Jim Moran Relishes His Slimming Margin
Friday, November 10, 2006; Page C03
Rep. Jim Moran cruised to an easy victory Tuesday in his congressional race, but said he had a much harder time losing weight -- potentially embarrassing, since he went on a very public diet last May and challenged his Falls Church constituents to do the same.
But the returns are in; we can report that the Virginia Democrat rallied and dropped 46 pounds.
  Jim Moran: Lean and plenty steamed. (Greater Falls Church Chamber Of Commerce) |
Six months ago, Moran stepped on the scale and the needle shot to 280 pounds. He announced he wanted to drop 50 pounds in six months, and promised to give the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce $1 per pound for anyone who beat his total. The campaign trail was full of fattening sweets, which he usually skipped, and at the final weigh-in Saturday, the 6-foot-1 Moran had slimmed down to a trim 234 pounds.
So, how did he do it?
"I laid off the alcohol, which made receptions a lot duller," Moran told us yesterday. He spent two hours (two hours! ) a day in the steam room of the House gym, where he did 200 push-ups and ran up and down the room's three stairs 300 times. "Then I was just about dead, but I would lose about five pounds each time." (And no, he admitted, this is not a smart way to lose weight.)
Only a few dozen dieters signed up for the challenge, said Chamber Executive Director Sally Cole : "Not that many people need to lose that much weight, and he's a big man." Moran originally promised the chamber $1 for every pound exceeding his weight loss -- but since there were so few participants, he upped the donation to $100 per pound. The results are still being tabulated, said Cole, but so far two people lost more weight than Moran, for a grand total of seven pounds.
Moran said he's finished with desperate diets. "I don't want to do this anymore. This is crazy." So, will he keep off the weight? "I'd like to get down to 200 pounds," he sighed. "I hope being in the majority doesn't make us fat and happy."
Welcome to Splitsville. Population: Growing.
Busy days for divorce lawyers and their lovelorn VIP clients . . .
Kevin Federline responded late Wednesday to newly estranged wife Britney Spears's divorce petition with a filing of his own seeking spousal support and custody of their two baby sons. (Hmm . . . never struck us as the diaper-changing type.) Some legal experts suggest the custody claim could be an attempt to leverage more money out of the pop starlet, who is believed to have an ironclad prenup. The aspiring rapper also responded to Britney's recent displays of liberation (showing off a hot new bod on Letterman , dining and ice-skating with pals in NYC) with a shout-out from a Chicago concert stage: "I'm seeing a lot of fine ladies here, and you know who's about to be a free man."
Reese Witherspoon took steps to make her split from Ryan Phillippe official, nine days after they announced their separation. She filed for divorce in Los Angeles Wednesday, seeking custody of their two children; she's also seeking to deny spousal support to Phillippe, whom she wed years before she started earning $15 million per picture.
Christie Brinkley faced her alleged philanderer husband Peter Cook in court for the first time Wednesday in Suffolk County, N.Y. The two reached a visitation agreement for their two kids and agreed not to discuss the divorce around them; People magazine reports they neither spoke to nor looked at each other during the two-hour hearing.
Here's to You, Donald Rumsfeld
Never one to let a historic political moment pass soberly, the Ritz-Carlton alerted us that its bartenders have created the "Rum Rummy Rum," a dangerous brew of optimism and defiance with wicked hangover potential -- three ounces of rum and one of Grand Marnier, plus sour mix and ginger ale.
Whoa. Blood-alcohol charts suggest that the average 185-pound, unemployed squash enthusiast would be able to down only one before he'd be unable to drive legally in the District. Hate losing that car and driver!
