Amy's Story, May 2007

I chose to tackle the battle against my obesity. I decided to do this primarily because I was offered a position to work on the weight loss program offered to all State employees by PEHP with a BMI of 35 and higher. I have always been overweight my adult life as is my family, it was just what we did. Due to this obesity my Father now is in Congestive heart failure w/ significant diabetes and many other family members of mine are suffering with the side effects related to obesity. I enrolled in weight watchers and attribute a great deal of my success to the science behind that program.

Amy

It re-programmed my mind to be so much more aware of what I did need to be eating, as well as what I couldn’t eat to achieve my goals. I was able to go from 213 pounds to 148 in the first year of the program. I then added running to my fitness program and was excited to run my first 5k on 9.23.6. I continue to train and am going to run the SLC half marathon in April and the Wasatch Back relay in June. I owe a great deal of my success to the members enrolled in the Weight Management program through PEHP that I manage. Their successes and struggles have motivated me and forced me to “get real” about what it is I want to become. They’re ALL so great! I also LOVE seeing my 7 yr. old daughter developing the healthy eating habits that I never did, and of course keeping up with her in any activity she wants Mommy to do with her.

The cash rebates available through Healthy Utah were milestones for me and I used them in conjunction with my goals to treat myself to new clothes along the way as they became necessary. My HDL cholesterol went from the low/less healthy range to the high/excellent range when Healthy Utah re-tested it just one year later. My BMI went from 35.1 to 26.1 and my body composition dropped from 42.8% to 29.7%. I’m grateful to have these measuring sticks in my history to see how far I’ve come. I still have a way to go to reach my goals, but I know now that I have the resources to get there, and I will thanks to Healthy Utah and PEHP.

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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).