When Tiffany Moore, 37, a mother of four in Battlement Mesa, Colo., was diagnosed with high blood pressure late last year, she knew she needed to change how her family lived.
At 5-foot-6, she weighed 222 pounds and got winded when she walked for any distance. Her husband, Josh, 40, a truck driver who works long hours, was also too heavy.
They were downing more than 64 ounces of soda and other sugary drinks a day, indulging in ice cream almost every day, eating processed foods, consuming too much fatty fast food and restaurant fare, and doing very little physical activity.
"My weight has been up and down for years," Tiffany says. "After I found out I had high blood pressure, I was terrified that I might have a heart attack or stroke. I was waking up at night worried that I wouldn't be around for my children."
So the Moores volunteered to participate in this year's Family Fitness Challenge -- an initiative to help families across the country get more active and lose weight. The project is being produced in partnership with USA WEEKEND Magazine and The Doctors TV show.
The series is an effort to combat one of the biggest health challenges facing the USA: About two-thirds of adults are overweight or obese, which increases their risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer. One-third of children are too heavy, which takes a toll on their health. Half of Americans may be obese by 2030 if something isn't done to reverse the trend, one study showed.
When it comes to exercise, Americans are falling short. Researchers with the National Cancer Institute, using motion sensors, found that less than 5% of adults do at least 30 minutes a day of moderate-intensity physical activity in bouts of at least 10 minutes.
The Moores were one of more than 400 families who applied to be part of the challenge. All the applications were reviewed carefully, dozens of families were interviewed, and six were selected by a panel of experts in December. Since early January, those families have been working to develop healthier habits with fitness experts from the American College of Sports Medicine and registered dietitians from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Over the next few months, USA TODAY and The Doctors will be reporting on those families' progress. We'll also be sharing practical tips and guidance from some of the nation's top nutrition and fitness experts at fitness.usatoday.com.
"The health impact of obesity is one of our generation's greatest challenges and one that we simply cannot ignore," says Travis Stork, an emergency room physician and co-host of The Doctors. "Our goal here is to teach people to fundamentally reconsider their relationship with food and to begin eating as though their life depended on it."
Many of the e-mails from applicants were heart-wrenching, says Felicia Stoler, one of the consultants for the challenge who reviewed the applications. She's an exercise physiologist and registered dietitian. People desperately want to get in better shape and be healthier, but they are overwhelmed by the changes they need to make, she says.
Many just need to take the first step, small changes such as walking more, giving up soda and eating more vegetables, Stoler says.
What most people don't realize is that they'd feel so much better if they moved more, says Russell Pate, an exercise researcher at the University of South Carolina and former president of the American College of Sports Medicine. He also reviewed the applications. "Our bodies were designed to move. At the core, we are still hunters and gatherers."
Exercise 'outside the box'
Like many other families, the Moores faced an uphill battle trying to find ways to be more active. Tiffany spends much of her day at home, home schooling and taking care of her children: Brooklyn, 11, Ryland, 7, Jocelyn, 5, and Coleman, 1. Josh works long hours six days a week.
The family doesn't belong to a gym, and they don't own a treadmill or any major piece of fitness equipment. "We live in this little town, and we don't have good roads or sidewalks that we can bike or roller skate on," Tiffany says.
She realized she had "to think outside the box" to figure out how they could exercise more. So everyone in the family got pedometers. The first time the kids put them on, they "ran around in circles" to test them, she says.
With a little imagination, the couple have found ways to get everyone to be more active. For instance:
Josh does 10 push-ups off the bumper of his work truck each time he stops during the day, which can be up to a dozen times. "I can't get down on the ground and do them, but I can do incline push-ups," he says.
They have competitions to see who can do the most push-ups. "The kids are beating me," Tiffany says.
They had a step competition one night to see who could get the most steps in 20 minutes, and the parents awarded first, second and third place.
Josh and Tiffany have started doing some exercise DVDs including P90X, a challenging aerobic and strength-training program. Tiffany and the older kids are doing Zumba on the Xbox.
