Transcripts For WMAR Nightline 20100102 : vimarsana.com

cause him to walk away. my opportunity to watch sports unfettered is really dwindling, so this is a good last crack. i figure i can get it all out of the way right now and be done with it. reporter: monday at 9 a.m. is the moment to watch. if a contestant makes it that long, he or she will beat last year s record. . and the winner gets a $1,000 gift certificate from best buy, free cable for a year, and a new recliner in case they want to play the home version. we ll be right back. (announcer) a cold or flu can start fast. new tylenol cold rapid release gels day and night release medicine fast to relieve painful coughs, congestion and sore throats. so you can feel better. your hair mixes with pollen and dust. i get congested. but now with zyrtec-d®, i have the proven allergy relief of zyrtec®, plus a powerful decongestant. zyrtec-d® lets me breathe freer, so i can love the air™. (announcer) zyrtec-d®. behind the pharmacy counter. no prescription needed. . this is going to be a story this weekend. wind gusts pushing 30 miles per hour here in maryland, so, windy weekend on tap. windchill down to what feels like the teens tonight. so cold night, stays blustery tomorrow. could see a few snow flurries in the afternoon. don t get above freezing tomorrow. outlook, sunny and dry throughout the first week of 2010. got to get through these cold winds next two days here, christian. looks pretty tough weekend to be out and about if you re trying to do stuff. little blustery. few flakes tomorrow, not a big storm or anything, just a passing flurry or two. thanks for watching abc 2 news at 11. be safe out there this weekend. you can follow all the stories we re covering on line at abc2news.com. and one more look at those fireworks from the inner harbor last night in baltimore. good night. produce with a 100% guarantee. means freshness is always in season. rancher s reserve beef, guaranteed tender, says you re always ready to grill. and now, safeway has a new promise. a commitment to thousands of new everyday low prices. so you can get what you want. when you want it. at the price you need. today. and tomorrow. that s our promise. and that s. ingredients for life. safeway. tonight on nightline, the biggest losers. with americans more overweight than ever, we join a severely obese mother and son in an inspiring journey to change the way they look and feel and live by pushing their bodies to the limit. fat chance. he weighs 249 pounds, she weighs 334 pounds. will a whole new approach to weight loss change their lives forever? our cameras are there, every step of the way. and, search for answers. the president starts the new year reviewing reports from key government agencies on that failed christmas day airline bombing attempt. his new details about the alleged bomber s last call to his father emerge. announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with martin bashir and cynthia mcfadden in new york city, and terry moran in washington, this is nightline, january 1st, 2010. good evening, i m terry moran. happy new year. and we begin tonight, and our new year with a focus on the epidemic of obesity in america, and one mother who said enough is enough, both for her and her young son. just how widespread is this epidemic? consider a recent study that found more than two-thirds of americans are now either overweight or obese. it is, indeed, a national health crisis, one that affects children, as well as adults. so, tonight, we follow one family in their war against fat, and juju chang now reports. yeah! left, left! reporter: colin robinson enjoys the classic paxes of an almost sixth grader. theater, video games, gooching around with friends. oh, and food. my favorite thing to, like, actually eat at home, double quarter pounder with cheese, no onions from mcdonald s. reporter: at 11, colin is severely obese. his doctor told me at his last physical about a year ago that i needed to do something immediately. reporter: colin s mom christa, who struggled with her own weight issues, knew she had to stop making excuses and do something. i ve always felt like i m people look at me like i m lazy, how could she let her son get to that point, or doesn t she see, and i do. i do see those things. reporter: so, in desperation, christa puts $7900 on her credit card so she and colin can spend two weeks here. at a family weight loss camp in pinehurst, north carolina. we really needed almost like an intervention. reporter: though christa found it on the internet under fat camp, they reject the title. the key is to give the whole family a behavior makeover that will last a lifetime. we really want to get everybody immersed in a healthy life style. how are you? are you colin? reporter: for christa and colin, the first hurdle, the official weigh-in is an uncomfortable moment of truth. you want me to go first? reporter: colin who is tall for his age at 5 8 , is 249 pounds. ready christa? nope. reporter: christa is 240 pounds. medically obese. it s a crisis situation that s been silently plaguing christa. i think shame is probably the biggest feeling, and i, you know, don t really talk about it with friends or family or anything like that. reporter: as a working single mom, too busy to cook, christa says the problem escalated out of control over the years. because i ve chosen to, you