TOWN OF WATERFORD — Anyone who has struggled to lose weight can understand what LeMoine Worthington has gone through.
But few can match what he has achieved.
LeMoine Worthington of the Town of Waterford weighed more than 440 pounds before he started a program with TOPS Clubs Inc., which stands for Take Off Pounds Sensibly, and lost a total of 200 pounds over several years.
LeMoine Worthington of the Town of Waterford enjoys a healthier lifestyle after losing 200 pounds, down to 248, and now can visit restaurants, movie theaters and elsewhere without facing obstacles.
The Town of Waterford man weighed 265 pounds in high school. By his mid-40s, he was tipping the scales at 448.
He could not reach to tie his shoes. He could not squeeze into a movie theater seat. He could not wrap a seat belt around himself in a car.
But that was a few years ago.
Today, Worthington has turned his life around with a weight-loss success story that would be the envy of anyone hoping to drop a few pounds by counting calories or working out at the gym.
Worthington has dropped 200 pounds and reduced his weight to 248, making him a national celebrity in the weight-loss program known as TOPS Club Inc.
TOPS, or Take Off Pounds Sensibly, has declared Worthington its biggest weight-loss champion among men in 2020 in the United States and Canada. Officials point to Worthington’s status of “TOPS International King” as an example of weight-loss success at a time when COVID-19 is making it difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
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Rick Danforth, president of the Milwaukee-based nonprofit TOPS, said the COVID pandemic has caused people to stay at home more and to become more sedentary. As a result, people are exercising less and many are straying from a commitment to healthy foods.
“It’s hard out there,” Danforth said. “It provides a different set of challenges.”
Worthington, now 66 years old, has bucked the odds by downsizing enough to reach his goal of 260 pounds, and then dropping even further to his current weight of 248 pounds.
The 5-foot-9 retired Modine Manufacturing Co. factory worker said overcoming a chronic problem with obesity has changed his life immeasurably. Not only is he healthier, but he and his wife are better able to enjoy going to the movies, eating at restaurants and taking long walks together.
“It’s an unbelievable thing,” he said. “It feels great, all the things I can do.”
His wife, Linda Worthington, said she was impressed at her husband’s commitment to losing weight and his determination to persevere, even in the face of setbacks.
If he slipped up and regained a few pounds, she said, he would rebound quickly and get back on track with what worked.
“He’s always never given up,” she said. “I’m beyond proud. He worked so hard for this.”
Worthington, who grew up near Baraboo, developed a weight problem in childhood, largely because of a penchant for devouring Twinkies and other cake-like sweets. In his freshman year at Baraboo High School, he weighed 225 pounds. By graduation, he was up to 265.
Overeating continued to be a problem for him in adulthood, when he was diagnosed with diabetes and sleep apnea. A treatment for thyroid issues had a temporary side effect of causing even more weight gain.
He and Linda were married in 1998, and the couple resettled two years later on Sandpiper Trail in the Town of Waterford.
Worthington tried other weight-loss programs and occasionally enjoyed limited success. But nothing really proved sustainable, and doctors warned that his health issues could worsen.
“We knew we had to do something,” he said.
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In 2003, he heard a radio broadcast about a husband and wife who each lost 100 pounds by joining a group that meets weekly to keep its members engaged and committed. The concept sounded appealing, so Worthington found a chapter near his home.
After he became the biggest weight-loss champion in the U.S. or Canada, LeMoine Worthington, left, and his wife, Linda Worthington, were featured on the magazine cover for TOPS Club Inc., a nonprofit group also called Take Off Pounds Sensibly.
TOPS, which started in 1948, emphasizes the basics of eating fruits and vegetables, avoiding junk food, drinking lots of water, and exercising daily. There is no special food to purchase, and no exotic workout equipment.
The cost of joining is $49 the first year, $37 for each subsequent year, and then typically $5 a week.
The organization has 6,000 chapters nationally, including 173 in Wisconsin. Most meet in churches, town halls or community centers.
The simplicity of the program and the reinforcement of the weekly group meetings helped Worthington to focus. He selected walking as his preferred exercise. Starting with just 20 minutes a day in a corridor at work, he progressed until he was walking more than 90 minutes a day.
Soon, the pounds began to come off.
In his first year, he dropped 100 pounds. Each subsequent year brought more weight loss, until he achieved his dream of losing 200 pounds.
Worthington embodies the spirit of Take Off Pounds Sensibly, Danforth said, because he realizes that weight loss requires a permanent change in a person’s daily habits.
“There is no quick fix,” Danforth said. “It’s a lifestyle.”
For Worthington, becoming the TOPS national champion has been fun and rewarding.
It is a reminder, he said, of how far he has come in his weight-loss journey. Once worried that health problems would make him a burden on others, he now feels confident and reassured.
“You ought to be able to do something for yourself,” he said. “It’s a great feeling.”
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