City Focus:

Lt. Paul Fuzzard has taken up a fight in which he plans to lose. Pounds, that is. The Huntington Beach resident and watch commander at Theo Lacy jail for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department wants to lose 30 pounds.

The Battle of the Badges weight-loss competition between the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the Santa Ana Police Department kicked off with an official weigh-in Wednesday at Lindora Health Clinic’s newest in-site location at the Tustin Rite-Aid.

There’s no real prize, just improved health at stake.

Lindora’s weight-loss program, monitored by medical professionals, consists of a high protein, low carbohydrate diet, vitamin supplements and daily weigh-ins.

Lindora Health Foundation President Cynthia Stamper Graff, a native Costa Mesan, said the idea to sponsor a contest for members of the law enforcement community came when statistical evidence she ran across stated police officers are 25% more likely to die from weight-related heart disease than on the job.

“They are our heroes, and we want to have healthier heroes,” Graff said.

Fuzzard, 47, is 6-foot-4 and said he weighed 265 pounds. With the height, he carries it better than most, but he knows the extra weight is a danger sign for his health.

That’s why he’s hoping to knock off 30 of those pounds by the end of the program.

“Just walking up a short hill you’re out of breath,” he said.

“You’re not debilitated by it, but you’re thinking, ‘That’s not right. I shouldn’t be out of breath, and I shouldn’t be sweating over this small amount of exertion.’”

Fuzzard has worked a lot of different jobs in his 22 years with the department, from rookie work at the jail to investigations out in the field.

He considers himself lucky to get the assignments he has, and said he was grateful for his promotion to lieutenant this fall.

But the desk job he’s got now — overseeing the graveyard shift at the jail — makes it harder to stay fit.

“This is a sedentary job,” he said. “You’ve really got to force yourself to be out and be active. When you’re going out to eat, it’s probably going to be fast food. Things can get away from you after a while.”

Early consultations already have opened Fuzzard’s mind, he said. A simple walk around the facility doesn’t take much effort, but it keeps him to his target of 10,000 steps per day.

He called the emphasis on walking a positive force in his life, not to mention for his family.

“It’s not even going to the gym — it’s walking, just pushing away from the desk,” he said.

“It’s helped out a lot of things to get off the couch and spend more time with my wife and go out walking. We can solve all the problems in the world doing that.”