Nicole Beagle's prom dress is magenta tulle with spaghetti straps and a bodice studded with rhinestones. She hasn't tried it on since 1999, but in August, she plans to wear the dress as a bridesmaid.
The only hitch: The energetic 23-year-old grew from a size 5 to a size 11 in the years after her prom night. But Beagle didn't go on a diet, join a gym or try weight loss pills to shed the extra pounds. Instead, she got a job.
Four months ago, the East Hartford, Conn., resident started working for the junk removal service 1-800-GOT-JUNK. Since then, she has dropped two dress sizes — and 25 pounds — on her way to fitting into that late-'90s gown.
Hauling junk in the hot sun might have once been the last resort of summer-job seekers who couldn't snag a spot dishing ice cream or guarding swimmers. But as young people become more health-conscious, the fitness perks of such jobs have started to count in their favor.
On a job in South Windsor, Conn., recently, Beagle and her junk-crew partner, Scott Mocek, tackled a pile of unsold goods from a tag sale. Boxes of clothing and kitchenware sailed easily into the back of their truck. Chairs and bureaus posed a bigger challenge. The company charges for junk by volume, so Beagle and Mocek tried to break larger items into smaller, more condensable pieces. One after another, Beagle slammed heavy wooden chairs against the asphalt driveway until the legs and arms broke off.
"It gives me an adrenaline rush and a workout," she said. "It's amazing how many calories you burn just filling up a truck."
Beagle said she previously had trouble fitting workouts into a schedule packed with classes, work and baby-sitting for her young niece. Now, with exercise incorporated into her time on the clock, she can focus on fitness without losing time with her friends or family, she said.
She still has one dress size to go before she will be able to fit into the prom dress, she said. For now, it is a reminder of her goal.
"I look at it every time I go into the closet," she said.
In the fall, Beagle will begin taking night classes toward certification as an X-ray technician. A doctor noticed that she had a natural aptitude for reading scans when she attended an ultrasound with her friend, she said, and it will be a good-paying job.
While she is in school, she will keep her day job working for the junk removal company, she said. Although the clients are occasionally strange — she recalled one job in which they removed 30 computer monitors from a home covered in the number "666" — she said they are usually friendly, and she enjoys feeling trusted when they allow her to enter their homes. And as long as she's working in junk removal, she'll save money and time on a gym membership, she said.
Beagle is not the only employee to have noticed the fitness boost that comes from hauling junk, said Doug Stoyer, Beagle's employer. Mocek has lost 10 pounds in three months on the job, he said, and Stoyer himself notices a weight loss during the summer months, which are the busiest for his 1-800-GOT-JUNK franchise.
"I can tell by my own waistline what the season is," he said.
Another worker, Jean Francois, took a job with the company to get fit enough to pass the physical exam for prospective firefighters, Stoyer said. Having passed the test last week, Saturday was his last day at 1-800-GOT-JUNK.
Despite its effect on the biceps and waistline, junk removal leaves something to be desired as a full body workout, Beagle said. Heavy lifting leaves her lower body relatively untoned.
"The thing I still need to be going to the gym for," she said, "is my legs."
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