Recipe for weight loss success

Julia Sly has lost 16 pounds since February, thanks to a program offered to food service workers at some Jackson public schools.

It's been slow going for Julia Sly, 44, but she's reaping the benefits nonetheless.

She's lost 16 pounds since February, and unlike a few years earlier when she dropped 50 pounds quickly related to health concerns, this time the weight may stay off.

"I'm more comfortable doing it this way. This is better because it's coming off slower," Sly said.

This new way is via a program she and other food service workers at Lanier High School, Johnston Elementary and Brinkley Middle School are participating in through the Jackson Roadmap to Health Equity Project, which is funded through a grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.

Beneta Burt is principal investigator of the project, which is removing barriers for food service workers to get healthy and stay healthy.

One barrier was lack of a place and time to exercise. Now Sly and others at Lanier work out with a personal trainer three mornings a week in sessions conveniently held in the school cafeteria.

Afternoon sessions take place at a fitness center housed in the old New Deal Supermarket near the Jackson Medical Mall for workers who don't have second job conflicts.

Sly attends both sessions.

"I'm enjoying the exercises, but it's work," Sly said. "At the gym, it's just like boot camp, running back and forth, a lot of routines."

Because of the program, workers are trying to be more creative with fruits and vegetable dishes to entice students to eat them, Sly said. The Alcorn State University Extension Service staff is assisting researchers with establishing a farmer's market near the old supermarket by the middle of June or early July.

Through lifestyle modifications, researchers hope the "long-term benefits will accrue to the students," Burt said. "Everybody has to model good health."

That's something Sly says is already happening.

"We bake a lot. In the near future, we will not fry at all," she says.

As cafeteria manager at Lanier, Sly realizes the importance of setting the example for her employees and students.

"Most of the people preparing the food are overweight. That motivates us," she said.

The mother of 21-year-old twin daughters has always struggled with her weight. At 5 feet 8 inches, she says her height has played a role in keeping the numbers on the scale down.

Some health concerns have pushed her to make lifestyle changes that will stick. Those changes include drinking more water and low-fat milk, taking vitamins, enjoying spinach salads and other greens and choosing fish, chicken or turkey instead of fatty meats.

"This is the time to do things for me. It's time to get up off the couch. I'm focusing on Julia, so I'll be able to still do things I want."

Her advice to others? "Understand you're gonna mess up. You'll have cravings. Have a little of what you want."

Most importantly "take it slow.

"If it comes off too fast, it's not gonna last."