For Green Valley man Bill Molzan, after a career in the restaurant industry, he found himself seeking ways to lose weight in order to better enjoy his retirement.
He was then crowned Arizona King of the nonprofit group, Take Pounds Off Sensibly (TOPS), after losing 40.2 lbs. The honor of being crowned king is given to those who have lost more weight than any other male TOPS member in the entire state and have reached their individual goal weight.
TOPS, as an organization, strives to help people build a community of support around their weight loss journey, helping to educate them and get them into healthier shape.
For Molzan, he wanted to lose the weight so he could be there for his growing family and start doing the things he loved again.
“Being in the restaurant business for 40 years, you’re around food constantly, and I got pretty big, and I needed to lose weight so I could enjoy the rest of my retirement,” Molzan said. “You know, you’re walking by the bakery, and all of a sudden, you know, a tray of chocolate chip cookies comes out, and the first one to sample was me.”
For Molzan, the support of his wife, who is also a TOPS member, and the organization have been paramount to achieving his weight loss goals.
“I think the biggest thing was getting out of the restaurant business and setting goals with my wife,” Molzan said. “She puts a shopping list together for every week, and she has her meals planned out every week, so we know what we’re having every night, so we don’t deviate from it.”
At the weekly TOPS meetings, members participate in a weigh-in, leaving them accountable to the rest of the group. TOPS provides the tools they need to lose weight and the support they need to keep going when times get tough.
For TOPS District Coordinator of Arizona Lynsey Young, she knows firsthand the power of the support system TOPS provides. She lost 160 lbs with TOPS and was named Arizona Queen for 2024.
“We are a family from the minute that you step into a chapter, and there’s just no judgment or rejection or anything negative,” Young said. “It really takes a lot for people to walk through the doors of a chapter, and so to be able to walk in and have the joy and the laughter and the acceptance that everyone feels when they come in is unmatched by any other organization.”
Before joining the Prescott Arizona chapter, she had tried many ways to lose weight, but a friend inspired her to join.
“I wasn’t a stranger to weight loss,” Young said. “I had tried everything and lost and gained and lost and gained, and it was the fellowship and the support that TOPS provided for me that allowed me to take it off and keep it off.”
Young said that one of the better things the organization does is recognize their members’ hard work, like in the case of Molzan.
“We’re really big on celebrating the wins and supporting the not-so-successful days or weeks,” Young said. “It’s a huge motivation. And not everyone obviously is state royalty, but you know, there are division winners, and there are all kinds of things that people can get recognition for, and that is a huge, huge part of the organization and the success.”
She also said that the power of the support system is what keeps people coming back to maintain their weight loss.
“It’s so much of a family dynamic that the thought of not coming back is almost heartbreaking. It’s just that, and that speaks to the fellowship and the support that TOPS provides people wherever anyone is,” Young said.
For Molzan, his journey with TOPS has been about more than just losing weight; it’s been about enjoying his life with the people he loves.
“We just became grandparents, so now now we’ve got a we’ve got a baby granddaughter. I want to be able to keep up with her. It’s going to be great,” Molzan said. “I started to play golf again, which I wasn’t able to do before. Just getting out and doing stuff and feeling good about myself”
