33-year-old has a pound-a-thon as part of his weight-loss plan

Friday May 18, 2007 The News

By Cathy Weselby
Silicon Valley Willow Glen Reporter

Zach Crawford is a big man who has made a decision that most likely will save his life.

At 455 pounds and with a 71-inch waist in March, the Willow Glen resident committed to losing 150 pounds. It was a decision he reached when he recently celebrated his 33rd birthday.

The moment of truth hit when he was making a U-turn. As he turned the steering wheel to the left, it wouldn't release back because his stomach was in the way. Crawford realized that it was time to get serious about losing weight.

Years of inactivity and a penchant for fast foods and sweets have all contributed to his hefty size. But Crawford isn't going it alone; he has a mass of support. Aiding his progress is a coach, girlfriend, co-workers, a blogging community and a cause.

His cause is to help stop childhood obesity through a pound-a-thon. People can donate a penny or more for every pound that Crawford loses during a three-month period.

Crawford decided to donate the money he raises to Bay Area Committed to Kids (BACTK), a pediatric lifestyle and weight management practice. The organization is for-profit, but Crawford was attracted to its mission of helping children with weight problems develop better eating habits and a healthier lifestyle.

BACTK co-founders Dr. Jamie Wallach and Kris von Almen, Ph.D., would like to use the funds for clients who don't have health insurance coverage.

Wallach is a pediatrician and former dietician, and von Almen has worked in the field of pediatric weight management for more than 20 years.

"I think what Zach is doing is heroic. For him to have the wherewithal to undertake losing this amount of weight and to also do something altruistic is admirable," von Almen says.

Crawford is working with San Jose resident and Olympic-trained former gymnast Marty Sharpe to reach his goal.

"The most important factor is Zach's mental attitude. He's accepted that he's overweight and that he needs to change his lifestyle. Now he's willing to accept facts and turn it around," says Sharpe, who is a wellness coach.

The subject of obesity has been making headlines recently as its prevalence comes to light. The Department of Health and Human Services reports that one-third of all Americans are obese, and that 18 percent of children and adolescents are overweight.

Last month, former President Bill Clinton spoke to a group of school board members in San Francisco about the epidemic of childhood obesity. Clinton said that for the first time in American history, today's generation of children could live shorter lives than their parents due to obesity.

Like overweight children today, Crawford's weight problem started early.

When he was a child, Crawford says he had acid-reflux disease due to a weak esophageal sphincter. He mistook heartburn for hunger pangs and would feel "hungry" around eight times a day.

When he'd satisfy his hunger, it would be with junk food. His parents would hide their candy bars, but Crawford would usually find their stash of Snickers and Paydays.

At 17, he started taking Zantac for his acid reflux, and noticed he didn't feel "hungry" for two days and that he felt gurgling in his stomach. He learned that this sensation was hunger pangs.

By then, however, his junk food habit was firmly entrenched and continued through his 20s. He says living with other bachelors and across the street from a Little Caesar's Pizza didn't help, either.

The surgeon general says overweight adolescents have a 70 percent chance of becoming overweight or obese adults, and this number increases to 80 percent if one or more parents is overweight.

Von Almen says the increase in obesity is caused by a variety of societal factors: processed food, heavy computer use, hectic schedules and sedentary lifestyles.

"We reach for something easy and drive through the fast-food place for dinner, and we end up consuming too many calories," von Almen says.

To help change this approach to diet, von Almen and Wallach treat the whole family rather than just the overweight child, which means everyone is learning new lifelong healthy habits.

"One of the most important things that families can do is to have dinner together a couple of times of week, and without the television," Wallach says.

The encouraging news is that with each pound Crawford sheds, he lengthens his life. According to the surgeon general, overweight or obese adults are at risk for a number of health problems including heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and some forms of cancer.

"I think about food constantly," Crawford says.

He says every time he passes a fast-food restaurant, he thinks about his favorite order there.

Von Almen says there are strategies to retrain the brain help to change one's behavior.

"For example, if I'm tempted by Starbucks, I change my route so I don't pass by Starbucks every day," von Almen says.

Crawford says he has attempted to lose weight in the past with limited success. He's tried the Atkins diet, low-calorie frozen meals, meal-replacement systems and drugs such as Phentermine, an appetite suppressant. None of them worked.

