WATERLOO - It took an offhand comment by a neighbor for Larry Magee to get serious about weight loss.

Magee's wife, Alverna, was chatting with a friend in their Waterloo neighborhood when he joked that he would never retire because retirees just sit around and get fat.

The comment wasn't directed at anyone, but Larry Magee, who weighed 275 at his peak when he retired from John Deere in 2001, took it to heart.

"When my wife came home and told me that, that was kind of the final straw," he said.

Larry Magee looked online and found TOPS, or Take Off Pounds Sensibly. The program, started in 1948, is one of the original weight loss support groups still in existence and claims 10,000 chapters worldwide, though it's not as well known as some of the newer organizations.

Magee was 257 pounds when he first weighed in at TOPS in fall 2004. He achieved his goal weight of 190 pounds in June 2005 through portion control, healthy eating and an hour of daily walking.

Since then, Magee has been the 2004 Division Winner as well as "upgraded" to a KOPS member (Keep Off Pounds Sensibly) and was crowned TOPS King of Iowa in 2005.

And that weight, though occasionally fluctuating, has stayed off.

"It's watching what I eat and the exercise, and my wife does a good job of making sure," he said.

For Larry and Alverna, both in their 60s, TOPS was helpful because most members are in their mid-70s, said Magee. Though TOPS No. 45 in Waterloo does not have any other male members, president Berneice Sass said Larry Magee doesn't seem to mind.

"(Larry is) the type of person you can tease a lot," she said. "If we made mention of something female, like short skirts or something, he'd pipe up and say, 'I don't wear mine too short.' He'd come up with some zingers."

Alverna Magee hasn't yet reached her goal weight, but said the accountability is what helps the most versus other, more formal programs.

"This is more casual and laid-back," she said. "It's like reinforcement. You don't get down on people if they have a (weight) gain."

"It's helped me an awful lot," Larry Magee said. "I've been trying many times before and never got it accomplished."