European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 15, 1969, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 16 the stars and stripes wed siday january 13, 1969 Kar Mursel Turkey tops members give mrs. Richard Lange pig of week plaque and bad time for gaming. By Mary Ann Reese staff writer fat Naji of n some parts of the world women Are considered Beautiful sign of Prosperity and Good health. A Young Bride in some primitive Afri can societies for example is expected to sit in her House stuffing herself wit food All Day. The More roly poly she be comes the better testimony she is to he husband s ability to support her. Men and women in modern european societies too accept Stout Ness As part of growing older gracefully. Skinny people Are suspect. They appear somehow in in America things Are different. Pity the fat Man and especially the fat woman in America. Never mind if they re Jolly Strong As a horse and appear in the Pink of health. For the overweight in America there s Norest. Assaulted verbally and visually on All sides the More than ample Ameri can can t enter a drug store or turn on the television without a barrage of sure cures for weight problems. It s All smiles for mrs. Selma Broadhurst when mrs. Violet Bush weighs her and finds he has t gained during week. Doctors Are forever nagging that extra pounds promote heart disease High blood pressure and Are sure to shorten life. Unsympathetic spouses friends and acquaintances drop hints that obesity is merely a matter of weakness Over indulgence of giving in to gluttony. Any Way you look at it Jackie Glea son and Minnesota fats aside it s simply not in to be fat in America. But the Battle of the bulge can be Alife Long struggle for its victims a lonely struggle. Nagging of doctors loved ones and self guilt often makes overweight people so upset they Patmore for Comfort. Losing weight de mands tremendous doses of self control. Fortunately there s tops. The organization known As take off pounds sen Sibly was started in 1948 when four Mil Waukee wis., women could t follow their doctor s orders and reduce so the banded together for moral support. It worked for them and now tops has grown to phenomenal proportions. As of last september reports e. Fisher of the Eifel by fails tops club in Pitburg Germany there were 9,051 tops chapters throughout the world including clubs in american military communities in Germany puerto Rico Turkey Italy England Japan Alaska and even Cuba. And they apparently Are getting re sults. During 1967 tops members lost a total 1,798,087 pounds. And members of 10 clubs in Germany there now Are More than double that number Losta total 1,291 pounds. Strictly a non profit organization tops is open to any Man woman or child declared by his physician to be10 pounds or More overweight. Like alcoholics Anonymous tops operates on the premise that it s easier to exercise self control if you know somebody witha similar problem is watching and fighting the same opposes crash diets and faddish reducing schemes and it forbids Mem Bers to associate the tops name with any commercial weight reducing method or product. The whole idea i to change your eating habits says or. Violet Bush Mannheim Germany who is Captai Nof tops clubs in Germany. We Tell our members just go Home and eat what you have been eating but less of it. If a person loses slow and steady thence won t get flabby and to i not so easy to gain it Back. It shows you Are Chang ing your eating habits and that s what s humor is for tops members Amott essential ingredient. Although los ing weight is a serious business the like to kid themselves along the difficult path to slim Hood. They laugh a Lotin their meetings and make fun of them selves even publicly. One tops club in Florida hired the billboard of a prominent hamburger stand and printed in big bold letters for the world to see tops Don t eat Here they also get rid of frustrations by singing. One favorite to the tune of Battle hymn of the Republic goes mine eyes have seen my image inthe Mirror on the door i was horrified at what i saw Wen almost through the floor i know it is inherited my folks were fat before the pounds Are piling on. Slaying with kops is a Good moral Booster. After a while if you lose so much weight you Start thinking no body will know if i eat just a Little extra if you stay with the club you Aren tas Likely to do it. Also it s a Good morale Booster for tops members to see you every week and know Well if she could do it so can i six members of the Mannheim club during an interview unanimously agreed there were special problems fur overweight women connected with the military , they said was a big Factor. In the states a lot of military wives Artheria Wright and her mom in. Henry a. Mcgilbery help each other resist. It s my thyroid and my live Rand my nerves Are All a quiver thoughts of diets make me shiver the pounds Are piling on and so it in private they Don t take their tops membership lightly. I simply Don t have the self contralto lose weight by said mrs. Selma Broadhurst wife of staff sgt. Wil Liam h. Broadhurst in Mannheim. Mother of five children she already has lost her prescribed number of pounds and now is a kit kops to waiting. I she holds her weight for three months she will graduate with fanfare to second half of the organization called keep off pounds s a smart idea to stay in kops says mrs Beatrice Unrue wife of Unrue who just recently re enlisted in kops. She had been a top number in the status had lost weight but then gained it Back. Now the s Downto a trim 120 pounds and intends to stay there. Work. But Here quartered up the Wayne Are it s a bigger temptation to eat your troubles away said mrs. of s. Sgt. Clarence a Bush. There s More tension Here too for our husbands on their jobs and of course they bring those tensions is a terrible Hazard for people with a weight problem overseas is finding clothes to unanimously wished at least one Post Exchange in the area would carry better selection of bigger sizes. " i sew my own clothes but if i could t sew i d be in trouble said mrs. Mary Mcgilbery wife of spec. 5henry a. Mcgilbery who has lost 40 pounds with . J went to Tje pm the other Day to buy � new dress said no her top member and they Only had two dresses in size a and both of them looked too horrible to wednesday january 15, 1969 the stars and stripes Page 17 is photos by Scott Gates red Grandy loser tops members who made it to kops Are mrs. Unroe and mrs. Johnson. The six talked about other prob lems of being overweight and ways they fought their private people have the reputation of being Jolly and laughing a lot said mrs. Bush. If they do Well they re crying on the although most said their husbands adn t particularly nagged about their weight they thought the men in their lives probably would prefer them thin. Let s face it said mrs. Bush. Aman would rather have his wife slim especially if he married her slim. But usually they love us too much to Hurt our feelings. I think a lot of husband get discouraged because when we lose they Tell us Nice things. Then we gain Witback. They think we re a Bunch of reaction of family members to a diet ing person is important. My husband was willing to do with out some foods because he said it would be too templing for me to have to fix them said mrs. Unrue. Not my husband said mrs. Mcgil-bery., he just tells me Don t eat " she gets a different kind of help in he family too. Her daughter miss Artheria Wright also is a tops member so the keep each other away from the refrigerator family help comes in the form of Little Young son of one tops Mem Ber saw me one Day and said did you know my Mother eats Peanut butter sandwiches the next time we saw Here really gave her a bad time. I bet she does t eat Peanut butter sandwiches any More. At least not when her son s around said mrs. Bush. Tops members use different methods of dieting. Some Cut out starches. Some simply eat less of . Irmgard Johnson wife of spec. 6 Donald Johnson who lost 18 pounds i five months and now has graduated to kops said she counted calories. Used to write Down the calories of every thing i ate. I Cut out eating potatoes mandate More meat. I used to Fry Chicken. Now i Broil u. I Don t have to count calories any More. My diet habits have changed completely so it s no Story of How she came to join tops is Mother of five mrs. Johnson said she simply could t control the urge treat. One Day i was sitting in my Home eating and i really got disgusted with nose f. I thought i m an alcoholic for food then i heard about tops. I Don think i could have done it without is a lust resort for Many peo ple says mrs. Bush who has Bee affiliated with the organization for 11 years. It s easy to blame thyroid or today it runs in the family. But finally a woman has to come to the Point of admitting the Only thing Between an Over weight her and a slim her is her woman i know said she could t possibly lose. Had never been Able Tolose weight. Then she joined tops. When she first weighed in under 200pounds she cried. She said she could t remember when she had last weighed under 200." the weighing in is a big part of s the first item of business at the weekly meetings. Exact weight charts Are kept on each member and sent in to National tops Headquarters