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
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."
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.
I have intended to ask someone about Gov. Huckabee. He looks very sick. He has lost too much weight IMHO.