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Bluffton, Ind.
May 25, 2005

By Sarah Pulliam
Dennis Deininger, 56, is wearing a shirt two sizes smaller after losing 67
pounds in four months.
“I couldn’t believe it. I was just ecstatic,” Deininger said.  “The other shirts
look like maternity dresses now.”
Bluffton resident Deininger is the city’s maintenance supervisor and told his
success story to Tuesday’s Board of Works meeting.
When Deininger took part of the city’s January health screening test, the nurse
told him he would become   diabetic since his blood sugar level was dangerously
high at 180.
“A diabetic to me means you have to give yourself shots every day and that kind
of scared me,” he said. “The nurse told me I had a choice: lose weight, change
my diet or die early.”
Deininger links his achievement to the health screening test because it made him
determined to lower his blood sugar by losing weight.
“Our New Year’s resolution was to lose weight. Well you can make every excuse,
but when they found this out, there were no excuses,” Deininger said. “It gave
me the incentive I needed.”
Deininger said cutting soft drinks out of his diet, eating smaller portions and
exercizing daily on the stationary bike contributed to his weight loss. He
credits his weight loss to his wife who cooks their food.
“I eat proper foods now,” he said. “We’re really surprised at how good we feel.
We’re not hungry anymore.”
Deininger calls himself a jack of all trades because he does various maintenance
around the city that includes plumbing and electrical work.
“Before, I’d bend over and it was difficult to get up since I was so heavy,” he
said. “Now I can bend over and do everything.”
Deininger is father to his 25-year-old daughter and 22-year-old son and said his
family has joined him in losing weight.
“It’s surprisingly easier than any of us thought,” Deininger said. “By dad doing
it, it gave everyone a good incentive and a wakeup call that we all needed to do
it.”
Deininger’s blood sugar level went from 180 in January to its current, healthy
level at about 100.
Although Deininger is excited about his recent weight loss, he hopes to lose
another 33 pounds to his original goal of 200 pounds by January 2006.
“I feel great and I’m proud of it. I feel 200 percent better,” he said. “It gave
me the incentive to keep trying even harder.”
Clerk-Treasurer Nancy Hewitt who coordinates the health screenings was not
available for comment.
Deputy Clerk-Treasurer Tami Runyon said the city began offering annual
screenings in  2002 to the city’s employees and their spouses.
Runyon said that close to 100 people are tested for cholestoral, sugar level,
high blood pressure and body mass. She said the tests proved to be positive.
“They benefitted the health insurances and the health of the employees,” Runyon
said. “They caught things in early stages.”
According to the Indiana State Department of Health website, 17 million
Americans have diabetes and 358,000 Hoosiers have been diagnosed with the disease.