Eat Healthy, Drop the Pounds
photo by Paul Wang
By Caitlin Reagan
St. Petersburg-On Saturday, Nov. 7, roughly 50 women attended Defy Gravity, a women’s health seminar hosted at the Sanderlin Center in Midtown. The third annual, all-day event included several guest speakers that focused on building women’s confidence and the promotion of leading a healthy lifestyle.
“[I] want to make sure that women are empowered,” said Ronnell Montgomery, coordinator of the event. “I get the information for [the women] so that they can have the tools to utilize; a physical guide to remember what was said,” Montgomery said.
Since 2007, Montgomery has organized the event and arranged for speakers, discussions, door prizes, and information packets.
“I get on the Internet and I just start begging people for donations,” Montgomery said.
One of the most generous contributions was a heart-healthy lunch sponsored by the American Heart Association. Chef John Saxton of Urban Culinary Cuisine provided the nutritious meal made up of a salad with marinated chicken.
“Processed foods are what’s killing us,” Saxton said. “Understand that manufacturers do things for a reason—to get you hooked. Why do people love Splenda so much? Because they took a molecule of sugar out and put a molecule of chlorine in,” he said.
Katie McGill, executive director of Dress for Success Tampa Bay, presented several tips to the women for maintaining a plentiful wardrobe with only a few articles of clothing.
“When women come in to Dress for Success, we give them two suits, pair of shoes and a purse if they’re looking for employment,” McGill said. “And then when they get the job, they can come back and we can give them other pieces so they can build a wardrobe.”
McGill shared several money-saving techniques such as cutting the inner-lining on an old skirt to provide extra room for women with larger hips rather than taking the skirt to a seamstress.
In addition to her economical advice, she also encouraged the women to practice self-confidence.
“You have to remember that size is only a number,” McGill said. “I have in my closet from a size eight to a size 2X.”
To offer inspiration and motivation for women, Dr. Charmaine Carter shared her personal struggle with weight. “Today I’m here to tell you that your health is what’s more important than any asset you have,” Carter said.
Carter explained because she grew up with parents who ate unhealthily, she continued to lead the same lifestyle by consuming bad foods. She said it wasn’t until her son’s 10th birthday, when she peaked at 329 pounds, Carter decided to lose her weight.
“Me, a physician, telling my patients that they needed to lose weight; that they needed to exercise; that they needed to eat healthily. And yet, here I was living as a hypocrite,” Carter said.
Carter began walking and decided to change her entire lifestyle, including her family’s, and lost more than 100 pounds by eating healthy and walking in 5K events and half-marathons.
Mary Bray, a supporter of several past Sanderlin events, said “I found [the event] very empowering. And, I plan on attending one in the future, if they have one.”
this is a significant event. i know friends who can’t find a job and have a wide variety of other problems just because their weight keeps their self-confidence low. it is a challenge to shake things up, and the idea behind defy gravity can certainly help. hope to find this event in our neighborhood soon.