By HARRY NAKAMOTO
I’ve been overweight my entire life. My doctor of more than 20 years, Kevin Kurohara, always told me that I needed to get healthy by losing weight and exercising. He’s a great doctor, and while his advice seems easy to do, it’s not easy to accomplish.
Being healthy is the most important thing in my life, but I’ve yet to achieve this goal. I tried every diet out there — the high protein diet, the cabbage soup diet, the “no rice” diet and many others. Most of them worked at first. I always lost 5 to 10 pounds, but would eventually gain back the weight, and more.
I’ve been in denial about my weight and health for years, finding reasons not to exercise and convincing myself I was big-boned with a large frame for my height. I didn’t think the body mass index scale was applicable to local people in Hawaii because we were built differently.
I rationalized things by asking myself the same questions: Why do I need to watch my weight when I knew someone who was overweight and lived to age 90? Why should I exercise when I knew someone who worked out daily, yet still suffered from a heart attack or a stroke? Why should I change when my medicine makes my blood pressure and cholesterol levels normal?
I’ve achieved many amazing goals in my life, but losing weight and increasing health was my biggest downfall. I was starting to lose hope.
In early 2015, my hopes were lifted when my doctor asked me to be one of his 10 patients to participate in the Me-N-My BMI program, an eight-month effort to take on the challenge of getting patients from an obese level above 30 on the BMI scale, to an overweight level below 30, and thus improving overall health.
Kurohara and Dr. Cecilia Mukai worked with the East Hawaii Independent Physicians’ Association and Hilo Health Cooperative to create a resource for people such as me who needed assistance and motivation to get healthy. Having nothing to lose, I agreed to participate.
Initially, I went through the motions and did the minimum to stay in the program.
But one day, I asked myself, “Do you really want to do this — be healthier and lose weight permanently — or do you just want to play around?” At that point, I made up my mind to do my best and give an all-out effort at eating right and exercising consistently.
The workouts were challenging and literally took my breath away — I hadn’t realized how out of shape I was and how unhealthy I had become. When we started, I couldn’t even do 10 air squats or run 200 yards without stopping. I was sore for five days and didn’t think I would recover. Slowly, my determination increased; workouts were easier, and my health improved.
The best thing about the program was working out alongside my doctor and the office staff. It showed their commitment to health, and it encouraged me to stick to the program. We met at the Hilo Health Co-op once a week to do CrossFit exercises and yoga with coaches Lisa Tennant and Kimberly Pierce.
We were given Fitbits, an activity tracker to monitor our movements, and attended monthly meetings with Kurohara to take our weight and body measurements. But it was more than just physical stimulation — we also had expert consultations about nutrition, healthy living, personal motivation and disease prevention.
The group was always in touch, and this kind of support made a difference. We would text each other if someone didn’t attend class that week and ask if they were doing OK. We shared our experiences and laughed and talked about our hardships, body aches and changes in lifestyle.
After being in the program for a couple of months, I lost 10 pounds. Giving my best effort, I eventually lost 45 pounds, lowering my cholesterol 50 points, going from 35.5 to 28.5 on the BMI scale, and getting off some of my medications. More importantly, I felt healthier for the first time in my life, and the smile on my face shows the truth, along with my downsized wardrobe.
Although the program is over, most of us continue to work out and support each other. I know there are many people out there who’ve tried it all, and I hope that sharing my story will strengthen their ambitions and inspire others to create similar programs that can benefit our community’s quality of life.
Henry Nakamoto is a District Family Court judge.
This column was prepared by Community First, a nonprofit organization led by KTA’s Barry Taniguchi, and supported by a volunteer board of local community leaders. Community First was established recently to help the community respond to the health care cost crisis and support initiatives that change health care from just treating disease to caring for health.
