WOW participants at the start of the programme. (Front row, L-R): Jacqueline Smith, Melanie Jackson, Summer LaRue, Dwayne Stirling and Ruby McLaughlin. (Back row, L-R): Ann Marie Bush, Leandra Charles, Dwight Ebanks, Latoya Dixon and Sherryann Brooks.

By Mwangi Ngamate
mwangi@caymannetnews.com

The Cayman Heart Fund kicked off a campaign on Tuesday, 18 November, that will see 14 people compete to lose weight.

The participants of the War on Weight (WOW) programme, selected from diverse backgrounds and professions throughout the Cayman Islands, will compete to lose weight in a healthy way through 8 February 2009.

In an event held at the Brick House restaurant, WOW participants signed contracts that will require them to strictly adhere to a rigorous exercise and dieting regime.

They will be required to be at the programme’s “boot camp” five times a week at 5:30 am for a workout.

Dr Frits Hendriks of the Cayman Heart Fund told Cayman Net News that people the world over are under siege by diseases caused by excess weight, which lowers the potential of the body to resist disease.

The WOW programme includes the services of nutrition expert Chad Collins and personal trainer Ernest Ebanks, and this combination, Dr Hendriks said, would ensure the effectiveness of the programme.

During the WOW launch, Mr Ebanks said that from 14 years of experience he knows that the war on weight is ongoing and the programme should be a precursor of things to come for the participants.

He said toning has to be done consistently and combined with behavioural changes to be effective.
“It is a lifestyle,” he said.

Mr Ebanks said he had already developed an exercise programme for the competition and participants just had to “kick it.”

Dr Hendriks said most people believed the fallacy that if you walked for a long distance and lifted weights, that was considered enough exercise.

“Indeed you will be fit to walk and you can grow muscles, yet remain fat,” he said, “You have to include vigorous activity to your exercise programme to make it successful.”

The doctor continued, “Next time you take your dog for a walk, make the walk brisk and if you go to the gym make sure you use the treadmill or the exercise bike.”

Dr Sook Yin, Medical Director of the Cayman Heart Fund, said weight-loss methods advertised on television could have undesired consequences.

“If you lose weight you need to use diet and exercise as the only correct way. Drugs, herbs, diuretics or other weight-loss medicines will not be allowed in this programme,” she said.

“These drugs are not even approved by the FDA (the US Federal Drug Administration), their side effects are not known and nobody knows whether they interfere with prescription drugs. The safe way to deal with them is to ensure that no one consumes them,” added Dr. Yin.

Mr Collins said there is a correct way to lose weight and eat healthily.

Individuals who do not consult nutritionists and dieticians tend to cut down their food intake, he said, but in the process can rob themselves of the ability to take in minerals and vitamins.

As a result, eating disorders can set in and they also bring negative consequences.

Anorexia, bulimia and binge eating are some of the eating disorders that can be pitfalls for people trying to lose weight.

Anorexia is where patients experience sudden weight loss as a result of strict feeding controls. It is a serious disorder, with death as a possible result.

Bulimia involves secret bouts of over-eating followed by guilt and purging through induced vomiting or the use of laxatives.

Binge-eating disorder involves people who eat constantly. Behind this behaviour is often an assumption that the individual can lose weight after binging, through exercise.

However, more often than not, such patients do not usually start weight control and keep procrastinating, Mr Collins said.

Leandra Charles, one of the WOW participants, told Cayman Net News that despite the fact that she is not obese, she has been categorised as overweight for her height and is therefore eligible for the programme.

“You gain five pounds on top of another five pounds until you become obese, and so it is important that I shed the five pounds now rather than later,” she said.

The Cayman Heart Fund was founded in May 2007 as a non-profit, non-governmental organisation dedicated to the reduction of heart and circulatory disease in the Cayman Islands. Heart and circulatory disease, known as cardiovascular disease, is the biggest health problem in the Cayman Islands.

The Cayman Heart Fund has so far provided free blood pressure and blood test screening for more than 1,000 Cayman Islands residents through free clinics held in George Town and Bodden Town.