Woman shares small changes that helped her lose over 200 pounds
Leah Hope
(NEW YORK) — A woman who lost over 200 pounds said she accomplished it by focusing not on the weight she was losing, but the life she was gaining.
“I wanted to gain life more than I wanted to lose weight,” Leah Hope told ABC News’ Good Morning America of her motivation, adding, “There’s a much bigger picture that this is not about wanting a smaller body, but it is about chasing a bigger life.”
Hope, 35, said she hit a “rock bottom” moment in 2022 when she visited Disneyland in California with family members.
Weighing almost 400 pounds at the time, Hope said she remembers being in pain after just a few hours of walking at the theme park.
“I just had to end up spending most of the day by myself while my sister’s family was out enjoying the park,” Hope recalled. “I just left that day saying, ‘This is not the life that I want to be living, and if I continue on the path that I’m on, this is what my life is going to continue to look like.'”
After being overweight most of her life, Hope said she realized she had “become comfortable in my discomfort” and was motivated to change things.
She said she started small and focused on making one change at a time and then layering on more changes.
“Once that thing didn’t feel overwhelming anymore, then I added another thing,” Hope said.
For example, Hope said she started her weight loss journey by just adding one nutritious food to her diet each day.
Once she was comfortable with that change, she added one nutritious meal, and then began walking 10 minutes per day and later began writing what she was eating in a food journal.
“What prompted me to try to lose weight naturally was my focus on wanting to get healthy from the inside out, both internally, hormones, organs, all that, and mentally, emotionally, just holistic health, changing my lifestyle overall,” Hope said. “And so it seemed like it would make most sense to approach this naturally for myself.”
Hope added that while small changes and a natural approach to weight loss worked for her, everyone is different. People should consult with their health care provider before starting any weight loss routine.
“I strongly believe everyone has to decide what the best route is for them,” Hope said.
As she started to change her lifestyle, Hope began sharing her journey on social media. A TikTok video she posted last year, one year into her weight loss effort, now has over 14 million views.
When she faced obstacles on her two-year weight loss journey, Hope said she reminded herself of her focus on “gaining life” versus losing weight.
“As long as I continued to tell myself that, I could look at the scale and say, ‘You know what? Maybe the scale didn’t go down this week, but I did 2,000 more steps this day,’ or, ‘I actually enjoyed this healthy meal that I prepared,” Hope said. “Shifting my mindset to focus on building healthy habits, rather than just seeing a smaller number on the scale, is really what helped me continue through the road bumps, through not seeing the results that I wanted, and just continuing to remind myself that there’s a much bigger picture to this.”
The Walt Disney Co., is the parent company of ABC News.
(NEW YORK) — President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that heart surgeon-turned-TV-host Dr. Mehmet Oz would lead the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
“America is facing a Healthcare Crisis, and there may be no Physician more qualified and capable than Dr. Oz to Make America Healthy Again,” Trump said in a statement. “He is an eminent Physician, Heart Surgeon, Inventor and World-Class Communicator, who has been at the forefront of healthy living for decades.”
The position of CMS administrator requires Senate confirmation.
Here’s what to know about Oz, his medical career and some medical claims he’s made that have come under fire.
Is Oz a real doctor?
Oz graduated with a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and completed a Master of Business Administration from UPenn’s Wharton School of Business at the same time.
He completed his surgical training in cardiothoracic surgery at New York Presbyterian Hospital (Columbia Campus).
He was previously the director of the Cardiovascular Institute at New York Presbyterian Hospital and vice-chairman and professor of surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. His title was then changed to Professor Emeritus of Surgery in 2018.
Medicine “was my calling,” Oz said in a Wharton Magazine profile from 2010. “I knew it from a very early age. I played a lot of sports growing up, and like a lot of other athletes, I really enjoyed the challenge of using my hands. I just loved the idea of being in a field where you could [do that].”
Oz began his TV career as a health expert on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” before launching “The Dr. Oz Show,” which ran from 2009 to 2022. The show ended when Oz launched an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania.
What would Oz run as CMS administrator?
CMS administers the Medicare program, the federal health insurance program for those mostly aged 65 and older.
The agency also works with state programs to administer Medicaid, which is health insurance for disabled and low-income Americans, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which provides low-cost coverage to children with families that don’t qualify for Medicaid.
Oz has supported Medicare Advantage, which is run by commercial insurers and has been promoted by Trump. Project 2025 — a plan of conservative policy proposals proposed by the Heritage Foundation and not endorsed by Trump — has proposed Medicare Advantage be the default option for Medicare coverage.
