“Health: Reverend setting fitness example for black community - Peoria Journal Star” |
| Health: Reverend setting fitness example for black community - Peoria Journal Star Posted: 24 Sep 2010 09:06 PM PDT Checking in on the Rev. James Bailey since he kicked off his weight-loss challenge in July: Pledges are still coming in for each pound he loses by November. Most pledges are in the 50 cents to $2 range, but one man pledged a straight $1,000. More members of Ward Chapel AME Church, where he is the minister, have joined him on the weight-loss bandwagon. Unlike Bailey, they haven't turned their personal goal into a public challenge. Other community groups have contacted him to talk about getting involved in the church's Healthy Living Campaign, which is the larger goal behind the 41-year-old minister's efforts to get back to his high school weight. Notably, Philip Lockwood, an organizer of the annual Steamboat Classic race and Building Steam, the fitness training before the race, has talked with Bailey about helping the church develop community-based fitness programs. After 35 years, the Steamboat Classic committee has earned a reputation for bringing world class athletes to Peoria, Lockwood says. Now the committee wants to use its expertise to get people physically active in their neighborhoods. "Some people may need help getting out the door," Lockwood says. "What the church wants to do wraps around nicely with what we've been talking about for some time." Additionally, Lockwood says his group has been looking for avenues to reach out to the local black community. "For the last 20 years, a majority of the (Steamboat Classic) winners have been Africans, but hardly any African-Americans participate," Lockwood says. "How can we call ourselves a community event if we're not representing the African-American community?" As much as Bailey wants to lose his own weight, he wants to see black church congregations take on the weight of reducing the prevalence of obesity among African-Americans, along with the high rates of hypertension, diabetes and heart disease that come with those excess pounds. Ward Chapel celebrates its 164th anniversary Oct. 17. Bailey notes. "A lot of wonderful things have happened in that time, but the question I raise is what difference would it make if we weren't here?" For Bailey, promoting healthier lifestyles is the difference he can make for himself and the difference the church can help make for an entire community. So, how much weight has he lost since Ward Chapel kicked off the Healthy Lifestyles campaign in July, with a day-long community health fair and a minister's weight-loss challenge? As of Monday, Bailey was down 14 pounds, almost halfway toward his goal of 30 pounds to be lost by Nov. 6, but not as close to his overall 50-pound goal as he'd like to be. He's encountered familiar challenges along the way - challenges familiar, at least, to anyone who has ever tried to lose weight. There was that week-long church conference in St. Louis earlier this month and the small pressure of trying to eat healthy when there's not a lot of time and the choices are either fast-food restaurants or hotel or restaurant buffets. "Especially with buffets," he says, "you have a lot of choices to get into stuff you don't need." He managed by selecting more vegetables than meat and staying away from condiments. But, whether eating at home or on the road, he also felt his daily morning workouts at the gym weren't enough. He was beginning to plateau, he says, so he switched locations and routines, going from jogging and working out on machines at the gym to the church basement, following along to "Insanity by Beachbody," which bills itself as the "Ultimate Cardio Workout and Fitness DVD Program." Shortly after 7 a.m. on a recent weekday morning, Bailey walked through the church sanctuary in gym shorts and T-shirt, worn out from the video workout. "No bones about it," he says, "I'll have 30 pounds off by the next weigh-in." Anything else is "unimaginable." He gets inspired when he imagines the possibilities of a collaboration between the church and the Steamboat Classic organizers. "What would be exciting for me," he says, "is putting together a walk/run and race that addresses African-American health issues."
Pam Adams can be reached at 686-3245 or padams@pjstar.com. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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