know, give him the fast food and everything, as a matter of ease and just checking one more thing much our to-do list for the day, i feel like that s how he got here. we do have some snacks, too, afternoon dinner and none of them are healthy. we have either ice cream or something like that, and it s just a pattern. reporter: the well spring camp is a total emersion program. over the next two weeks, the robinsons and the other families will hopefully learn a new way of living. there is transformation for some and there s dramatically increased awareness for others. reporter: on the first day, susan boardman introduces step one. take a minimum of 10,000 step as day, and use a pedometer to keep track. for christa, the biggest hurd is the daily crack of down two-mile hike to jump start the metabolism. very hot. muggy. reporter: the robinsons are completely unaccustomed to daily workouts. before well spring it was pretty much walking back and forth to the car before and after school. pretty much it. reporter: colin eagerly leads the front of the pack, but christa can hardly keep up with the group. later that day, away from our cameras, she has a meltdown with her son. the first day we got back to the room. i was like, i was last, i knew i was going to be last, in the walk, and i just hated it. reporter: at well spring, eating healthy is just as important as activity. new trigs and food awareness are step two of the plan. the goal is 0 grams of fat a day and no more than 800 call reaps at the largest meal. there is a controlled meal that the chefs will prepare on a plate with certain number of fat and calories. reporter: every entree is low in fat. today s launch is a veggie burger or a bison sloppy joe. it s sweet. it s pretty sweet. reporter: but not all the campers are sold on it. she didn t know it was bison until about halfway through. she wasn t too happy after that, but she ate the rest of it. reporter: colin, whose favorite is mcdonald s, desides to give the veggie burger a try, and to his surprise, he likes it. if i had to choose between this and a cheese burger, i would pick this. because it s healthier and it tastes a little bit better. reporter: in addition to the entree, campers are allowed to eat whatever they want at the uncontrolled bar. that has fruits and vegetables and nonfat yogurt, soups, two different kinds of soups. to help people understand that you can eat very low fat with a huge variety of foods. that s a cup. reporter: the came persons are required to measure, because at the end of the meal, everything consumed must be looked up and entered into their food journals. only 145 calories and 2 1/2 grams of fat. reporter: the idea is to keep campers aware of what they re eating. by recording it like that, they can tweak things and make adjust. s as they move forward. today s lunch list for me was veggie burger, baked beans, half a teaspoon of mustard, about a fourth of an artichoke and leek soup. reporter: the kids get stickers with the new foomds they try. the days are jam packed with sports and fitness. they start easy. with fun games like lawn tag, so the kichlds can get in their 10,000 steps. all that running can make you tired an your pedometer go up. 5,596. reporter: later, they learn about stretches and squats. and then, it s time for family aerobics. which christa avoids, so colin is on his own. the goal is to have them try as many active tips as they can, so that one might stick and become engrained in their routines when they get back home. i think it was a lot of fun. and it gave me a really good workout. reporter: but for christa, it was all too much. i was just thinking, there s no way that you can do all of this at home. i can t. i have to work, i have to get him to school and practice and everything else. are these guys nuts? you can t do this at home. reporter: when we come back, will she quit the camp and walk away forever? what is cloud computing? a cloud is a workload optimized, service management platform enabling. .new consumption and delivery models. it s what? my cloud does email. lowers my energy bill. shares pictures. we collaborate on our cloud. i develop software in my cloud. i want a cloud that understands risk. .compares patient histories. .predicts traffic patterns. my cloud is. everywhere. my cloud is secure. simple. powerful. flexible. that s what we re working on. i m an ibmer. let s build a smarter planet. but it feels like i need some more help. 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(announcer) talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits of adding abilify. visit abilifytreatment.com as as the national debate over health care continues to heat up, one issue that affects the cost of health care and the health of many americans is their weight. it s estimated that only one-third of americans are not everweight. we continue to look at one family s struggle. more now from juju chang. nine. ten. very good. switch legs. reporter: just two days into the program, christa robinson is overwhelmed and feels like she wants to quit. there s a ton of activity every day and it s just it s a lot to take in. reporter: susan boardman says resistance is common at the start. each day, she works with the parents in therapeutic classes to help them see that change is possible. parents tend to bring guilt probable more than any emotion. part