where they Are kept forever. There Are National contests with prizes for the individual who loses the most weight during a year and the club that collectively loses the most weight. If a tops member moves her membership can be transferred tothe new organization and she s still in the annual competitions. There also Are contests within individual clubs. Weekly contests monthly con tests any kind of contest to encourage members to be losers. Tops works on the rewards and punishment system. A member who loses weight during a week might Wear paper top which boasts i lost pounds this if a member loses More weight than anyone else in the club during one week she is Queen forthe for gainers it s another gainer must Wear a Little pig which admits i gained pounds t a i and the member gaining More than any other must place on her refrigerator door a Large paper pig which says pig of the it remain there until the next meeting. Believe me you think twice before you open that refrigerator door in a weak moment said one Mannheim member who knows. Sometimes All gainers during a week must stand up before fellow members and sing to the tune of my Bonnie lies Over the Ocean these words of we Are the pigs of this top club yes we Are the gainers this Weekok we Are the pigs who have cheated have eaten and now we must squeak. Oink of info oink oink Promise to follow my diet and then oink oink oink oink won t cheat till i m slender again. We Don t like outsiders to Call us pigs because we re not said mrs. Bush. But we can Call ourselves that i club issuing fines also is a popular Way to curb appetites. Sometimes clubs have each member put up 50 cents with pledge to lose so much weight during the week. It she does she gets he Money Back. If not she loses the Money and must come to the next club meeting wearing a Sheet. To help members Over Holiday periods some clubs Fine members 50 cents a Pound gained Over Holiday seasons an there s a $1 Fine if a member fails to show up at meetings after the Don t eat when you know it s costing you 50 cents a Pound said on member. Funds from fines go to buy gifts for losers. The clubs never serve refreshments at their meetings unless it s a Demon stration of diet foods and Are encouraged to join the clubs and Munich and Augsburg clubs in Ger Many Are reported to have male Mem meetings also Are devoted to talks by nutritionists or by Beauty experts with tips on new hair Dos new fashions new make up for the Slimmer woman. If you be been fat for 20 years it shard to know How to change your Hairdo to fit the new you says mrs. Bush. Although exercise is not an integral part of tops exercise classes often Are organized for general muscle tone and for spot reducing for members with problems losing in the legs or hips or other areas. National tops leaves exercise unto the individual groups says mrs. Bush. Some groups swim or take Sauna Baths before the meeting. In Frankfurt they each member is automatically a National member and receives monthly editions of the tops news which gives tips on How others have lost effectively suggests Low calorie recipes and does before and after interviews with members who have succeeded i reaching their Ideal weight. It sponsors National conventions and in general encourages members to keep that self con members from Mannheim of Fer these suggestions for would be diet ers. Keep lettuce celery and Carrot washed and whenever that craving to eat strikes help you must have Candy in the House buy Only kinds you Don t a Friend with similar problems whenever you feel an overwhelming urge to Little signs on your refrigerator reminding you not to give in to temptation. One member said she got so nervous Raveling on vacations that she d have a Quick snack at each Gas Stop. So now boil rocks before i go and hold them in my Mouth. Now i get Back from vacations 7 or 8 pounds lighter. Also it keeps my Mouth quiet which my the diet veterans also warn Newcom ers to prepare for patterns in their diet ing. Usually it s easy to lose a few pounds the first weeks one cuts Down on you reach a leveling off period when your system is adjusting. That when the real test comes. You Start thinking what s the use i m no los ing anyway but you will All the Mannheim tops members inter viewed Promise this. Nobody promises that dieting will be easy. It won t. But tops members in Sist it can be done and can even Befun. Tomorrow How to Start your Owa tops club and a few Low calorie Reci Pes. Mrs. Donald Johnson. I could t have done it without tops mrs. William Unrue lost weight gained it Back then lost again. This is a before photo like those All tops members must submit
