I Am Just Wild About Harry!
By Jody Abrams
The issue of being fat for most of us
has been a life long challenge that originated
in childhood. I was a card-carrying member
of Weight Watchers in first grade. Thank
God for little Lynn Chitow, one of my
classmates. She preferred my daily snack
of baby dill pickles packed by my mother,
to her Hershey Kisses and most days,
was willing to make a trade.
Along with punishment of dieting came
the torture of exercise, which again
for me, was a nightmare. I am sure that
I am not the only child who was not picked
for the team. Only where I went to school,
there was no adult teaching tolerance,
so most of my gym classes were spent
on the sidelines instead of in the trenches
developing my curve ball.
When you are a fat child and even a
fat adult, it's hard to take advice about
fitness from some well-meaning svelte
exercise guru who has never walked a
mile in your shoes and who doesn't know
what it is to have one's confidence eroded
by these types of childhood experiences.
Having spoken with Harry Pino, I am
pleased to tell you that all is about
to change. Harry Pino, Ph.D. is a Clinical
Exercise Physiologist and the newest
member of the OCC staff. I was asked
to interview Dr. Pino as a means of introducing
him to you all though the newsletter.
In preparation for this article, I spoke
with Dr. Pino for approximately an hour,
but I have no doubt that he could have
talked with me all day. Dr. Pino is very
passionate about fitness, but more than
this, he is passionate about our struggles
as fat people en route to becoming the
healthiest, fittest people that we can
be.
Dr. Pino has never had a weight problem,
but he has been surrounded by family
members who have struggled as we do.
Dr. Pino lost his father approximately
four years ago due to complications of
obesity. It has been Dr. Pino's personal
experiences with loved ones struggling
with obesity that has spirited his studies
and research. Dr. Pino will tell you
himself how passionate he is about his
career. Dr. Pino will also tell you how
committed he is to fostering our individual
successes with fitness. One only has
to listen to Dr. Pino to know that he
is a person of more than his words.
Dr. Pino moved to Massachusetts from
Florida. His work brought him to practicing
in the North Shore area. Approximately
two years ago, Dr. Pino began reading
about the OCC, its work, and philosophy.
He thought there was a component missing,
so he wrote a proposal to Drs. Saltzman
and Shikora outlining his ideas and was
invited to join the OCC.
Dr. Pino told me that his intent in
working with the clinic is to provide
a clinically-structured exercise program.
Dr. Pino was quick to point out that
the program will have various components
that will help a patient to achieve fitness
gradually. Dr. Pino wants us all to know
that he is approachable and sensitive
to our needs and our struggles. Dr. Pino
has begun a lecture series on Thursday
evenings from 6:30-7:30 P.M. in the Wolff
Auditorium. The title of the series is" Physical
Activity for Life Education Lecture Series."
In addition to this lecture series,
as a member of the American College of
Sports Medicine, Dr. Pino fancies himself
an advocate. He wrote a critical thirty-page
letter to Dr. Phil and he has his eye
on health clubs too. We discussed that
while our thin-obsessed society is very
preachy around advising fat people to
exercise, often we are not welcome in
many health clubs. Many fitness centers
are not geared up or even staffed with
educated professionals who can provide
proper instruction commensurate with
our individual needs. This issue seemed
to be a pet peeve of Dr. Pino's, who
was quick to tell me that he is on it,
having visited every fitness center in
Boston in the hopes of developing some
guidelines to educate these centers around
our needs and to help make them more
user-friendly.
We should have learned as children how
to move our bodies through space and
to have both pleasure and success in
doing it. Movement is a joy, not a punishment.
Just like the gastric bypass surgery
is a tool in learning to eat again, so
is Dr. Pino a resource for us in learning
to love our bodies and to use them to
move our spirits in order to gain grace
and mastery over our bodies as we become
the best that we can be.
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