For Renee Satcher, information systems manager for Baptist Medical Group’s Outpatient Care Center, making changes for a healthy lifestyle comes down to choices.
“The wise choices I make now will lead to a healthier future,” she said, “or I can pay later for unwise choices and be sick later in life.”
In her GoHealthy! class, Renee learned to focus on changing her lifestyle, not just her diet.
“My mother and grandmother died from massive strokes. I wanted to see my children grow up and graduate, so I took the class. The goal was to lose 5 percent of our weight, which I did not think was possible. But I lost 10 percent! And now I’m working on losing 5 percent more.”
Renee set small goals, slowly increasing her daily exercise time, cutting out sodas, and eating five vegetables and fruits a day.
“Setting small goals and meeting weekly with others who encourage you makes the difference. I see food in a different way, and I’m really focusing on portion sizes. If I make a bad choice, I just start over at the next meal. “
Having an evening cutoff time for eating—and then brushing her teeth—has worked well for Renee.
“It keeps me from eating again,” she says.
