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Duke’s Biggest Losers

Duke health and wellness programs provide motivation to lose weight

Tevante Clark, a Duke employee depdendent, runs steps at Wallace Wade Stadium. With help from Duke health management programs, he's lost over 200 pounds in the past two years. Photo by Bryan Roth.
Tevante Clark, a Duke employee depdendent, runs steps at Wallace Wade Stadium. With help from Duke health management programs, he's lost over 200 pounds in the past two years. Photo by Bryan Roth.

Tevante Clark started high school weighing 300 pounds, graduated at 380 and grew to 402 by his 20th birthday.

Upset about his size - which included size 52 or 54 pants and a 6XL shirt - he turned to food when he couldn't find solace in friends or family. He'd grab at least seven Oreos or Chips Ahoy! cookies and escape to his room, eat and sometimes cry.

Clark tried running and playing basketball regularly, only to quit two or three weeks later. A trial with weight loss pills helped him drop 60 pounds until his prescribed dosage ran out, and he put the weight back on.

"It was a really hard time," said Clark, 22. "I only knew how to eat to hide my emotion."

Until November 2011 when his mother, Beverly Clark, a communication center operator with the Office of Information Technology, introduced Tevante to LIVE FOR LIFE, Duke's employee wellness program. Tevante, who is eligible for the services as a dependent, enrolled in Pathways to Change, a year-long health management program that pairs participants with coaches who guide them along a path to wellness.

Tevante met with Duke doctors to discuss gastric bypass surgery but needed to first lose 40 pounds. He ran outside, played basketball with his cousins and lifted weights. Once he started dropping weight, he realized he didn't need surgery. In the two years since using LIVE FOR LIFE programs, Tevante has lost 202 pounds.

"When he lost 40 pounds with Duke's help, I had no worries about him losing weight after that," his mother said.

At a time when America is getting fatter and spending more money to fight obesity, Duke employees and their dependents are turning to Duke's benefits and programs to battle the bulge. According to the Centers for Disease Control, nearly 36 percent of Americans are considered obese, with almost a third of North Carolina's population obese with a body mass index of 30 or higher. At Duke, obesity levels have trended upward from 29.4 percent in 2006 to 39.7 percent in 2012, according to figures provided to LIVE FOR LIFE by employees recruited for weight-related surveys.

"Increasingly, weight gain is becoming a problem for many, but that's not the only issue when it comes to putting on more pounds," said Julie Joyner, manager for LIVE FOR LIFE. "Weight gain brings risk for other problems like high cholesterol and blood pressure."

Those health issues add up. Last year, Duke spent millions to help employees and covered family members pay for a variety of medical treatments, ranging from $3.9 million for hypertension to $6.1 million on diabetes.

"From doctor visits to co-pays, there are lots of associated costs when it comes to issues connected to consistent weight problems," said Kyle Cavanaugh, vice president for administration. "Investing in the well-being of our faculty and staff remins a strategic priority in managing our health care costs."

For Duke faculty, staff and their families, there are numerous programs available across campus to get fit and improve wellness. It's an important goal for LIVE FOR LIFE - to offer a way to stay in shape for no charge and qualify for discounted prescription medications.

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John Whitesides, in blue, assistant professor in the Duke Human Vaccine Institute, has found success dropping weight with the Duke Run/Walk Club. Photo by Duke Photography.

That's something John Whitesides is familiar with, having used nearly every LIVE FOR LIFE program to get his weight under control and de-stress in the process.

Whitesides, an assistant professor in the Duke Human Vaccine Institute, spent 20 years concentrating on his work and family but neglected himself. From ages 38 to 58, he went from 180 pounds to 224. He admits he may have also spent too many nights enjoying a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream before bed, too.

"I'm only 5-feet-7, so when I went in for a HealthCheck, I found out I was wildly overweight," Whitesides said. "I followed-up with a free fitness consultation to focus on my fitness and diet and also signed up for Pathways to Change."

With diet changes and daily walks, Whitesides dropped to 208 pounds. But it was his participation in Duke's Run/Walk Club that made the biggest difference. As a part of Duke's free, weekly group for social exercise, Whitesides found accountability among his peers, who helped push him to stick with his running program and drop weight.

"Whatever your pace, there are people there who are your same speed and they want you to show up every week," said Whitesides, who weighed 188 pounds in late October, the same month he ran his first half-marathon.

To stay motivated outside of his weekly run sessions, Whitesides sets aside time for Take Ten, LIVE FOR LIFE's self-directed program to fit 10 minutes of fitness into part of the day, and Take the Stairs, where participants record the number of steps they climb each day. Both programs offer "LIVE FOR LIFE dollars" as prizes for participation, which can be spent at the LIVE FOR LIFE store on items like pedometers, fitness equipment and workout DVDs.

These life changes are particularly important for adults like Whitesides as they age. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on addressing public health issues, has found that obesity for adults at age 65 decreases life expectancy of men by 1.6 years and 1.4 years for women. Overall, being overweight or obese was associated with 18.2 percent of all deaths among American adults from 1986 through 2006.

However, more Duke employees are taking responsibility for their health decisions. According to LIVE FOR LIFE survey results, the percentage of self-reporting faculty and staff who "seldom or never exercise" has dropped from 12 percent to 4 percent in the past three years.

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With advice from Duke fitness managers and by working out five days a week, Julia Davis, a respiratory care practitioner, has lost 70 pounds in a little over a year. Photo by Duke photography.

"Working in healthcare, you see what happens when people get older and have health issues, but I never had any problems even though I've always been a big girl," said Julia Davis, respiratory care practitioner at Duke. "But last summer, I stopped in the LIVE FOR LIFE health fair at Duke Hospital and found out my blood pressure was high."

At the time, Davis' blood pressure put her on the brink of hypertension and relying on medication to improve her condition. Instead, she used the Duke Fitness Club, a network of facilities that offer discounted membership to Duke employees and their families, and joined Raleigh's Planet Fitness and Duke's Brodie and Wilson recreation centers. She also signed up with Pathways to Change to learn wellness tips and to get encouragement to reach her goals, like drinking 10 cups of water a day.

Now, Davis works out five days a week - sometimes with a personal trainer. By mixing cardio with weight training and cutting down on soda and eating fast food, she's lost 70 pounds since July 2012. Her blood pressure is now in a normal range.

"Before, my resting heart rate was typically 80 or 90 beats a minute, but now it's 70 to 75," Davis said. "It meant a lot to have help from LIVE FOR LIFE because it made me feel accountable for my accomplishments."

That mindset has been key for Tevante Clark, the son of a Duke employee who lost 202 pounds and now weighs just under 200. His transformation has left him slimmer and more proud and confident in himself. He's dropped about 20 pant sizes and wears medium or large shirts instead of 6XL.

While he took a break from studying journalism at Vance-Granville Community College to focus on his health, he's heading back to class this winter.

"Any time you push yourself to accomplish something like this, it comes with ups and downs, but you have to stay true to yourself," Clark said. "You can change. You just have to learn to want it."