GEORGE HUGHES, JR.

Before: 266 lbs.

After: 196 lbs.

Pc nde Lost: 70 · Height: 6' 3"
was up to 215 pounds,

Indroduction

   21/2 years ago I met George (aks Buzz)
on AOL. He was sending out a newspaper that
covered a soap I watched.
   Soon we became emailing each other about 
the show and talking about many things. I think 
one of the biggest conversations was about
his weight and how he felt about it, and losing
a LOT.
   I tried to encourage him as much as I could
and when he told me in March that he was going
to start a serious one year plan to losee 100
pounds I really got behind him with support.


 "it was a shock," George says, "but I was dead 
set on getting this weight off."

George gradually lost weight, and kids at 
school stopped teasing him. Finding the 
acceptance he'd craved, George went back 
to his old ways. "1 didn't realize how fast
the weight can come back when · you stop 
trying," he says. "Now I realize that I 
wasn't losing weight for myself. All I 
wanted was to have friends and to stop 
being talked about all the time."

From that point on, George's weight went up
and down. He dreams don't come & true, tell
them to come talk to me," says George Hughes,
Jr. "1'11 convince them otherwise. I am 
living proof that if you work hard enough,
 dreams always come true." George of TOPS 
#TX 914, Houston, is first place winner in
TOPS' 1998 inter-national Men's Greatest
Improve-ment Contest.

George was a thin child until he stopped
playing baseball and discovered television
and video games. Then he began gaining 
weight. In fifth grade, the other kids at
school started making fun of him.' 
   Soon "1 had been hurt so much that I
didn't know how to make and keep friends 
any more," George says. "As I look back on 
it now, I remember pushing people away for
 no reason."

One night, George's aunt told him about TOPS.
 Although he was scared, he really wanted to
lose weight, so he begged his mother to take
him to a chapter meeting. "1 loved it so
much that we joined right on the spot," he
says. He was 12 at the time and stood 51 7"
tall. When the weigh-in revealed he stayed
\ in TOPS, "but I didn't care about losing
weight," he says. "TOPS turned into a fun 
social group for me. Over those years in
TOPS, my weight soared to a high of 2961/2
pounds. I had grown to 6' 3", so it didn't
show as much, but I felt it."

George managed to lose some weight, and he
earned a Texas teen division award. "1 was 
so happy when I received the award notice
in the mail," he says, "but felt like a failure
months later when I had gained back all that
weight plus some."

However, at one point, George's weight dipped 
under 290. Thinking this was a turning point,
he decided to lose the we!ght for himself 
this time. "1 knew I could do it. I'd done
it before," he says. "But I couldn't do it
alone. So I prayed to God to help me lose this
weight. He gave me the power to go for my
dreams.

"Slowly but surely, I lost weight. Sure, I
had my ups and downs. We all do. Everyone 
has a gain now and then."

After a while, George recounts, "1 was 
losing each week, but it wasn't enough for
me. I realized I wasn't getting enough
exercise." George belonged to a gym, but 
because he didn't enjoy working out there,
he only did workouts right before his 
Thurs-day night chapter meeting to lose the
weight he'd gained over the weekend. 
This just isn't going to work, George 
realized.

Instead, he started walking for exercise. 
Soon he increased his walks to 4 miles a 
night. George, his mother, and some TOPS 
pals had a great time walking together. 
"Through rain, sleet, snow (in Houston!),
and hail, we were out there every night," 
George says.

He also became involved in CyberTOPS--mem-bers 
who use their home computers to encourage
 each other online.

George changed his eating habits. He began
eating sensibly and sticking to the basics. "1 lost weight for 27 weeks in a row and was never happier in my life," he says. Even over a holiday period, he stuck with it and got through without a gain. George reached goal in time to graduate to KOPS at 1998 Texas SRD.

"Life just kept getting better and better,"
 he says. "1 was notified that I was a first
place men's division winner for Texas. 
My chapter 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 SRD 
af-ter going from a size 46/3X to a 34/L.


"1 thank God every day for Esther S. Manz," 
George says. "She created this wonderful
 organiza-tion that has given me so many 
memories and so much love. 
I,II never forget people like Coordinator
Caryl Pfelffer and Area Captain Becky
 Vanden-berg who have always been there
 for me. I thank God for the best TOPS
chapter around and for the great friends 
I've met through CyberTOPS. I thank God for
 my wonderful mother, who stood behind me 
with support through it all.

"But most of all, I thank God for giving me
 the willpower, determination, and strength
 to realize that if you work hard enough, 
dreams do come true." ·

 
To contact GEORGE



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