Hi EVERYONE!! Okay so I want to start out by telling you
about my CRAZY weekend and then I will fill you in on the Weight Loss Challenge
graduation… So the other weekend I had held my health promoter conference for
my 20 surrounding communities (which we are now doing on a monthly basis). It
was crazy, but the good news is I think we have it down so the next few months
should be a little easier. Anyways, I was doing that all morning/ afternoon and
then I went directly to a fundraiser for my teenage peer educator groups. We
are doing fundraisers in the community to raise money for a “Welcome to
Barrancón” sign. Since we live in such a rural area on a dirt road it is pretty
much impossible to tell where our community begins and the fields end. I think
since a lot of my teenage peer educators will be leaving next year for college
they want to leave something for the community. Anyways, we had this fundraiser
and 96 people showed up. We charged a small amount to get in and then sold
popcorn and soda. We did have a little problem though because we started the
movie too late and it was a Saturday. All of the drunk men from the surrounding
communities gathered on the street outside the movie (it was outdoors but there
was a fence and we had bouncers). Since the movie was educational it was a bit
corny and the drunkards were being really disrespectful. It ended with us
cutting the movie short and all of my teenage girls in tears. We then stayed
until midnight cleaning everything up….. the next day was the 10k in Puerto
plata. We had to leave at 4:00am to get there on time so I think I got a good 2
hours of sleep. I brought 5 women from my weight loss group. They were so
excited because they had never done anything like it before. I packed them each
a breakfast with a banana, orange juice, and a granola bar and we hit the road.
We got there on time, signed in, stretched and warmed up. When they announced
that we had a minute until the race started I realized I had not taken a
picture of everyone together. I got the women to line up and I was jogging over
to get into the photo when…. BAM! CEMENT IN THE FACE! I stepped in a manhole
that had no top on it… and ate it. Hard. We shot the photo and I started
running. It wasn’t until half way through the race that I realized I really
wasn’t okay. We all ended up finishing the race with better times than
expected. It was really emotional for a lot of the women especially when they
got cheered across the finish line. The mother of one of the girls told her
that she was crazy and that she wouldn’t be able to do it so she was sooooo
excited when she finished. They all took their shoes (most of them couldn’t
afford appropriate footwear) off at the end of the race and their feet were
bleeding and swelling all over the place….. but they couldn’t stop smiling. It
was probably one of my favorite peace corps moments…. Then I realized that I
needed medical attention so I headed to the capital. Two cat scans, Three
x-rays, an orthopedic, and an eye specialist later it was determined that I would
live and just be really ugly for a
while. I think the only serious damage I did was to my shoulder and neck which
was the best case scenario. I still cant think about it without laughing
though… I mean come on. I fell. Into a manhole. Who does that????...... ME!
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| Girls selling popcorn and soda! |
Our makeshift movie theater
10K
10K
beautiful face... you should see the rest of my body
Okay now on to the Weight Loss Challenge! We finished the
three month challenge and we have the winners! The even better news is that a
majority of the women want to continue with their weight loss. We are going to
keep doing the weekly individual, group, and exercise meetings/classes until I
leave in October. The only difference will be that it will no longer be a
competition. We also have a large number of people who want to join the group J
Group Stats:
Total # of participants: 26
Total # of Graduates (people who attended all of the
lectures/meetings): 18
Total NET weight loss: 196 pounds
Total NET weight loss amongst graduates: 170 pounds
# of people who lost more than 10 pounds: 9
# of inches lost in waist: 48.5 inches
# no people who were able to stop taking blood pressure
meds: 2
100% of the participants report feeling healthier and
happier
96.2% of the participants report having more energy
Graduation at the Beach
The Winners!!!
WINNER:
Senaida
·
Lost 18 pounds which is 11.4% of her initial
weight
·
Lost 4.5 inches in her waist
·
Lost 3.7% body fat
·
Was able to start weaning off her blood pressure
medication
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| Before |
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| After |
2nd Place
Martha
·
Lost 14 pounds which is 8.38% of her initial
weight
·
Lost 3 inches in her waist
·
Lost 2.7% body fat
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| Before |
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| After |
3rd Place
·
Lost 14 pounds which is 7.7% of her initial
weight
·
Lost 3 inches in her waist
·
Lost 3.6% body fat
·
Was able to start weaning of her blood pressure
medication
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| Before |
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| After |
Okay here are some more Weight Loss Challenge photos because I know you all want to see more!!!
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| Before |
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| After |
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| Before |
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After           |