Experts have said this could privatize the program and prevent people from receiving care from doctors and hospitals that don’t accept Medicare Advantage.
In Tuesday’s announcement, Trump said Oz would work closely with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. the president-elect’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees CMS.
What are Dr. Oz’s past controversies?
During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Oz promoted hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug, as a COVID-19 treatment. Trump later touted the drug as a “game changer,” although medical researchers warned more study was needed.
In June 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration revoked emergency authorization for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to treat COVID-19, saying evidence shows the recommended dose is unlikely to be effective against the virus.
Oz also made past statements indicating that he endorsed spacing out childhood vaccines and expressed ambivalence towards a discredited theory that vaccines cause autism, according to a 2022 study. In later episodes of his TV show, Oz would go on to endorse the measles, mumps, rubella shot.
Oz also came under fire due to his claims about certain “miracle” products to help consumers lose weight.
During a 2014 hearing before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on consumer protection, then-Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri grilled Oz, claiming he had a role in “perpetuating” scams.
“When you feature a product on your show, it creates what has become known as the ‘Oz effect,’ dramatically boosting sales and driving scam artists to pop up overnight using false and deceptive ads to sell questionable products,” she said. “While I understand that your message is also focused on basics like healthy eating and exercise, I’m concerned that you are melding medical advice news and entertainment in a way that harms consumers.”
During the hearing, Oz defended his statements, saying he believed in the benefits of the products he promoted on his show.
“I actually do personally believe in the items I talk about in the show. I passionately study them. I recognize that often times they don’t have the scientific muster to present as fact. But, nevertheless, I give my audience the advice I give my family all the time. I give my family these products, specifically the ones you mentioned. I’m comfortable with that part,” he said.
(YEMASSEE, SC) — With four primates still on the loose after 43 of them escaped on Nov. 6 from the Alpha Genesis Inc. research laboratory in South Carolina, the Low Country facility has come under intense scrutiny.
Animal rights groups have cited the company’s history of violations and previous monkey breakouts; a member of Congress has called for an inquiry into its oversight by multiple federal agencies; and residents voiced concern the furry fugitives might spread disease throughout their community.
On top of it all, Alpha Genesis founder and CEO Gregory Westergaard told ABC News his company is investigating whether the release of the monkeys was “an intentional act” by an employee.
The quest for freedom by the pack of young female rhesus macaques coincides with the rapid expansion of the 100-acre Alpha Genesis facility and is casting light on a disruption in the U.S. medical research industry that sounds like a plot for a science fiction thriller. A 2023 report sponsored by the National Institutes of Health warned of a crisis involving the Chinese government that “undermines the security of the nation’s biomedical research enterprise.”
The case of the absconding primates has also raised questions about why the amount of federal contracts received by the testing and breeding operation has jumped more than 160% since 2021. According to USASpending.gov, a government website that tracks federal spending, the company has been granted $19 million in federal contracts this year alone.
“It’s shocking how much money is being spent on testing primates,” Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., told ABC News.
Mace’s district encompasses the Beaufort County community of Yemassee, where the 6,701 primates housed at the sprawling Alpha Genesis facility nearly triple the number of town residents.
In a formal letter to the NIH, the agency that funds laboratory research, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which inspects and regulates breeding facilities, Mace expressed “very urgent concerns regarding federal oversight of Alpha Genesis.” Mace said the prolonged attempts to recapture all of the primates are “placing the animals and my constituents at risk.”
“A lot of constituents were concerned about whether or not the primates that escaped were sick or ill, or have been tested on,” Mace told ABC News. “There were a lot of folks concerned about the facility being a breeding facility and the testing that goes on there as well.”
The escape highlights an ‘issue of national security’
The incident some locals have referred to as “the great escape” has illuminated the international crisis hitting the animal research industry that Alpha Genesis’ Westergaard said has become “an issue of national security.”
In 2020, the Chinese government, the world’s primary breeder of research monkeys, banned the exports of nonhuman primates (NPH) to labs in the United States and elsewhere, triggering an international shortage of the animals just as research scientists were scrambling to come up with vaccines to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a May 2023 report by National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine.
Primates, according to the NIH-supported report, are valuable in answering certain research questions because of their genetic, anatomic, physiologic and behavioral similarities to humans. However, the China ban on exporting research animals exacerbated the shortage and stalled NIH-funded research, according to the report.
