It has been two years since Fort Drum's Army Wellness Center first opened and began its mission to promote a healthier community. Ever since, people have visited with different needs and motivations to improve their well-being.
Cpl. Jeremy Gorman, a saxophonist with the 10th Mountain Division Band, was motivated to lose weight so that he could stay in the Army. In January, the band visited the Army Wellness Center to learn more about the services offered there. A week later, Gorman made his first appointment at the AWC.
"I was really amazed at the tools they offered," Gorman said. "I did a Body Composition Analysis and I became hooked, essentially."
At his heaviest, Gorman weighed in at 212 pounds, and he said he didn't feel good about himself. Now, down 26 pounds, Gorman credits his weight loss to the Army Wellness Center.
Joe White, Fort Drum Aviation Division chief, wanted to drop some pounds as well, but he also wanted to learn how he could keep that weight off. He learned about the AWC during his annual physical last December, after mentioning to the physician assistant that he planned on losing some weight. He scheduled an appointment in January for a metabolism rate evaluation.
"It took about 30 minutes with 15 minutes of just lying down with a mask covering my mouth and nose," he said.
After that, White completed a fitness test, which measured additional baselines to include cardiovascular fitness, strength and flexibility.
Gorman and White both said the AWC provided them with the tools needed to help reach their goals.
"The whole staff is really knowledgeable," Gorman said. "I would stay after my appointments and ask for advice, and the staff gladly offered it up. They have a lot of tools they provide you with, from websites for eating right and recipes to apps that help you track food and fitness."
These tools helped Gorman learn the importance of calorie counting and measuring his food intake.
"I used to just eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast or a bunch of pancakes," Gorman said. "I wouldn't measure anything; I would just eat until I was full. So now I use this app -- I use it every single day -- and I measure my food. Yeah, it is time-consuming, but once you've done it enough it becomes part of your routine, part of your life."
White was initially skeptical about calorie counting but he soon appreciated its value. The AWC provided him with a baseline to calculate his daily caloric allowances so he could maintain or steadily lose weight: about a half pound to one pound per week. An app helped him track his daily caloric intake and exercise.
"That became a daily ritual, and surprisingly a relatively a very easy one," he said. "Tracking accurately is extremely important, but with all of the resources on the app as well as the Internet, it was easy."
Both Gorman and White visited the AWC initially with a goal to shed pounds, but according to Samantha Wood, AWC health educator, the center can help people with much more.
"It's not just weight loss," Wood said. "A lot of people think we only deal with losing weight, and that's not the case.
Anybody who has any athletic goals or stress management, improving sleep quality -- really anything in the area of health and wellness, we can help with."
Wood emphasized that the AWC offers a holistic approach to wellness -- and its services extend to everyone living and working at Fort Drum.
Gorman is still in pursuit of his goal. He is currently at 186 pounds, and he would like to get down to 175. To keep himself motivated, he visits the AWC at least once a month.
"Gorman is one of a handful of people who continues to come back to the AWC," Wood said. "Seeing people come back and commit is what we work for -- they make us want to do our job."
White has lost nearly 60 pounds and 21 percent body fat since his first visit to the AWC. His cardio rate has gone from fair to superior.
"I am at the weight I was in high school and I feel great," White said. "The Wellness Center gave me some really good basic information about what it takes to lose weight and improve my fitness along with a few tools and encouragement. They did not force anything on me nor did they judge."
For Gorman, his motivation appeared each morning when he put on his uniform.
"When I first started this in January, I was in a larger size (Army combat uniform) -- large regular," he said. "I didn't feel comfortable in that size. So to motivate me, every morning when I would get my uniform out of the closet, I would see the medium, and that would motivate me to keep going."
After losing nearly 30 pounds, Gorman is now wearing the medium-sized uniform. And while he doesn't have that to encourage him anymore, seeing the pounds come off motivated Gorman to keep going and find something else to achieve. Now he is focusing on improving his Army Physical Fitness Test score.
"I took two PT tests in two months. The first one was in May, and from October of last year, I cut 45 seconds off my run," he said. "And then when I tested in June, I cut an additional 38 seconds off."
Gorman said his current goal is to get a score of 70 in each event. He is just shy of the mark for the run, but has already achieved 71 points in pushups and situps.
"My next goal after I get the 70 is to get 80, then 90 and then eventually (a total of) 300," Gorman said. "It's a slow process, but if you just stick with it, it will benefit you in the long run."
Gorman said he hopes to stay in the Army as long as he can. He said he loves playing music, and he can't imagine doing anything else. Losing weight was the only way Gorman could continue his Army career.
"I am trying to get promoted, and me being overweight and trying to be a sergeant and set an example -- if I would have been an E-5 at that weight trying to set an example, how would that have looked?" Gorman said.
Now with the tools and guidance he has received from the AWC staff, Gorman is on his way to meeting all of his goals.
"The Army Wellness Center helped me, so who is to say that they can't help anyone else?" he asked. "Asking for help is definitely not a weakness. I believe it shows great strength. They've got the tools, so why not use them?"
The overall goal of the AWC is to provide programs that promote and sustain healthy lifestyles. White was looking for something that would be easy to follow long-term.
"I have reduced my meal portions, which was hard for me to do," White said. "I eat more fruits and vegetables, and I also snack more often. I have found a great many 100-calorie snacks and eat what seems like constantly. The change also got me to focus on finding and eating only those things that I really enjoy and taste good."
Before his initial visit to the AWC, White said he was only exercising for 20 minutes three to four times a week and that exercise consisted of walking on the treadmill. Wanting more of a return on his "exercise investment," White upped his time to 30 minutes, but that still left him wanting more.
"So I did a bit of research and found that an elliptical machine could produce the results I was looking for and so I purchased one," he said. "Since I do not like to run and I wanted to have low impact but high-calorie burn rate for the time I spent exercising, I found the elliptical fit that bill."
When the weather is nice, White also likes to spend time on his bike -- riding a 10-mile loop, four to six times a week. The combination of the reduced calorie intake and significant calorie from exercises led him to see results immediately.
"I started in January … and the results have surprised me," he said. "Some of the improvements are so significant that I have been overwhelmed. I did not think some of the results were even possible."
Some of White's co-workers have seen his results and have been inspired to initiate their own weight loss plans.
"I am encouraging all of them to go to the AWC to get a good baseline and starting point, to use the resources and counselors there so the process can become a permanent change and not just a quick trend and a relapse," he said.
The AWC offers a number of assessments and tools to help interested clients with their health and wellness goals. These tools focus six core programs, which include physical fitness, nutrition, stress management and tobacco education.
The first thing all individuals who visit the AWC will do is a health assessment review. This allows the AWC staff the opportunity to learn about any injuries the client may have or any risk factors before beginning a program. Each client receives an individualized program geared specifically toward his or her goals.
"Just being able to talk to someone one-on-one, it's more individualized, and when you feel like you are getting that one-on-one contact, and when you feel like someone cares about your individual goals, I think it makes the journey a little easier," Wood said.
The AWC is available for all Soldiers, Family Members, retirees and Department of the Army Civilians. Enrollment in TRICARE Prime is not required. Additionally, all services are free. There are three ways to be seen at the AWC: referral by your health care provider, referral by your unit or self-referral.
All visits to the AWC are charted in the client's electronic medical record and in the Army Wellness Center's web-based system. This allows clients who move to another installation to pick up where they left off with their wellness plan, if that post has an AWC.
The Fort Drum Wellness Center is located at 10550 5th Armored Division Drive. It is open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, with the exception of federal holidays. To learn more about AWC services or to schedule an appointment, call 772-4608.
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