Vim & Vigor - Fall 2012 - Parrish Medical Center - (Page 53)

“It was like a switch in my mind was flipped, and I decided that I didn’t want to be heavy and have all these medical problems anymore,” she says. “I really feel you just have to love yourself enough to make the changes,” Janelle adds. “I change my hair color because I don’t like me with gray hair. Why wouldn’t I change my lifestyle so I can live to see my grandchildren and eventually great-grands?” in the zone with this anyway,” she says, “so I might as well start now.” Her doctor told her that if she lost weight, she could also ditch the medication. “I didn’t think it would be possible to get rid of the diabetes and stop taking the medication; but I thought, what a heck of a good trade-off,” Janelle says. How Bad do You want It? Impossibility quickly became reality for Janelle. “I woke up every morning and thought, I can do this just for today. Just one day. When that day was over, I felt so proud of myself,” she says. “I changed my whole style of cooking and what I ate,” she continues. “Now I have pasta maybe once a month instead of twice a week—after salad, and only one serving.” Perseverance paid gigantic dividends for Janelle, who dropped weight and lowered her blood glucose levels significantly over a three-month period. The end result: a smaller, slimmer Jean Janelle who wears smaller, slimmer jeans and does not need to take medication for diabetes, high blood pressure or cholesterol. “You’ve got to really want it,” Janelle says. “I could talk to someone all day long, but it comes down to this question: How bad do you want it? It’s a lifetime thing. You can’t go back to your old habits.” In tHe Zone Janelle is a volunteer for the Cardiopulmonary Wellness Department at Parrish Health & Fitness Center. She’d overheard staff members as they gave group lectures to patients who were much younger than she is. Many of them were overweight and had heart problems. That’s when she knew if she didn’t make some changes, she’d soon be sitting in one of those chairs herself. She knew she had to do something. Janelle began her health quest in October 2011. Even with the holidays coming, she knew she had to start. “I have to be BodY and Soul Mate Exercise is a critical component of the equation for Janelle. She walks every day and also works out at Parrish Health & Fitness Center three times a week. “I can’t do without it,” she says. “It helps me feel better about everything in life, and I didn’t think that would ever happen for me.” She also attributes much of her success to her husband, Arthur. “He is my greatest supporter,” she says. “He’s always telling me that I look fabulous. His encouragement means so much to me.” For Janelle, healthy weight loss through lifestyle changes has been its own reward. The fact that she is down to a size 10 from 18 is thrilling. And the way her clothes fall nicely over her figBy Erica K. Daniels ure is fabulous—according to Arthur. onlIne Before, Jean Janelle could sit to paddle a canoe on summer vacation, so it wasn’t really like exercising. Join the HealthBridge online community at parrishmed.com for the kind of health and wellness information you want, when you want it, delivered the way you want it. Health Info Tailored to You Vim & Vigor • FAL L 2012 53 http://www.parrishmed.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Fall 2012 - Parrish Medical Center

Vim & Vigor - Fall 2012 - Parrish Medical Center
Contents
Tasty Tips
Opening Thoughts
Community Calendar
Cardiopulmonary Connection
PMC Nurses Honored During National Nurses Week
30 Days to Better Sleep
I Can’t Ask My Doctor That!
He Said, She Said
Hold On to Your Health
STILL A SCREENING STAR
Your Joints: An Owner’s Manual
Weighing Your Options
No Greater Gift
Weather Alert
Virtual Health
Inherent Beauty
Ask and You Shall Receive
Community Health
Foundation Focus
Ask the Expert

Vim & Vigor - Fall 2012 - Parrish Medical Center