Matthew Boober recalls the laundry list of health problems his doctor rattled off nearly 10 years ago, when the Carmel man weighed more than 500 pounds: high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, a thyroid imbalance, chronic knee pain, side effects from multiple medications.
Boober lived in Texas at the time, a state where, as they say, everything’s bigger.
His doctor recommended gastric bypass surgery. Boober went under the knife, and the weight dropped off. But by 2011, he gained back 140 pounds.
“I slowly started nibbling on the things that you weren’t supposed to nibble on,” he said.
While the surgery transformed his body, his approach toward food stubbornly endured. After the procedure, which shrinks the stomach and allows food to bypass part of the small intestine, Boober found himself without any support or guidance about how to maintain his weight loss, he said. To him, food was like a drug, he said.
“Once it was done, you’re out there on your own. … I basically let my health go back to hell again,” Boober said.
He weighed 421 pounds in June 2011, when he joined TOPS, a national weight-loss program designed to help members “take off pounds sensibly.” His sister encouraged him to attend a meeting, and Boober found the program refreshingly free of promotions, such as prepackaged food he needed to buy. He’d already tried all the gimmicky diets — from mail-order programs to grapefruit pills — and liked that no foods were completely off limits at TOPS.
“I don’t have to go to the grocery store and buy specific things,” Boober said. “I can still buy the foods that I like to have. If I want to have a cupcake, I can have a cupcake. I just plan my meals accordingly for it.”
Today, at 56, Boober weighs about 300 pounds. The 6-foot-2 retired motorcycle buff plans to lose more, with a goal weight of 250 pounds.
By offering social support without requiring members to stick to a specific “diet,” TOPS helps people to lose weight through lifestyle changes that stick over the long haul, Boober said.
Described as the “granddaddy of modern-day weight loss programs,” TOPS was founded more than 60 years ago by a housewife in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Esther Manz, pregnant with her fifth child, was inspired by the mutual support mothers-to-be provided one another and applied the concept to weight loss, according to the TOPS website. She founded TOPS in 1948 with two friends at a local recreation center.
The nonprofit TOPS now boasts 150,000 members in the U.S. and Canada. The program has 1,182 members in Maine, where nearly a third of the adult population is obese.
TOPS does not sell foods, endorse products or promote a particular meal plan, though it does “strongly recommend” two healthy eating approaches: ChooseMyPlate.gov, the nutritional plan recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and a food exchange system created by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the American Diabetes Association.
The exchange system, which Boober uses, groups all foods with similar proportions of carbohydrates, proteins and fats into lists, then divides them into six groups: starch, meat, fruit, vegetable, milk and fat. An additional “free” group includes foods with fewer than 20 calories per serving.
Each item on a particular list may be “exchanged” with any other food item on the same list. For example, half an English muffin could be exchanged for a 1-ounce slice of bread, the TOPS website explains, because both fall under the starch group and contain roughly the same amount of carbohydrates, protein and fat.
That frees members from counting calories and the guilt that often accompanies eating a treat, Boober said. As the holidays approach, he knows he’ll want a piece of pumpkin pie at a Christmas party, he said. So Boober will plan for it, adjusting his meals earlier in the day and eating a small salad before he heads out the door, so he’s not as hungry, he said.
Boober aims to consume 1,600 to 2,000 calories a day. Sweets are his downfall when he’s upset or angry, so he doesn’t keep them in the house, he said. But that doesn’t mean he won’t enjoy a candy bar when he’s making a conscious choice to enjoy one, rather than succumbing to a craving, Boober said.
“I don’t feel guilty walking out of the store. I don’t hide the wrapper or say, ‘I don’t want anybody to know I had this,’” he said.
Much like Weight Watchers, which was created in the 1960s, TOPS involves weekly meetings and weigh-ins. Boober considers the other members an extension of his family, who help each other to stay on track offer support during setbacks. He visited TOPS chapters all over the U.S. on a recent motorcycle trip and often calls or emails fellow members when he has a bad day, Boober said.
“I don’t look at myself as being on a diet anymore,” said Boober, whose sister and mother also participate in TOPS. “My destiny’s in my hands, and I have a support mechanism associated with it. You don’t slap yourself down if you have a little bit of a gain.”
A yearly TOPS membership costs $28 a year, plus local chapter dues of about $5 a month. Members can participate online or in person and receive a magazine with health information. A rewards system recognizes participants’ weight loss achievements, and members also can opt to attend retreats.
Some research shows the program can lead to moderate weight loss. A 2010 study published in the journal Obesity tracked more than 42,000 TOPS members, finding that those who consistently participated in the program lost 6 percent of their weight in the first year and maintained the loss for three years.
TOPS members who reach and maintain their goal weight can remain in the club as KOPS, or Keeps Off Pounds Sensibly, members.
TOPS works for some people, but there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to weight loss, said Mary Ellen Camire, a professor of food science and human nutrition at the University of Maine. Some dieters may need the rigor of a more structured program, like drinking two Slimfast shakes a day, she said. Support from peers helps many to find success with weight loss, Camire said.
“Having a community where they’re all in it together I think is a very helpful tool for many individuals,” she said.
Boober also exercises as part of the program by walking outdoors. He is now looking for a local pool where he can swim, he said. He checked in with a new physician before starting TOPS and continues with regular checkups.
“I’ve seen my doctor more in the last year than I probably saw him in 10 years,” Boober said. “I needed to bring him into the loop.”
If Boober had known about TOPS sooner, he believes he would have avoided weight-loss surgery. To date, he has lost more than 121 pounds with the program.
“I feel great now. I’m a happier person,” he said.
