Inspirational stories of folks right here in our conference who are making a difference in their health and lives.
Look at the difference a year can make!
Our first inspirational story is from our Conference Director of Information Technology, Douglas Ward. Douglas shares a bit of his story below.
“I tend to be a very competitive person. Being able to measure my steps and compare them to my fellow teammates was a really compelling way for me to get off the couch. I started walking around the neighborhood and then slowly added more distance. The walking led to running, swimming and hiking. I eventually joined the local fitness center and have been working with the weight machines for the last few months. All of this came from wearing a little pedometer.
The biggest motivation for me is being able to get up and play with my kids. We spend lots of time walking, going to parks, running around playing and exercising in general. My overall health is better and I have an energy level that I haven’t seen in a long time. I hope that I am setting a good example and will help lead them to healthier lifestyle choices when they are older.
In order to exercise every day I get up at 5 AM and hit the gym. Getting an early start lets me get my exercise out of the way before work (and before my family gets out of bed). I do this five days a week and generally take the weekends off. Changing my diet was the biggest single factor that helped me lose weight.”
-Douglas Ward, Conference Director of Information Technology.
Photo credit: Linda Enders Roberts
-Douglas Ward, Conference Director of Information Technology.
Photo credit: Linda Enders Roberts
Walking Can Lead to Healthier Eating
Rev. Dennis Lamm shares with us the impact the walking program has had on his eating habits.”The program has been very beneficial for me. It is not that it got me to daily getting back into a program of walking but that it made me more conscious of my eating habits. In September of 2011, I decided that I wanted to lose weight. I knew that dieting was not the answer because if you quit you gain the weight back. So my family decided we would all go on a lifestyle eating plan. The plan sounded good to me since it requires that you eat 6 times a day. The catch being how much you eat and what you eat. Our major meals are low fat meals and snacks are cheese & wheat thins (1 oz. & 8), fruit, low calorie snacksof various kinds. So between my healthier eating and gradually increasing my daily steps I am happy to say that I have lost between 26 and 28 pounds. My daily step count is increasing gradually and I believe that I am healthier now than I was a year ago. It won’t be long before I am required to take the once a year health screen and it will be interesting to hear the results. Happy walking!”