The report concluded that the United States “needs to prioritize expansion” of domestic primate breeding programs.
“Relying on importing these animals from other countries is unsustainable, and dependence on international sources undermines the security of the nation’s biomedical research enterprise,” the report warned.
In 2021, the National Primate Research Centers could not meet two-thirds of researcher requests for rhesus macaques, according to the report.
“Researchers also face increased wait times for animals, and costs have risen 10% to 200% for a single animal, depending on the species,” the report said.
What we know about Alpha Genesis’ research
The crisis prompted Alpha Genesis to increase its domestic breeding of research primates. According to Rep. Mace, the company also manages the NIH’s so-called “Monkey Island” on Morgan Island in Beaufort County, which holds another 3,300 primates.
Westergaard told ABC News that Alpha Genesis employs 275 people, plus 30 or so contractors.
In addition to breeding lab monkeys, Alpha Genesis provides researchers across the country with biological products and materials, including serum, plasma, whole blood and tissue samples from a wide variety of research species, according to the company’s website. The private company’s researchers have helped develop several therapeutic drugs and vaccines, including those to treat the COVID-19 virus.
According to NIH online records provided to USASpending.gov, the crisis appears to be in accord with a boost in federal contracts Alpha Genesis has received, jumping from $7.3 million in 2021 to $12.3 million in 2022, $14.2 million in 2023 and $19 million this year.
Primates are worth up to $30,000 each
“The price of research monkeys has indeed increased a great deal since the Chinese banned all exports,” Westergaard said in an email to ABC News. “Prior to the ban monkeys sold for around $4K – $6K, after the ban prices have increased to $10K – $30K+ due to increased costs of raising animals in the US compared to China. An important point to note is that the shortage remains severe and a great deal of research in the US simply cannot be done because animals are not available at any cost.”
Westergaard said some suppliers of laboratory primates have turned to the illegal sourcing of wild-caught monkeys from Cambodia, “which we have not done.”
“It should also be noted that the Chinese government is seeking worldwide domination in medical research and the development of bio-weapons to target US citizens and our allies,” Westergaard said.
He added, “Alpha Genesis is a leading provider of NHPs to the US market and has been instrumental in attempting to fill this void. The alternative is to allow the Chinese to dominate medical development to the severe detriment of our National Security interests.”
“It should also be noted that the Chinese government is seeking worldwide domination in medical research and the development of bio-weapons to target US citizens and our allies,” Westergaard said.
He added, “Alpha Genesis is a leading provider of NHPs to the US market and has been instrumental in attempting to fill this void. The alternative is to allow the Chinese to dominate medical development to the severe detriment of our National Security interests.”
Human error or intentional act?
Asked by ABC News whether the rapid expansion of Alpha Genesis’ breeding and testing operations might have played a role in the escape of the 43 primates, Westergaard said the cause of the escape remains under investigation, including whether it was the result of “human error” or an “intentional act.”
“All the information we have thus far indicates that this is human error due to an employee failing to secure containment doors behind her, and a third door directly containing the animals, while doing routine cleaning and feeding,” Westergaard said in an email. “The enclosure was brand new and in perfect working order. We continue to investigate in an attempt to determine to the greatest extent possible whether this was or was not an intentional act.”
Westergaard said that immediately after the incident occurred, the employee’s supervisor told her she could be fired if it was determined that no structural failure of the primates’ enclosure led to the incident. Westergaard said the employee walked off the job and has not returned.
As of early Tuesday, four of the escaped primates remained on the loose, Westergaard said. Two were caught Monday, he said.
“The girls from today are in good health and the others continue to thrive,” Westergaard said Monday. “We believe the four monkeys remaining are probably all together either in the area adjacent to our property or somewhere else very close by.”
Mace has requested answers from NIH Director Monica Bertagnolli, USDA Deputy Administrator for Animal Care Sarah Helming, and Acting Director Axel Wolf of the NIH’s Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare. She also noted that this was not the first time problems had arisen at the research lab.
Mace, who told ABC News she is against animal testing, cited in her letter a September 2022 USDA inspection report of Alpha Genesis that found six separate incidents of animals escaping from their primary enclosures between January and August of 2022. Mace also cited escapes dating back to 2014, when more than two dozen monkeys slipped out of the facility, resulting in a fine from the USDA.
