Just about the time I heard about this trio, I read that researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill had proof that our circle of friends are as important to our health as, say, what we eat.
There was, of course, one important caveat: Please don’t kick your workout regimen and healthy diet to the curb.
It made all the sense in the world as I sat watching Pat Clemons, Monica Stump and Kathy Johnson recently make a 2-mile trek under the watchful eye of Leslie Sansone, designer of the in-door fitness program called Walk at Home.
Only this was the third-floor fitness center at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s Scottish Rite campus, Clemons’, Stump’s and Johnson’s home away from home.
The women work in the hospital’s Center for Craniofacial Disorders. Clemons, 60, and Stump, 50, schedule dental operating room surgeries. Johnson, 51, is the nurse coordinator.
Between the three of them, they have worked at the center for more than 30 years. But it wasn’t until last year that the women became exercise buddies.
It started one morning in October when Clemons spotted a 90-day challenge on the hospital's Careforce website encouraging employees to participate in a wide array of activities designed to help improve their health and well-being. Ditch the Diet Club. Fitness Classes. Stress Free Zones.
Clemons looked over at Stump and said let’s do it.
Without hesitating, Stump agreed.
Soon after the two of them signed on and completed a biometric assessment that told them how much of their weight was fat, how much was muscle and the amount of hydration in the body, they invited Johnson to the mix.
The challenge then was to reduce the fat and build muscle. That meant moving and eating a healthy diet, something Johnson, a former high school athlete, and Clemons did pretty regularly. Stump, not so much. Her idea of exercise was occasionally walking her Boston terrier Beatrice.
“I was working 10-hour days sitting at a desk from the time I clocked in 6 a.m. until the time I clocked out at about 4:30,” Stump said.
But she felt motivated. A week before her 50th birthday that month, Stump did a three-minute step test for the challenge and failed.
“It took my heart too long to get back to the resting state,” Stump said. “That test scared me.”
For someone her age, her heart muscles weren’t nearly strong enough. Cardio would help, she was told.
With Clemons’ encouragement, they began walking the 2 miles around the hospital complex that included some pretty steep hills, and before long the weight and the inches started to disappear.
Ninety days later, they are still at it, still gathering here at 6:30 a.m. to walk away the pounds.
"They're special and very unique," said Strong4Life Fitness Specialist coordinator Cami Mitelman. "They have done what we want everybody to do here. They've not only taken advantage of the resources provided, but they've taken it a step further and encouraged each other every step of the way."
Strong4Life is Children’s employee wellness program, which seeks to make choosing a healthy lifestyle fun. Fitness specialists such as Mitelman and dietitians are at each location to provide any help employees might need.
From the looks of things, Clemons, Stump and Johnson don’t need much. Just one another.
When they started three months ago, Clemons said she had reached a plateau.
“I was exercising but my weight remained the same and I had no definition in muscle,” she said. “I needed some help.”
Johnson was in similar shape. A resident of Lithonia, she regularly walked around and up and down Stone Mountain, but there was no one to hold her accountable when she wanted to stop.
“Pat and Monica hold me accountable,” Johnson said.
Accountable not just for the times she doesn’t feel like working out but when she’d rather have her favorite drinks, root beer and ginger ale, instead of water. Or two pieces of pie instead of one half of a slice.
Who’s the biggest motivator? They each point to one another but more often to Clemons.
“The way she lives is a testimony,” Stump said. “She doesn’t even have to speak. She does what she says she’s going to do. She eats what she’s supposed to eat. She does not cheat. She does not waver. She makes her own salad dressing. She makes zucchini spaghetti, grinds her own meat, and makes her own bread. She has gotten me off of canned soup and other processed food. And honestly if it weren’t for her, I would not drink water.”
While attending the popular "Bodies" exhibit several years ago, Clemons was reminded that we are "fearfully and wonderfully" made by God.
“What I tell Monica and Kathy and anyone I’m trying to encourage is that God has already created our bodies in such a special way it knows when healing is needed, rest is needed, and what is necessary to function daily,” Clemons said. “Whatever I can do to complement those is what I try to do.”