His current program includes a meal-replacement system called Isagenix and a daily exercise regimen.

Every five days, Crawford does a two-day "cleanse," which consists of drinking 200 ounces of water with dietary supplements and minimal food intake. During a cleanse, he's permitted to eat the company's high-fiber cakes, celery sticks and all the gum he can chew. He says he's partial to IceBreakers Sours.

The other five days consist of a shake in the morning, lunch of up to 600 calories and under 20 grams of fat, and another shake for dinner.

Crawford is not under a doctor's care because he doesn't have health insurance. Wallach did review Crawford's weight-loss plan and says that she prescribes a meal-replacement system similar to Isagenix, and likes that the program permits meals in addition to the shakes.

"When someone starts a meal-replacement system, they are able to reduce cravings much quicker than with a diet because a meal-replacement system is designed to re-create physiologically the feeling of being full and satisfied," Wallach says.

His coach set a goal of 45 minutes of cardio exercise daily. Sharpe suggested the elliptical trainer because Crawford was too heavy to use the treadmill. Every time he'd step down on the belt, it would stop. It took Crawford three weeks until he could achieve the set time on the elliptical. He says his feet would fall asleep after 15 minutes, so he'd have to break it up and do other activities. But Crawford is determined to get his weight down. He works out every day, even weekends.

"People want a quick fix, but to lose weight effectively people need to look at a long-term solution of managing their diet and sticking to an exercise program," Sharpe says.

But not everyone thinks Crawford's approach is the right way to go.

Registered dietician Stephanie Brooks, owner of Campbell-based Bay Area Nutrition, cautions that a liquid diet and rapid weight loss can be dangerous.

"I really have a problem with these semi-starvation diets," Brooks says. "Most people who go this route lose the weight rapidly and then gain it all back."

Brooks strongly recommends medical supervision for anyone attempting to lose a significant amount of weight.

Dr. Martin Yee, an internist at O'Connor Hospital, is leery of cleansing programs such as Isagenix.

"There's no medical evidence that these types of programs work," Yee says.

Yee also directs the Center for Health and Weight Management in San Jose and recommends weekly medical supervision for a low-calorie diet, which he says quantifies as between 500 to 800 calories per day.

"I check my patients' lab work every two weeks to measure electrolytes and monitor their liver and kidney functions," Yee says.

Crawford says he is aware of the consequences of losing weight so rapidly and acknowledges that during the weight reduction process he should have his blood pressure and electrolyte levels monitored.

Although Crawford continues his regiment without medical supervision, he is getting psychological and moral support from his co-workers.

One co-worker has vowed to not eat in the office when Crawford is doing one of his cleanse days. Crawford's girlfriend of two years was also helpful; for his birthday, she made a festive cake of vegetables and fat-free whipped cream.

Now he has another goal--being able to get on a scale at home. Currently, Crawford has to weigh himself at the San Jose main post office once every nine days, where the scale can accommodate his bulk.

This time around Crawford thinks his plan has sticking power, and one of the ways he is reinforcing his effort is to rely on the Internet.

Crawford created a blog, which he says has been a big boost because it makes him accountable. He promised himself in the beginning that he would blog about everything, and not hide when he slips up. He regularly posts videos, which also are uploaded on YouTube, and other dieters have found Crawford as a result.

One month into the program, Crawford has lost 35 pounds and is up to 50 minutes of cardio exercise a day. He says he feels good and his stomach no longer reaches the steering wheel.

His ultimate goal is to drop down to between 250 and 280 pounds, but he realizes it will take a couple of years to get there, since it took a lifetime to reach his current weight.

"He's committed. He's made a stand to get healthy and as a result, he'll have a better quality of life," Sharpe says.

The road to reaching his goal means a lifetime of change. But according to one of Crawford's most recent blog entries, he is ready to commit.

"I don't want to weigh 400 pounds anymore, I don't want to weigh 300 pounds. I want to be healthy, and now, I am beginning to understand what that means, for me and for the people around me. Boy, this is beginning to sound really serious, I just really like to say that, I want to be healthy. Not, I want a cheeseburger, not, I want Johnny Rocket's chili cheese fries with onions on top. I just want to be healthy, and now I see a way to get there."

To track Zach Crawford's progress or to contribute to his pound-a-thon, visit www.zach4life.com. To learn more about Bay Area Committed to Kids, visit www.bactk.com.