European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 8, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Berlin airman beats the Odds Sis Ron Jonson master sgt Ron Johnson is proof that regular exercise and Good nutrition a not diets a Are the keys to effective weight loss. By Ron Jensen Nurnberg Bureau master sgt. Ron Johnson s eyes Glaze and his neck Straightens at the mention of his favorite subject. Quot its changed my life Quot says 15-year air Force Veteran. With that Johnson by nature a bit reserved and reluctant to discuss himself is unstoppable. The Berlin airman becomes an evangelist turned onto his subject by an inner hidden switch. And for the next 30 minutes or so Johnson discusses his conversion from a too heavy airman testing the envelope of his weight limit to a slender marathoner whose palate has not tasted a French Fry in More than a year. Quot the Day does t go by that someone does t walk up to me and say boy you be really lost weight a Quot he says. Indeed. In August of last year Johnson was challenging the endurance of his uniform. He has a picture to prove it one of him and Chicago Bear coach Mike Ditka who was in town to Lead his team through an exhibition game. In the photo Johnson barely resembles the Man he is today. His face then was Fleshy. So was his Middle. At 235 pounds he says the 6 feet 5 inches of Pittsburgh native was one Pound below his allowed weight limit and 25 pounds above his weight when he entered the air Force 15 years earlier. Quot i was Able to hide it tuck it in and buy bigger pants Quot he says. Not Long after his handshake with Ditka Johnson 34, who is chief of the military support flight at Tempelhof a began to his dismay to run. And even More dismaying he began to like it. Quot i started to like the Little aches and pains that you get and the tingling sensation that you get Quot he said. Now he runs 35 to 40 Miles a week and has entered several distance races including the Berlin Marathon in which his endurance gave out after 20 Miles. Not bad for a Guy who admits that a fitness program was once As repulsive to him As blisters Are now. Quot the extent of my physical fitness was walking Back and Forth to the bus Stop Quot he says. Quot that was  a Good evening for Johnson a the former Johnson the Chubby Johnson a was to sit on a Couch and watch television while drinking soda Quot not that diet stuff Quot and munching potato chips and chocolate Chip cookies. Quot i had dark rings under my eyes. I was lethargic Quot he recalls. No longer. He is now a Model of what an airman should look like As he strides around the base. But his current condition a 185 pounds no bags under his eyes and full of Energy a is More than just a credit to running. Quot it not Only got me involved in fitness it made me More aware of nutrition a he says. He is now a  no processed foods. No Fried foods. No red meat. No alcohol. His Berlin born wife Beate prepares Only healthy nutritious meals of fresh vegetables and perhaps fish. Johnson says he eats More now than at any time. In his life but he eats properly. Quot i went into withdrawals from the Candy and the chips and things like that Quot he says. Quot i still have urges and sometimes they become too Strong and i la have a snickers Candy bar Quot and he does have one a one a cup of Coffee each Day. Johnson s evolution coincided somewhat with a Job change. When the air Force merged its services division with its morale welfare and recreation division Johnson found himself earlier this year in charge of among other things the fitness Center. He uses it and so do Many others. Tempelhof which is drawing Down to a close Early next year has fewer than 300 air Force personnel now All enduring the slow death of their own presence. Johnson said the fitness Center is where they come to sweat away the worry. Quot its a real stress Buster a he says of the Center. Quot even though our population is declining our usage is going  and what better example for tired stressed airmen a perhaps a few of them pushing their weight limit a than a lean master sergeant who once defined weightlifting As heating a bag of chips. Quot i try to get More people interested Quot he says. Quot i run with different people every  the obese prompt such hostility by Natalie Angier the new York times on the unsavoury spectrum of bigotry some slurs Are considered worse than others. Insults to a person s race ethnicity or religion rank As completely unacceptable. Making fun of a woman for being female or a Gay person for being homosexual May be somewhat less taboo but it is certainly frowned upon. Children Are taught not to Point at a handicapped person and Only the most callous would jeer at a Down and out drunk. But a fat person is fair game. People who would never publicly confess to racism have no qualms about expressing revulsion for the obese. And that just May be because the fat threaten the thin Down to the deepest Levels of the psyche. The reaction of americans to a fat person particularly one who is More than 25 percent to 35 percent above the so called Ideal weight is so intense and so overwhelmingly negative that some scientists Are exploring it As a window on the raw material of human nature. Researchers who study the psychology of body image and those who Are struggling to Foster greater tolerance of fatness in our culture said Many people of Normal weight fear the fat person because obesity embodies in the most graphic Way possible the terrible potential they see lurking in themselves. For Many a fat person variously symbolizes loss of control a reversion to infantile desires failure self loathing sloth passivity and gluttony. Such ingrained attitudes must be confronted and rejected if fat people Are Ever to gain acceptance the researchers say. With new scientific evidence showing How often obesity has a genetic or physiological basis beyond a person s control they said the time has come to dispel society a widespread fear of fat. But that will take some doing. In a culture that exalts hard work  and delayed gratification the fat person seems particularly offensive. Quot the fat person represents the part of us that has gone to seed has morally disintegrated Quot said or. Susan c. Wooley director of the eating disorders clinic at the University of Cincinnati. Quot it s the Only physical trait i can think of which although it s talked about in terms of appearance is associated with so Many things other than  Rothblum and others said the tide May at last be turning As Ever More people rebel against the tyrannical demands toward eternal slenderness As the population Ages and thickens and As excessive thinness becomes associated not with athletic prowess but with disease. Quot the aids epidemic is changing Peoples minds Quot said Rothblum. Quot whenever you have a disease that makes people thin suddenly thinness is seen As  but the Battle is far from won. While Many people manage to keep their anxieties and insecurities tucked safely inside beyond the scrutiny of others some see the fat As their own neuroses made flesh forcing them to confront their own imperfections. So despite growing evidence that weight is More a matter of genes than calories fat people Are still condemned for permitting themselves to get fat rather than exerting willpower. We re running out of people that we re allowed to hate and to feel Superior to Quot said Wooley. Quot fatness is the one thing that is left that seems to be a persons fault which it  Page 16 a the stars and stripes tuesday december 8, 1992