The 2022 USDA inspection report, which ABC News reviewed, also found an infant monkey died after becoming entangled in a stretch of gauze material used in an enclosure to hold a water bottle; said two primates were found dead in their enclosures with their fingers entrapped in structures inside their cages; and documented that one animal died from trauma and four others required veterinary care after they were placed in incorrect enclosures and were attacked by other primates unfamiliar with them.
As a result of the inspection, Alpha Genesis, according to the report, took corrective action to secure enclosures and “made significant changes” to avoid putting primates in the wrong enclosures.
The latest USDA routine inspection of Alpha Genesis lab was conducted on May 21 and concluded, “No non-compliant items identified during this inspection,” according to USDA online records.
“This is also true of several other inspections in recent years,” Westergaard said. “For a facility of this size that is quite remarkable.”
Mace said she met with Westergaard last week to discuss the escape and what Alpha Genesis is doing to round up the monkeys.
“It was an interesting conversation,” Mace said. “He tried to tell me how good the primates have it at his facility. And my response was, they have it good until you kill them with disease.”
Asked about the conversation, Westergaard responded: “I spoke to the congresswoman last week and at that time she said that she recognized the economic importance of our company to the people of the Low Country and that as a locally-owned business, she would continue to offer her full support.”
Alternatives to testing primates
Angela Grimes, CEO of Born Free USA, an international wildlife conservation and animal protection organization, told ABC News that her group has sent a letter to Alpha Genesis offering to rehome the escaped primates to its animal sanctuary in South Texas, where more than 200 rhesus macaque monkeys now reside, including some rescued from U.S. research labs. She said an anonymous donor has pledged $250,000 to help move the animals to the sanctuary.
“What we’d like to see is these animals be released to the Born Free USA sanctuary in South Texas, where they can have some of that freedom that they’ve just gotten a taste of,” Grimes said.
Grimes said Alpha Genesis has not responded to her group’s offer.
The nonprofit Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary, a 175-acre facility in Dilley, Texas, has been accredited since 2009 by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, GFAS executive director Valerie Taylor told ABC News, adding that her group conducts rigorous assessments and inspections of animal sanctuaries across the United States and around the globe to ensure the highest standard of animal care possible. Taylor said U.S. animal sanctuaries undergo accreditation every three years and that her organization recently visited the Born Free USA sanctuary as part of the reaccreditation process.
“We meet and exceed GFAS’ highest standards,” Grimes said.
Grimes said the medical research industry needs to research alternatives to subjecting primates to experimental testing of deadly diseases.
“I understand human health is important, but I also look at the other viable alternatives that are out there that do not result in the suffering and death of animals,” Grimes said.
Westergaard said testing of primates is necessary, though.
“There is no safe or effective way to make the leap from simpler model organisms like mice and rats to humans without using NHPs as an intermediary,” Westergaard said. “The therapeutics created using NHPs as research models directly lead to lifesaving and life-prolonging treatments and cures for human disease. Without NHPs as a research model, the world would still be ravaged with wide-spread polio, smallpox wouldn’t be eradicated, and HIV would still be a death sentence.”
(LOS ANGELES) — While Los Angeles County is reporting three locally acquired cases of dengue this year — which is rare for the region — there have been at least 3,085 cases nationally of locally acquired virus so far this year, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There has been about double the number of locally acquired dengue cases so far this year nationally compared to last year, according to the CDC. Puerto Rico currently makes up the bulk of those cases – with over 2,960 reported. The U.S. territory declared a public health emergency back in March.
“The City of Baldwin Park is aware of the recent cases of locally acquired dengue in our community. While the risk of transmission remains low, we must take this situation seriously and act proactively,” said Mayor Emmanuel J. Estrada.
Dengue viruses spread through mosquito bites. The most common symptom is a fever with aches and pains, nausea, vomiting and rash. Symptoms usually begin within two weeks after being bitten by an infected mosquito and last 2-7 days. Most people recover after about a week.
Locally acquired cases mean that the people infected have no history of traveling to an area where dengue normally spreads. Local dengue transmission is typically common in tropical and subtropical areas of the world – including Florida, and U.S. territories in the Caribbean.
Last year, there were only two locally acquired cases reported in the state of California, the first local cases in the state reported in over a decade, according to CDC data.
The CDC issued a health alert in June warning health care providers of an increased risk of dengue virus infection this year. Globally, new cases of dengue have been the highest on record, according to the CDC. The agency also noted that cases are likely to increase as global temperatures increase.
The best way to prevent dengue is to avoid mosquito bites, according to the CDC.
