He’ll start talking about his passion — cutting government fat.
Whuh-oh. Now, hold on. Before you worry about which side of the political aisle this guy leans toward, let me clarify. Paul’s talking about cutting government fat — literally. Getting overweight legislators to work together to lose weight.
Paul is a fitness-loving, passionate ball of fire who has taken on America’s war on obesity. Even bigger, he’s doing it from the front lines, his hometown of Jackson, Miss.
“We are the fattest state in the fattest country in the world. Forget ‘obesity,’ ” he told me bluntly. We are fat!”
Paul has trained NFL prospects and everyday folks who need help in dropping big pounds.
“To see a dad do a weigh-in in front of his young son, to show him he’s lost over 100 pounds, to hear him tell his boy, ‘I did this to be here for you,’ ” he shared this past week as he got choked up, “well, that’s just worth a million bucks.”
Paul works and thinks big. That’s why he headed for the Mississippi State Legislature in 2009. He figured, they want to be leaders? Let them lead by example. “Come spend 12 weeks with me,” he dared them.
To his amazement, they came. White. Black. Democrats. Republicans. Men. Women. Paul mixed them all up and put them workouts they could never imagine: nonstop activity for a full hour four times a week.
No one goes through their weight and fitness battles alone. That’s his secret sauce: teams.
“It’s unreal to watch how they help each other,” he told me.
“You should see them run a 5K. The first person who finishes has to go back to the slowest person and be with them until they finish.... One hundred people cross the finish line togeth er.”
This is the third year he’s led the lawmakers. Together they lose about 3,000 pounds during the legislative session. And that’s how Paul LaCoste literally cuts government fat.
He’s seeing health miracles and teamwork miracles. Paul has seen things hard for most of us to believe. “An African-American legislator came up to me and said, ‘See that Republican over there. Been in the legislature with him 25 years. I’ve never liked him. But now that we’ve been training for 12 weeks, we’re friends. Now we go over to the legislature and talk. Turns out we’re not that different.’ ”
With the state legislators under his belt, Paul went after teachers. Fit4Teaching is a similar program that targets teachers during their summer break.
Get started immediately. Get moving. Imagine how much you’ll have to talk about at that next dinner party.
Daryn Kagan is the creator of DarynKagan.com. She is the author of “What’s Possible! 50 True Stories of People Who Dared To Dream They Could Make a Difference.”
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