were on their way to Franklin Athletic
"I've been dieting my whole life, and
Club in Southfield.
I've never been this successful," she says.
The show was on, and this was their
"I wanted to stay married. Todd was
life —as the show's producers wanted
not a happy person, and a lot of it had to
viewers to see it, of course.
do with him not liking the way he looked
They found us at the right time — it
or felt. It was really intense."
was beshert," says Todd, a partner in a
When Michaels and crew returned six
company called Plaintiff Investment
weeks after the taping for the "reveal"
Firm LLC in Royal Oak. "I was a walk-
— the results show — Todd flaunted a
ing stroke. I was defiant; I was a dick at
physique that was 30 pounds lighter.
the beginning; I was mean. As the show
Amy had lost 15 pounds. A crew did her
progressed, you could see me softening,
hair and makeup.
and I realized I had more value [than I'd
Needing a backdrop for the reveal, the
thought]."
crew made up a new birth date for Lily
"That's when I was giving him ulti-
and set up a carnival to celebrate the
matums," says Amy. With the cameras
faux birthday. She was able to invite 100
rolling, she let her feelings spill over.
friends.
"Todd thought everything was swell.
Then the crew left, sprinkling fairy
He was heavy and unhappy and wasn't
dust on its way out: NBC fattened
feeling confident. I was beaten down
the daughters' college funds, paid for
emotionally. So many things have
Amy's classes to become a certified yoga
changed with him. He had a horrible
teacher and paid for a personal trainer
temper; we were walking around on
for Todd for a month.
eggshells. We all stopped enabling
The cycle from wretched to blessed
Todd," says Amy, who was suffering the
was complete. It was a wrap. Not bad for
loss of her business, a children's clothing
a week of looking "fat and ugly," as Amy
store.
puts it.
In the "intervention" scene around the
Todd, who is active with Jewish Fam-
dining-room table, Todd's mom, Edee
ily Service of Metropolitan Detroit, is 90
Franklin, Amy and a few friends tell
pounds lighter than he was before the
Todd they love him, don't want to bug
show was taped. He's become a devo-
him about his weight anymore, that he
tee of healthy eating and exercise. He's
has to want to change himself, etc.
stopped berating himself.
Tears fell.
Amy is teaching yoga and thinking
In another scene, filmed in a boxing
about starting a new store. She dumped
ring, Lily and Chloe take turns telling
bad eating habits for better ones. She
their parents how much they love them
buys organic mac 'n' cheese and other
and want them to get healthy. Todd
healthy snacks her kids like. And, she
tells them how much he loves them and
returned to plain view the candy jar that
wants to be around for them.
disappeared during the taping of the
No punches were thrown, but more
show. It's there, but nobody's tempted.
tears were shed.
Todd has found that if he gives him-
The week was emotionally wrenching
self permission to eat a cookie, he ends
and physically demanding. Plus, Todd
up not really wanting it. He gets antsy
and Amy were ordered to live in sweats
sitting on the couch so he rides his bike
and avoid looking good.
more and shoots hoops with the girls.
"When they were here filming us, we
"I got my life back," he says. "I agree
each had our own producer," Todd says.
with [Jiilian's] belief about lifestyle. I
"I was at a boxing place trying not to
don't diet. It was about changing my
throw up, or I'm at Subway filming a
life."
commercial. Amy's having coffee with
Todd says he and Amy are closer now,
Jillian," and the kids were in the hands
they put less pressure on their children,
of producers or friends.
and he's more confident in his work.
At the end of each day, Amy says, she
"It made us more positive. [The show]
and Todd would get into bed and stare
was the catalyst, but it was up to us to
at the ceiling, wrung out from working
hold it. We chose the better way. We
out and moving around and sharing
decided to stay the course and hopefully
feelings.
live together healthily for a long time,"
"There was a lot of crying," Todd says.
he says.
"It was bad stuff that had been built
up in your body for a long time. It was
WHAT THE FAMILY LEARNED
a terribly fatiguing workout that was
Don't diet. Alter the way you approach
wringing it out of you."
food, but it's not realistic to eat 1,200
Amy found Michaels' advice about
calories and work out every day.
parenting a bit difficult to take, given
Get to a gym. Do yoga.
that Michaels isn't a mother. Although
Don't set unattainable goals.
the host developed a good relation-
Don't weigh yourself.
ship with Lily and Chloe, she and Amy
Get a pair of "goal pants" you want to
clashed.
fit into.
"We had conflicting personalities;
Don't deprive yourself. If you want a
she's a tough Jewish woman, and I'm a
candy bar, cut it in half and put the rest
tough Jewish woman," says Amy.
in the freezer for another day.
