This week in Fat City: Mary Youtsey, a nurse and former marathon runner sidelined by a stress fracture, wants to get back on track, at a slightly slower pace.

        Metro bus driver Tanya Chinn needs smaller slacks.

        And teacher Jerome Manigan is learning how to eat healthy meals on a busy schedule.

        The Enquirer's weight-loss warriors continue their adventures on the Cincinnati Diet, developed in cooperation with the Jewish Hospital Weight Management Center in Evendale.

        Mrs. Youtsey is continuing her fitness efforts, increasing the intensity of her workouts on the treadmill and learning some exercises to strengthen her abdominal muscles.

        “Maybe I will have that flat stomach after all,” she says.

        She's also learning to manage “the urge to eat junk” and to prepare two healthy meals — one for her husband, Tom, and one for herself.

        And she's set an important goal: She wants to walk in the American Heart Association's Heart Mini-Marathon in March.

        Ms. Chinn experienced one of the joys of successful weight loss: She needs smaller uniform pants.

        And she experienced one of the not-so-fun realities: A craving for fried chicken sent her to a fast-food restaurant one night. But she pulled off the skin and the “crunchy stuff” and only ate the white meat of the chicken breast she ordered. She returned to the Cincinnati Diet meal plans the next day.

        “Needless to say, I went into the restaurant and one of the kids that rides one of my routes works there,” Ms. Chinn says. “He said, "Aren't you my bus driver that's on the diet?'"

        So much for the perks of celebrity.

        Mr. Manigan is learning to balance his busy schedule of school and community work against healthy eating. He continues walking every day.

        Learning to make time for nutrition is hard work, he says. “Eating never was a big interest of mine anyway. To me, it was always a big inconvenience,” he says.

        Lunch is especially difficult, he says, “but as much as I could, I followed what was on the menu.”

Youtsey

       Mary Youtsey, 39, of Southgate

        Starting weight: 190 as of Dec. 30

        Weight lost: 10 pounds since Jan. 2. She's working out on a treadmill and a stair machine and lifting weights.

        Sound bite: “One way in the past I destroyed my efforts (to lose weight) was I got tired of fixing two entrees at each meal, so I would just say, "I'll just eat what I'm making Tom, but just a little.' But you know that never happens.”

Chinn

       Tanya Chinn, 47, Springfield Township

        Starting weight: 210 pounds as of Jan. 4.

        Weight lost: 13 pounds.

        Sound bite: “I had to get an old pair of my uniform pants, 'cause my new ones are getting baggy.”

Manigan

        Jerome Manigan, 53, Avondale

        Starting weight: 269 pounds (as of Dec. 30).

        Weight lost: 4.6 pounds; no change last week.

        Sound bite: “For anyone who works and is away from home the majority of the day, the preparation of meals gets to be a big concern. I have developed a new appreciation for women who work and maintain homes and somehow find time to cook a meal and then sit down and find time to eat with their families.”

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