The entire family is going out for more walks, working on increasing speed and distance. They want to get fit enough to walk a 5K together.
The three older kids are taking dance classes, and the two oldest attended a "snow" camp recently that offered activities such as sledding, building snowmen and hiking.
Tiffany is reducing the time she sits at the computer to free up more time to exercise, cook and study the Bible. "I've been praying for the other families in the challenge," she says.
Thomas Barbata, a local fitness instructor and physical therapist who is monitoring the Moores' progress, says the family still has "some struggles, like making it fun for the kids, but considering that this is such a drastic change for them, I think they are doing a fantastic job. They understand that the learning process is what will make them successful, not trying to figure out the fastest way to the finish line."
changing how they eat
Tiffany has also been working on the family's diet, which was in dire need of a makeover. She relied heavily on frozen, processed foods. The family went out for lunch or dinner several times a week, they filled up on sugary cereals for breakfast and snacks, and they ate ice cream almost every day.
Plus, Tiffany was drinking two to three cans of regular soda and a 52-ounce fountain drink every day. Josh was downing two to three cans of soda, a large Monster energy drink and a couple of large cups of coffee with a quarter of a cup of sugar in each one.
The Moores have been working with registered dietitian Elizabeth Ward to change those habits. Josh and Tiffany are now consuming about 60 to 80 ounces of water a day instead of sugary drinks. Josh adds a tablespoon of sugar to his coffee once a day.
They put a "faucet fountain" -- which turns a standard sink faucet into a water fountain -- in one of their bathrooms to encourage drinking water, Tiffany says. They also:
Limit eating out to one or two times a week, and they've changed what they order. For instance, they are adding more vegetables to their sandwiches at Subway and aren't getting cookies. At Taco Bell, they order only from the Fresco menu.
Have a calendar for meal planning so Tiffany can plan their lunches and dinners and buy the appropriate groceries between paychecks.
Are buying very lean meats and chicken, reduced-fat cheese and light yogurt, and are no longer buying sausage, ham or bacon. They're having ice cream only as an occasional treat, and they've eliminated home-baked desserts.
Are cooking without salt and using canned beans and tomatoes with no salt added.
Are eating more fruits and vegetables at lunch and dinner and adding fruit to their breakfast every morning instead of just eating cereal.
progress comes quickly
The Moores have "made great strides in a very short time," says Ward, the author of MyPlate for Moms, How to Feed Yourself & Your Family Better.
Their children are eating far fewer processed foods, which saves money and greatly reduces their sodium intake, which in turn has probably helped to reduce Tiffany's blood pressure, she says. "I am really impressed by Tiffany's interest not just in weight control, but in good nutrition for her entire family."
But the family still faces challenges. Right now, they have 1,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies in their house that their oldest daughter is trying to sell. And those are really tempting, Tiffany says. "We have learned we can eat Girl Scout cookies in moderation -- one or two cookies a day each."
She told the kids that this is not about weight loss but learning to be active and eat healthier. "I told them I wanted their heart and muscles to be healthy."
Says Josh: "I'm just exercising and eating healthy, and the end product is weight loss."
The couple lost 28 pounds in a month. They can do more push-ups now than a month ago, and they can walk farther and faster. Tiffany's blood pressure has dropped so much that she has reduced the amount of medicine she's taking.
"If we stay on this track," she says, "it's going to be fantastic for us."
Tiffany Moore, 37
At-home
mother of four
Height
5-foot-6
Starting weight in mid-January
222 pounds
Weight now
212 pounds
Loss
10 pounds
Long-term goal
175 pounds
Fitness goal
To walk a 5K as a family.
Josh Moore, 40
Truck driver who works long hours
Height
5-foot-11
Starting weight in mid-January
220 pounds
Weight now
202 pounds
Loss
18 pounds
Long-term goal
185 pounds (with more muscle)
Fitness goal
To walk a 5K as a family.
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