of what we do is just set that all aside and help parents see what they can do now. reporter: eating healthy is important, but learning to cook healthy is even more so heral well spring. the kids learn in fun cooking classes how to prepare healthy meals on their own. the first one is an oh my oatmeal bake, when is baked instead of cooked over the stove, and the second one is sue key knee sticks. reporter: the children are introduced to healthy ingredient substitutions. and then you can actually use less sugar because the apple sauce is sweet. reporter: of course, the parents get a lesson, too. so, today i m going to show you actually what we re going to be having for lunch today, which are chicken fingers. reporter: instead of deep fried in fat, the cutlets are dipped in egg beaters and bred crumbs and baked. it s way more realistic than i thought yesterday. yesterday, i thought there was no way. but i think today it s i m starting to see how we can incorporate different things. reporter: in addition to the steps the kids hit the gym mid-day. situps, pushups and workout on the elliptical. it was hard working. i feel great. my legs are pretty sore. reporter: after a lunch of baked chicken fingers and sweet potato fries, the campers go to a grocery store. nine grams of fat. put it back. reporter: their assignment? to find low fat alternatives for the foods they re going to miss the host. christa and colin go on a mission to find low fat beef so they can enjoy hamburgers at home. it is laura s lean beef, 4.5 grams of fat. reporter: next, on the hunt for a low fat dessert. we re looking for a substitute for cosmic brownies because they have 280 calories for one, and 11 grams for fat. no pudge fudge brownie. calories, 110. i think we found. how many servings? 12. it s something we can do at home because it easier to make them. reporter: the other families are shopping in a new way, too. and she loves spaghetti-os. they have eight grams of fat, but these only have four. i think we ve been living in that little vacuum and it s pretty eye-opening to come out and see. reporter: by mid-week, christa has a turn around. she s more positive. she and colin try a challenging yoga session together. it was a hard day for me, monday. and i thought, god, what am i doing here, what was i thinking, it s too hard, i can t do it. today i feel like i think we can go home and do it. i m afraid to say with 100% certainty that we can do it, but i think and i hope by saturday morning i ll be at the 100%. reporter: throughout the week, colin and the other kids try out tougher sports as they build their endurance. there s kayaking on the lake, switching at the marina, and hiking in the hills. finally, it s time for the one week weigh-in. there you go. how you doing this morning? good. reporter: if he loses two or three pounds, i will be exciting. even if the scale is the same, we have changed as people. reporter: christa is up first. here we go. she goes from 334 to 324. i would say ten pounds is something to be very excited about. i can t believe it! ten pounds, way to go! kind of amazing, isn t it? reporter: next up, colin. he loses 11 1/4 pounds in one week. are you happy? that is so awesome. did you think you would do that? are you okay? are you happy tears? way to go. that is so cool. way to go. that is really cool. congratulations. that s all your hard work. knuckles. reporter: pumped up by their success, the robinsons start week two with the growing realization that they can do this. christa used to begin her walk 30 minutes before the rest of the group. but since saturday of last week, eve been working with the rest of the group and i m toward the back most of the time but it s much better. reporter: at the final weigh-in, they lose even more weight. colin loses five more pounds. five pounds, man. that s awesome. christa, another six. that s another six pounds, christa. holla! reporter: the overall weight loss is dramatic. both are down 16 pounds in just two weeks. that s 16.25 in two weeks? good for you. reporter: mother and son are elated. i feel more sure now than i did throughout the program that that we re going to do this, and we re going to be successful at it for our life and our health and as role models for the rest of our family. reporter: the emotional intense tip has been a bonding experience for new, close fri d friends. saying good-bye is hard. my concern is, we walk through the door of our house, do we fall back into the same routine? and that s what we need to nip in the bud. that s going to be the hardest part. reporter: so, will colin and christa be able to keep it up after they leave? when we come back, what do they after they leave? when we come back, what do they look like now? with cialis for . a clinically proven, low-dose tablet for erectile dysfunction you take every day so you can be ready anytime the moment is right. tell your doctor about your medical condition and all medications and ask if you re healthy enough for sexual activity. don t take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. don t drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long term injury seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than 4 hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision stop taking cialis and call your doctor right away. 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