhood Center recently.

More than 300 persons attended the ceremony to mark the completion of the eight-week program.

Proponents of the program set out to encourage Kauaians to eat right, exercise, make lifestyle changes, and to lead healthier lives.

The program is in its third year, sponsored this year by Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste’s administration, and funded by the state.

Velasco said she had already lost 60 pounds by the start of this year’s event, and eight weeks later, she is on her way to losing a few pounds more.

When she wasn’t working out through aerobics classes Bev Brody, the Great Weigh Out program coordinator, offered at the Kapa‘a Neighborhood Center, Velasco said she worked out with video exercise tapes at home.

“I had lost 18 pounds in last year’s Great Weigh Out, and I continued that lifestyle of eating fruits and vegetable and exercising,” Velasco told The Garden Island.

Embarking on her journey to lose the weight initially was difficult because she had other life commitments, Velasco said.

Velasco, a 1977 graduate of Kamehameha Schools, is a wife, mother of four children, and member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Church in Kapa‘a.

But not being able to move around as quickly or as easily any more spurred her to lose the weight, she said.

“I couldn’t do as much as I wanted to do,” she said. “I wasn’t active. And I did it (made the decision to join the Great Weigh Out) more for my heart as well. I just wanted to be healthier.”

Velasco was part of a weight-loss team last year, but this year she was recruited as the coordinator of the Me Too! program portion of the Great Weigh Out this year.

That segment of the program was geared for people who couldn’t join any of the 15, 10-member teams because of the lack of available slots.

The Me Too! portion also was for those who wanted to participate in only some of the activities of the Great Weight Out event, according to Val Medina, one of the project leaders.

Kaleo Estenzo, a Me Too! program participant, said the Great Weight Out event has allowed her to live a normal life again.

In one year, she lost 50 pounds, and now weighs 135 pounds. “I did a lot of Bev’s classes (step aerobics), and I ate a lot of vegetables I had never eaten before. I ate anything and everything before,” Estenzo said.

Velasco gave credit to Estenzo, her niece, for helping her to lose weight.

Estenzo said she was partly motivated to lose weight herself because she didn’t like being overweight. Estenzo said she wanted to be healthy and trim and fit again, and plans to participate in next year’s Great Weigh Out.

Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura, a Me Too! program participant, said the eight-week program has helped her to continue to eat well, exercise, and to stay healthy.

Yukimura, a swimmer and a runner when she attended Kaua‘i High School years ago, said she didn’t join the program to lose weight, but to maintain her health regimen.

“I tracked the end of vegetables and exercised over the eight weeks, and it made me more conscientious (about what is involved in remaining healthy,)” she said.

“My grandmother always told me health is the most important (thing), and when you think about it, without health, you can’t do almost or enjoy anything about life, whether it is family, work or travel, hobbies,” Yukimura said.

She said the program is of great benefit to the community.

“Having healthy lifestyles and good health is sort of the basis of everything else,” she said. “So to see the community, people in our community, become healthy, is such an inspiring thing.”

Yukimura thanked Brody and her committee for initiating the third annual Great Weight Out.

Said Brody, a personal trainer for 31 years, of the event, “I think this program was totally outstanding, because of the participation not only from 550 to 600 to 700 people in the community, but because of the participation of core committee (members) who were involved in and were dedicated to seeing this program become a success.”

Yukimura also presented a certificate of appreciation and recognition to Great Weigh Out participants and organizers.

The San Diego-based, IDEA (International Dance and Exercise Association), the largest and most respected fitness organization in the world, also sent a letter of congratulations to the Great Weight Out proponents, Brody said.

Winning first place in the Great Way Out event for total team weight loss percentage were Politically Challenged (Bodies of Mass Destruction). The team represented members from Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste’s administration.

Second place went to Kapaa QTs, teachers from Kapa‘a Elementary School.

In first place for the most Fit Bucks earned was Hui Ola Pono (The Kaauwai family team), followed in second place by Ho‘ola Lahui Hawai‘i.

Here are the final Fit Buck totals:

Staff Writer Lester Chang may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or lchang@pulitzer.net.