Bonnie Martin (right) the weight recorder for TOPS, weighs members prior to each weekly meeting. Although weighing isn’t mandatory, it helps members to know how well they are doing at meeting their goals. On the scale is Shirley Bailey, leader of the chapter. (Richard McGuire photo)

You won’t find expensive meal packages, celebrity endorsements or claims about easy and rapid weight loss when you show up for a meeting of the Osoyoos TOPS chapter.

You will find a group of senior women – and perhaps a man or two – who have made a long-term commitment to healthy lifestyle habits and sensible, nutritious eating.

TOPS, which stands for Taking Off Pounds Sensibly, is a non-profit group with chapters throughout North America, including the past 36 years in Osoyoos.

The remarkable thing is that none of the women in the room at the Osoyoos Baptist Church basement appears overweight. Sure a few of them say they didn’t manage to stay within their weight targets that week, but it’s clear that for these women at least, the program is working.

Many of these women have been with TOPS for years. Even when they travel, they’ll look up the chapter in the community they’re visiting, and they’ll make new friends there.

Barb Schwindt, the chapter’s co-leader and new member coach, first started with TOPS in 1981. But she took a break for about five years when her husband’s health and a family business left her with no free time.

“Sure enough, I gained the weight,” she said.

That often happens when members give up the peer support and weekly weigh-ins that keep them accountable, on track and motivated.

The meetings start at 10:30 a.m. each Thursday, but during the half hour before the meetings, Bonnie Martin, the weight recorder, checks the weight of members at a confidential and voluntary weigh-in.

At the meeting, anyone who says they’ve lost weight is congratulated and has an opportunity to say how this was achieved, said Schwindt. Those who didn’t lose weight receive encouragement and support from the group.

There may be a speaker from among the members providing tips and suggestions.

“The program is usually fun and full of a lot of information to digest,” said Shirley Bailey, the leader of the chapter.

Membership fluctuates through the year as some Osoyoos residents head south in the winter and Prairie snowbirds move in to take their place.

It usually ranges between around 12 and 15 members – sometimes more, said Bailey.

One such part-time resident is Jean Tipler, from Camrose, Alberta, who used to spend winters in Yuma, Arizona, but now comes to Osoyoos from November to the end of March. She participates in TOPS in Camrose and also did in Yuma.

Some members are considered to be in KOPS, which stands for Keep Off Pounds Sensibly. They’ve lost the weight, but they want to maintain it. Some have been coming for decades.

“They continue to come because frequently the situation is with any weight loss group, if you quit, the weight tends to come back on,” said Schwindt. “That’s why I have to weigh in every week.”

Members eat regular foods and prepare their own meals, but they learn about healthier foods they can substitute for the ones that are high in calories.

It’s about adapting lifestyles, setting goals, adopting physical activity and eating sensibly.

Before beginning a program, a doctor or other medical person needs to approve the goals, said Schwindt.

Recommended weight-loss goals are typically between a pound or a pound and a half per week, said Schwindt, though she aimed for half a pound a week and found that easy to achieve.

Fad diets may offer more dramatic weight loss in the short term, but without the support of a group and the change in lifestyle, people often put the weight right back on. And they may experience health problems, the women said.

Some of the celebrity-endorsed programs can also end up being quite expensive for the products, in addition to the fees charged.

With TOPS, the first meeting is free. And, as a non-profit group, the fees are an affordable $44 per year plus a chapter fee of just $2 a month. Membership includes a bi-monthly magazine with helpful tips.

People can learn more about TOPS at www.tops.org and they can call Barb Schwindt at 250-495-6016 to learn about the Osoyoos TOPS Chapter.

RICHARD McGUIRE

Osoyoos Times