Published: January 14, 2008 10:44 am            

Friends find a fun way to 'lighten up'

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — Retirement turned out to be less than what sisters Kathy Osborne and Mary Kay Hamett expected — about 135 pounds less.

Osborne, a former Liberty Mutual manager of 38 years, was distressed when her weight began to climb after she stopped working in 2006.

She began reading various diet and health books in search of a solution. And when she learned her sister was considering gastric bypass surgery to remedy her own weight issues, Osborne decided it was time to act.

“We were frustrated with ourselves,” Hamett admitted.

“I knew I had to do something,” Osborne said. “And I’ve always been a very determined person.”

So as 2007 began, Osborne devised a plan for herself and husband Charles, as well as for Hamett, who retired last June when her job was phased out, and Hamett’s husband, Roy. She would prepare healthy meals for them if they promised to stick with it.

Let’s just say that their husbands are only half the men they used to be, while Osborne and Hamett are reinvigorated and feeling half their age. Roy Hamett lost 57 pounds and caught the attention of co-workers, who began to inquire about his improved appearance. Charles Osborne was a diabetic, whose condition improved to the point that he no longer requires medication.

“We went through our cupboards and got rid of anything that had sugar in it,” said Hamett, who noted that almost a year later the couple had to go through their closets to pitch clothes they no longer could use.



WEIGHT FLUCTUATED

“My weight would always fluctuate,” Hamett said. “I’d get to where I needed to be and then gain 15 or 20 pounds.”

Not any more.

Since going on their own plan, Osborne has dropped 63 pounds and 10 dress sizes, from a 14 to a 4. Hamett is 72 pounds lighter than she was last January.

When family and friends saw what was happening, they wanted less, too. So Osborne and Hamett complied, and everyone became happier — and thinner. As the word spread, the sisters knew it was time to invite the public to join them.

So ‘Waist Not, Want Not’ — a healthy-eating facility where people can order and take home prepared meals on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays — was born.

“We were sitting on a beach in Florida last March and discussing how to do this as a business,” Osborne said. “And it (the name) just came to us because it’s all about reducing what you’re carrying around your waist.”

Osborne, 60, and Hamett, 52, are the daughters of Bernice Zduriencik of New Castle and the late John Zduriencik.

During her career with Liberty Mutual, Osborne lived in Dallas and South Bend, Ind., from 1980 through 1992, before coming home to manage the New Castle office.



WHAT’S NOT IN IT

The sisters use no preservatives, and they opt for whole wheat flour instead of white flour and Splenda and corn syrup instead of sugar. But Osborne noted that eating the proper portion at each setting is just as important as ingredients.

“Initially we pulled recipes from different books,” Osborne said. “But we also wanted to make things that our mother had made. We just tried to make it all healthy.”

Eating healthy snacks also is required to subsidize three meals during the day.

“I’ve always been a morning eater,” Osborne said. Now she begins each day with three-quarters to one cup of cereal (depending on the contents), one-eighth cup of dried fruit and one-eighth cup of walnuts or almonds.

Two hours later, she has a snack of either half a banana or a snack pack of Cheerios with dried fruits or nuts.

Healthy sweets are available, too, in the form of muffins and even chocolate chip cookies made, of course, with the preferred ingredients and dark chocolate chips.

In addition to people trying to lose weight and eating healthy, Osborne’s clients include people who travel a lot, senior citizens who just want a good home-cooked meal and those who simply don’t like to cook.

Osborne and Hamett are cooking between 90 and 100 meals per day, down about 30 from last month before the holiday break. JoAnn Pisciuneri, a cousin, lends a hand when needed. Customers range in age from 18 to 85.

As for the taste, customers like Theresa Banko and Sharon Irvine give the fare a thumbs up.

“I’m a very picky eater, but it’s all very good,” said Banko, who has gone from a size 20 to size 12 since joining the program.

Irvine, a former marathon runner who had to stop running because of weight gain, said dropping two sizes is just an extra benefit to eating healthy.

Having already achieved one dream, Osborne is reaching for the stars again. She hopes to be able to franchise “Waist Not, Want Not” throughout the country.

“Based on what people tell us when they come in here, this could work just about anywhere.”

And don’t tell her she needs to lighten up. She’s already done that.



David Burcham writes for the New Castle (Pa.) News.

        

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