A Co-op Employee’s Healthy Success Story
Making an effort to eat right and stay active can truly transform your life. Recently, one co-op employee used health coaching, a wellness challenge and support from colleagues to transform his life.
As with all wellness-related articles and infographics, NRECA encourages you to share this testimonial with your employees for inspiration and motivation.
“During a physical last year, I found out I had developed type 2 diabetes. The doctor told me that I needed to lose weight. I made up my mind that I was going to give this my all.
When I started dieting, my first objective was to identify which foods contained carbs. I was able to use the newsletters from my co-op’s wellness program to recognize what foods would work into my eating plan.
I also contacted a health coach made available through NRECA. She helped me along in the beginning with my questions on nutrition and weight loss. It was difficult at first, but it got easier each day.
Three months after my diagnosis, I had lost about 30 pounds, and the doctor was impressed with my blood work. He took me off my gout and high blood pressure medication and cut the dosage of my diabetes medicine in half.
Meanwhile, my co-op’s wellness coordinator started a new challenge where each person could create a health goal, giving us stickers to put on a chart to show our progress toward achieving it. This wellness challenge had a profound effect on my efforts to lose weight and transform my lifestyle. I really appreciated all the support and nice words from my coworkers, too.
At my six-month follow-up visit, the doctor told me that I had accomplished something that few people have been able to do. I had managed to control my diabetes and would no longer need medicine. I have lost 73 pounds and feel great.
My goal is to maintain this new lifestyle, and my co-op’s wellness program is the perfect avenue for me to do that. It helps raise awareness about how we can all adopt healthy lifestyles. I consider myself lucky to be able to work somewhere that cares so much about my wellbeing.”
Wade Williams, lineman
United Electric Co-op
Heyburn, Idaho
For more information on how YOU can speak to a health coach, learn more about nutrition and manage your weight, call MyHealth Coaches™ today at 866.696.7322.