Weight Loss Group Offers Encouragement In The Battle Against The Bulge

RALEIGH — It seems new diet plans promising quick weight loss come along just about every day. The longevity of those results can be just as fleeting. A weight loss group that has been around for 50 years works on your body and your mind.

Take Off Pounds Sensibly(TOPS) offers a healthy, caring and supportive approach to weight control at an affordable price. There is no set diet to follow, and the group is mainly there for encouragement.

Each week, members must weigh in. The news may not always be good, but it serves its purpose. TOPS member Andrea Breazeale says trying to lose weight is a war, and she fights it one battle at a time.

"You come up with what you want to do," she says. "You do it the way that you have planned out, and we're here to support you."

Alice Edwards is one of the success stories. She has lost 45 pounds since last year, and she is just 15 pounds short of her goal.

"I don't think I could have done it without them. I really couldn't," she says.

Everyone does not lose all the weight they set out to, but that does not mean they are not benefitting from the group.

"If I were not a part of TOPS, I probably would have seen my weight go up a whole lot more," Breazeale says. "If nothing else, it's an accountability thing that keeps me, at least, focusing on weight loss and not just giving up."

TOPS is a non-profit weight loss group. Membership is $20 a year. Anyone interested in joining, can call the group at1-800-932-8677.