I’d like you to meet another BetterU Challenger. Erin’s story is so familiar for many women these days. Watching a parent struggle with health issues only to find themselves facing the same fate. Erin decided her life would be different.
I decided to apply to participate in the BetterU challenge because I knew I needed help. I’ve struggled with my weight and consequential health issues for the past 10 years. I was a healthy kid, played every sport, but when I went to college my activity level dropped and there was always available ice cream in the cafeteria! I slowly began putting on weight. I gained about 100 pounds in 2 years. I didn’t even realize it was happening until I tried to play summer sports again and my body didn’t move the way it used to. I watched my father struggle his whole life with his weight and health. He died a few years ago of a heart attack. It was very sudden. My family knew he had health issues, but he never complained about anything. I feel that if he had been proactive about taking care of himself he would be alive today. He always made the excuse of not having enough time or money to care of himself or go to the doctor regularly. I found myself making these same excuses. It scared me. I realized that although my dad was a great man, following his in footsteps health wise was not what I wanted.
What appealed to me about the BetterU challenge was the focus on having a healthy heart and developing a healthy lifestyle. I know that I take after my father in many ways genetically, but I feel that I can still make lasting changes in regards to my health. I’ve tried to make changes over the last couple years but I was lacking in support. That is what BetterU has provided for me. What I like most is getting together as a group each week and listening to one another’s struggles and successes and realize that I’m not alone. The things that go on in my brain that make me crazy at times happen to other people as well.
What I’ve learned so far in the challenge is that being healthy is not about being on a diet or going though some killer workout that keeps me from getting out of bed the next day. It’s about changing my lifestyle. It’s about learning what foods to put in my body that have the healthiest impact. I know that sometimes I will have French fries, but I know that if I do that daily, it keeps me from meeting my goal to be a healthy individual. BetterU is teaching me to add healthy food and exercise into my regular routine. It is helping me reframe my thinking around eating healthy and exercising daily. I can’t think of it as something extra, or a chore I have to do. Hopefully by the end of the challenge, it won’t be a daily struggle for me. I know there will be days where I don’t want to go to the gym or think it will be so much easier if I just go through the drive thru, but I will also have the knowledge gained from BetterU to make the next right choice.
