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Tell Us Your Story!

Healthy Utah invites you to share your wellness success story. By doing so, we are able to educate our members of the importance of making healthy changes for life. They will be a resource and inspiration to help others improve their health. Download a Success Story Form (Word document).

Doug's Story, December 2007

What did I have to lose?
ByDouglas M. Brown

It started with my shirt.  It didn’t feel right. What use to be comfortable, was now annoying. My shirt was too tight and I knew I had to lose weight. There were other things that affected my desire to change. Having to buy pants with 50” waist sizes was a real downer for me. Every time I put them on a hanger it reminded me of setting up a tent.

Applying for life insurance was the straw that broke the camel’s back.  I was offered a free $250,000 life insurance policy if I qualified. I went through the effort to get my medical records together and spent over $40 on copying fees. Three weeks later I get a letter saying, “we have decided not to offer you life insurance.” What it was really saying was ‘REJECTED!’  I admit that being 255 lbs. at 5’ 7” is not being in shape; if you discount round being a shape.  But now the insurance company was saying I wasn’t worth the risk because of my weight.  Chances were I was going to die before age 65.

It was then I decided to start taking the stairs. I decided that climbing stairs was a good way of getting exercise with out going to a gym.  Soon I was up to twenty flights of stairs per day. Although my endurance increased and I started to feel more energetic, I didn’t lose much weight.  It was time to take it up to the next level.

About this time I received a letter from PEHP stating because my Body Mass Index was so high I was qualified for their weight loss management program. PEHP would reimburse me for part of the cost of a gym membership or enrolling in a weight loss program. After discussing it with my wife, I decided to enroll.

I studied different programs and decided on Weight Watchers, because it was considered the most successful. I started the program June 22, 2007 and started learning.

The weekly meetings helped me to understand where weight comes from; it comes from eating without thinking. If I didn’t keep track of what I ate, I ate a lot more. So I started writing down everything that went into my mouth. I also learned how to make healthy choices of what I did eat. I learned to read nutritional labels on food packages, so I could eat good food at the proper amounts.  Having to weigh in every week helped me to stay on track. I knew if I indulged myself, the meeting leader would know about it next week. I also found the camaraderie helpful. Every week I was in a room with people who were trying to achieve the same goal.

Since I started three months ago, I have lost 40 pounds. I tell people who want to lose weight to just start. I used to think I couldn’t lose weight.  Thankfully, I found out I was wrong. If you learn the principles of weight loss, and live those principles, you will lose the excess pounds. It does take work and discipline, but losing weight can be done. After all, what do you have to lose?