Posted on 01/22/2005 6:01:46 PM PST by tgslTakoma
Yeesh, I'm so unphotogenic! Gov. Huckabee told us he lost 110 pounds (he looks completely different than he did 4 years ago). I should've asked him what diet he used and immediately started on it! :(
He's the nicest guy and Capitol Offense rocked! I told him we hope to visit Arkansas someday to see the Clintoon LIEbrary! LOL
Great presentation!..I am enjoying the words and pictures..(tamping down envy!)..
Good heavens... were you and TaxRelief there? How on earth did we miss you? FReepers are growing in number I guess, so much so it's becoming difficult to find one another in the same room. See you both again at CPAC perhaps?
Thanks for the great pictures of the Freeper Ball.
BTTT!!!!!!
Great story and photos Takoma!!
Arkansas Governor Loses Weight Old Fashioned Way
UPDATED - Friday April 16, 2004 1:54pm
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Plain old healthy eating and exercise - not reliance on Atkins, South Beach or other diet plans - has Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee setting a weight-loss trend of his own.
"I could do one of those commercials where you're standing in your pants. That's really when it hit me," Huckabee told The Associated Press on Wednesday as he marked losing 100 pounds.
The governor said he had tried various diet trends that rely on low-carb and low-fat extremes, but said he couldn't keep the weight off until he joined a 15-week Weight Control Program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences last June.
For Huckabee, health is the issue, not weight or looks. He was prompted by a diabetes diagnosis and the death of his friend former Gov. Frank White, who had a heart attack. He won't say how much he weighed when he began dieting.
"I don't want the weight issue to become the focus," he said. "I want the focus on health and fitness. The victory is feeling better and knowing that I'm healthier. It's not setting a goal of a weight. That's the gravy I can't eat anymore."
It's no easy feat. In the first phase of the program, participants eat only small amounts of regular food, consuming between 800 and 1,000 calories per day through a powder-based, low-calorie beverage that has carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals.
"Our main goal is to help them establish a healthy relationship with food again," said Carolyn Bernthal, the program's coordinator. "We're trying to get them to change their lifestyle. (The governor) is a good advertisement for us. It's changed his life."
When participants are at 5 percent above their goal weight they are gradually reintroduced to food and plan a diet with a doctor and a dietitian.
Dieters lose weight at a steady pace. They have weigh-ins, calorie-counting classes, therapy and are in close communication with their doctors.
"I'm trying to be more focused on my blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol numbers than I am on weight," Huckabee said. "You need to focus on good habits good health."
Program doctors say they want it to be a lifestyle change and the last diet participants ever take up. Huckabee has embraced this, including exercise.
He has switched from walking to running, something he didn't even consider a year ago. He started with one lap around the Governor's Mansion grounds and now he's up to four, running a mile and a half and walking two miles before biking indoors.
"This is the first time I've been running since I was 14 years old in junior high gym class when I was forced to," Huckabee said.
His new goal is to run a five-kilometer race, although he hasn't committed to a date. Some friends have started telling the now-trim governor that he can stop losing weight. But that's not how the diet works, he said.
"What's happening is my body is simply adjusting and regulating itself," Huckabee said. "I'm healthy and continuing my exercise without any real effort to lose weight at all."
Huckabee, who also is a Southern Baptist preacher, said it's amazing how his tastes have changed.
"I used to only eat fish like Jesus intended - battered in cornbread and deep fried," he said. "Now I like blackened catfish."
Now, the governor has his own recipes. He cuts up fresh apples and peaches and pours Diet Sprite over them to make a healthier fruit cocktail. He chops strawberries and sprinkles a low calories sweetener on them.
"I absolutely love asparagus and I used to hate it," he said. "I haven't eaten dressing on a salad since last June. I'm almost addicted to apples. I eat several apples a day."
The lost weight has altered Huckabee's life and his wardrobe.
"When the pants join together at the pockets, that's when you need to get a new pair," he said. "We ought not to be obsessed with how we look and how much we weigh as much as how healthy we are."
It is amazing that we didn't cross paths, but as you point out, FR is getting BIG! We brought two other families with us, so we had an entourage of 13 in total (including 7 teenagers/preteenagers), and playing the hosts, didn't get to mingle as much as we normally would. Once Capitol Offense started playing, we were pretty much non-stop on the dance floor and did very little socializing. (We saw BillF while checking in. Mr. Conservative Gadfly discussed local political strategy with me for half an hour. My interaction with TGSLTakoma consisted of greeting each other through the door in the changing room. BufordP was there as well. We spent about five minutes with Kristinn, mostly around getting and returning room keys, about three minutes with Congressman Barr and Gary and Nina Aldrich, and about two minutes over a Lone Star lobbying Sauropod to join us for our March 19 FReep in Fayetteville, NC. We shook hands with TrueBlackMan as we passed in opposite directions, and of course spent a few minutes with Eugene MacDonald at the 0Cents booth! I'm sure I'm forgetting someone, but that was pretty much it!)
We're still damn'd sorry that we missed you!
Unfortunately, the Inauguration ate up the CPAC budget this year, so we'll have to skip it this time. However, we did manage to make it a real Conservative oriented trip with visits with Congressmen Myrick and McHenry, Senator Burr, Pat Toomey at the Club for Growth, and the staff of the Heritage Foundation at their open house, so combined with the W2 Ball and Bush's Second Inaugural Address, it was alomost like a do it yourself CPAC!
You and Zelig should see if you can come down to NC for the weekend of the 19th. I'll ping you separately to more information, but it is a great location for a weekend FReep. It's also a good chance to see the DC Freepers in action outside of their home turf! They are impressive!
You and the rest of the DC Chapter are National Treasures. This thread is just one more amazing gift from you to all of us! A Million thanks!
PS, you looked like a million $$$ too!
Thank you for the post and all the great news...those of us stuck in the great white emptiness of MA read it and were with you, partying like mad, even a few days late.
I worked really hard on this thread about the W2 Ball, so you'd better enjoy it!
Not bad, not bad at all. I give it a 6.5...oh what the heck it's sunday and I'm overflowiing with the milk of human kindness...make that 7.826.
:-)
I enjoyed it. GREAT POST!
EAGLES UP!!!
Spoken like a true mom! Thanks, TGSL!
Thanks tgslTakoma ~ congratulations, great contributions and a perfect presentation ~ Good Job!
I immediately recognized a weight loss but 110 pounds??? He's a mere image of what he once was and needs to put back a little, if only in his face, as his eyes lost their sparkle.
best group of organized pictures. Thanks
Takoma, thank you so much for your report. It is the most complete one I have seen, and made me (fiinally) get a sense of what and how it all happened. I truly felt like I was there.
I'm so happy for you kathy. I sure wish I could get my husband interested. He resents the time I spend on FR. He simply does not understand my interest in politics and news. His interest is his work, period.
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