Yet, she acknowledges that the timing
Eat less.
for such an adventure was right. When
Talk to your children about what
her business fell apart, she regained
they're eating instead of telling them
some of the 100 pounds she had lost
they've had enough to eat.
after gastric-bypass surgery. Michaels
Feed your children dinner when they
gave her the tools to take off and keep
come home from school so they don't
off the weight. Amy now eats five small
subsist on empty calories that keep them
meals a day.
grazing until the evening. ET
Since their appearance on Losing It With Lillian, Amy and Todd Franklin have lost a combined
120 lbs.
www.redthreadmagazine.com
FJORM or PLENTY FROM PAGE 19
They are there ready to work with
the cost of treating obesity in the U.S.
anybody who wants to put some sweat
will be $345 billion a year. We've simply
equity into growing their own food.
got to find ways to feed ourselves more
"Another thing is a program that we
sustainably."
are helping to get implemented in De-
Surprisingly, Hesterman has seen
troit and across Michigan called Double
little in the way of direct criticism from
Up Food Bucks. With that, anybody
big business and politicians who could
who comes to a participating farmers
stand to lose money if Hesterman has
market across the state of Michigan,
his way. But then, Hesterman isn't
including Detroit, with their Michigan
against big agriculture.
Bridge Card, for every $20 they spend
"I've been in this field for a long, long
off of their food stamp card, they will get time," he says. "This is my first book,
an additional $20 of spending power
but I've spoken a lot, I've written a lot of
to spend on Michigan-grown fruits and
articles, and I was a university professor
vegetables. Spend $20 and you get $40
[at Michigan State University] for a long
worth of produce. It's a way for families
time. I worked at the Kellogg Founda-
on federal assistance to bring those
tion [co-leading the Integrated Farming
dollars to a place where they can both
Systems and Food and Society Programs,
get healthy food for their family and
during which time the foundation seeded
support the local food economy at the
the local food systems movement with
same time."
more than $200 million].
The program operates in 46 Michi-
"Not everybody agrees with me. There
gan markets, with support from private
are some people who believe that the
foundations and donors, with additional
only way for us to sustain ourselves
help from the Michigan Department of
going forward is to intensify agriculture
Human Services, USDA Rural Devel-
— to use more chemicals, more pesti-
opment and the Michigan Nutrition
cides, genetically modified plants, and
Network.
that's the only way to do it. I simply do
Amanda Segar, food assistance part-
not agree. I see the symptoms of that
nership coordinator at the Michigan
system, the consequences, and they are
Farmers Market Association, believes
getting worse and worse.
Double Up Food Bucks is a great step
"I'm not against big agriculture. I'm
forward.
an agronomist. I was trained in this
"First of all, there's a huge myth that
as a scientist. I believe there's a role
farmers markets are more expensive
for large-scale agriculture in feeding
than grocery stores," Segar says. "I don't
ourselves, absolutely. I just believe that
know where it came from, this belief
we have reached a point where the pen-
that farmers markets are for elite clien-
dulum has swung so far to the side of
tele. They are very economical, especial-
intensification, specialization, concen-
ly when buying produce that is in sea-
tration, that we are in peril."
son. They are competitively priced with
In Fair Food, Hesterman details many
grocery stores. That said, the Double Up
small- and large-scale projects that are
Food Bucks program is a great initia-
working to improve the food system
tive. It helps the public, and it helps the
around the United States. He hopes
farmers markets. Everyone should have
that, in 10 years, we'll start seeing the
access to locally produced healthy food.
fruit of that labor.
But more than that, farmers markets
"I just think about the dozens, maybe
promote community awareness. There
hundreds, of small-scale projects hap-
are a lot of people who haven't been able pening around the country pointing the
to incorporate fresh fruit and vegetables
way to a food system that is more sus-
into their diet before because they don't
tainable and more equitable," he says.
know how to prepare and store it. At the
"My vision, my dream, is in 10 years'
farmers market, they can actually talk to
time we would see those current sys-
the growers. Who better to learn from?"
tems, rather than only comprising about
Everything Hesterman is proposing
2 percent of the current food system, we
sounds fantastic, and it all makes sense.
would have 10 or 20 percent. I believe
But how realistic is it to think that these
if we put our minds to it, it's possible.
changes are going to be made in a world
It's happening all around us on a small
where so much money is changing
scale, and these ideas can be scaled up.
hands in a food system dominated by
"I really encourage people to think
big business?
about both what they can do in their
"I would turn that around," Hester-
own kitchen to make a difference, but
man says. "How realistic is it to think
especially all the opportunity beyond
that we can continue polluting our
their refrigerator and beyond their
waterways, losing our precious topsoil,
kitchen of how they can participate and
having diet-related illness and obesity
change this, which is so important for
spin way out of control, among oth-
our future," Hesterman says. "The time
ers, and think that can sustain us in
is now We're at a moment right now
the future? We are living with a system
where people can make a difference."
that cannot sustain us into the future.
Hesterman will speak at JCC Jew-
I was in an audience listening to the
ish book fairs in Ann Arbor and Metro
executive vice president of the largest
Detroit in November. In Ann Arbor, his
health insurance company in the U.S.
talk will include a "fair food" dinner.
a few months ago, and he said, 'In our
company, we've looked at the trends,
— Ken Guten Cohen and Gail Zimmerman
done our numbers, done our research,
contributed reporting to this article.
and our research shows that by 2018
RD THREAD
August 2011 21
O