2008 Woodie Awards
Student shares 150 lb. weight loss story
Jennifer Jarvis '07
Issue date: 3/1/07 Section: News
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People meeting Ben Lacy '08 for the first time would not be surprised to learn he is athletic: He lifts weights, swims, plays tennis, or runs each day, and he looks the part. What might shock them is that in the last two years, Lacy has lost 150 pounds.
The 6'2" Lacy weighed 330 pounds at the end of his freshman year at PC.
"My entire life I was overweight," he said. "Mentally it's one of those things: You think that's how it will always be." A job he took in the summer of 2005, however, changed his mind.
Lacy worked at Brine, a sports equipment company near his hometown of Ashland, Mass. There, his job entailed lifting heavy boxes for much of the day.
"After the first day, I was looking through the job find again," he said. "I didn't think I could do it." But he noticed the physical activity was helping him lose weight, without drastically changing his lifestyle.
"I realized it was possible," Lacy said. He started making changes in his diet, packing a Lean Cuisine for lunch and drinking water rather than other beverages.
"I really got systematic about what went in and how I worked things off," he said.
Lacy, now 180 pounds, noted the importance of exercise not only as a springboard to starting his weight-loss program, but as an ongoing presence in weight maintenance. He was one of the first people signed up for Active U, a fitness initiative started by Catherine Gates, health educator and wellness coordinator of student health.
Active U is a free program to motivate members of the college community to be more active. Groups or individuals are encouraged to create a goal of how far they want to walk by the end of the program on April 23. As part of their goal, they must pick a place they want to walk to, such as another state or another country. Some of the goals of the 42 total students include San Diego, France and even the moon.
Gates noted that such goals were "very ambitious."
One team of six set its goal as Tuscany, Italy, which is more than 4,000 miles away. Aptly known as Team Tuscany, the members have many different reasons for participating.
The 6'2" Lacy weighed 330 pounds at the end of his freshman year at PC.
"My entire life I was overweight," he said. "Mentally it's one of those things: You think that's how it will always be." A job he took in the summer of 2005, however, changed his mind.
Lacy worked at Brine, a sports equipment company near his hometown of Ashland, Mass. There, his job entailed lifting heavy boxes for much of the day.
"After the first day, I was looking through the job find again," he said. "I didn't think I could do it." But he noticed the physical activity was helping him lose weight, without drastically changing his lifestyle.
"I realized it was possible," Lacy said. He started making changes in his diet, packing a Lean Cuisine for lunch and drinking water rather than other beverages.
"I really got systematic about what went in and how I worked things off," he said.
Lacy, now 180 pounds, noted the importance of exercise not only as a springboard to starting his weight-loss program, but as an ongoing presence in weight maintenance. He was one of the first people signed up for Active U, a fitness initiative started by Catherine Gates, health educator and wellness coordinator of student health.
Active U is a free program to motivate members of the college community to be more active. Groups or individuals are encouraged to create a goal of how far they want to walk by the end of the program on April 23. As part of their goal, they must pick a place they want to walk to, such as another state or another country. Some of the goals of the 42 total students include San Diego, France and even the moon.
Gates noted that such goals were "very ambitious."
One team of six set its goal as Tuscany, Italy, which is more than 4,000 miles away. Aptly known as Team Tuscany, the members have many different reasons for participating.