Getting the weight off the force
Police get tips on food choices
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Steven O'Hara is good at losing weight, but he's just as good at putting it back on.
"I have no idea how to diet," said the MBTA Transit Police officer. "I lost 51 pounds on Weight Watchers and gained it all back, and I do Atkins every other week, 4 pounds of hamburger dipped in mayonnaise," he added, referring to the popular diet that drastically limits carbohydrates.
With his weight creeping toward the 300-pound mark, he signed up for a nutrition and fitness regimen for MBTA Transit Police officers and administrators, sponsored by the Wellbeing program at Shaw's Supermarkets.
The 16 participants met for the first time early this month with nutritionist and Wellbeing program manager Jennifer Shea. For 17 weeks, they will learn strategies for healthier eating and exercise that will work with their schedules.
That won't be easy. Officers often work 17-hour days, and they can't carry lunch pails because duty switches without warning from patrol car to MBTA station to riding the trains. They buy meals on the run during 20-minute breaks that bring new meaning to the phrase "fast food."
But fast food is not necessarily bad food, according to Shea, and the group needs a plan based on reality.
"We have to use what's in front of us. Even in fast-food restaurants, there are healthy choices we can make," said Shea. At the
At the meeting, Shea produced a scale for an optional weigh-in, and an officer dramatically scooped it up and skulked out into the hall in a joking gesture. No one elected to use it.
"We're talking about small steps you can incorporate into your everyday life," said Shea as she handed out pedometers. Ten thousand steps a day equals 5 miles and can eliminate 8 pounds of fat in a year.
But most police officers don't walk a quarter of that on duty. Forget the cop show image, chasing perpetrators through alleys. Police work is largely sedentary, with rare bursts of action.
Fitness coach Peter Lavelle will lead workouts at the station and talk to participants to figure out how they can fit more exercise into their daily routines. For example, in quiet times on an MBTA platform, they could step up on a bench 20 times or take a few turns down the platform.
Those spending the day in a cruiser have fewer options. Lavelle suggests keeping a can of soup on the front seat and doing bicep curls at red lights.
"But the number one way to exercise in the car is get out of it," said Lavelle.
When MBTA Transit Police Chief Paul MacMillan first heard the program proposal, he worried that too few people would sign up, but he ended up with a waiting list.
"This is a fantastic opportunity. It's really going to be behavior modification. We know what we're supposed to do. It's just finding ways to do it," said MacMillan.
Participants left the meeting with food diaries in their hands and pedometers on their belts, eager to begin. For the next three days, they were to keep an unvarnished record of everything they ate and how many steps they took.
Next week, Shea will use the data to set individual goals for each person.
"People at work hide food from me, but I'm not judging anybody. I want you to be honest," said Shea.
