The selection process for Healthy Me! wasn't easy...

-  This blog was written by Colleen Hahn, Public Relations and liaison for the Healthy Me! Program.

I read through 168 applications from men and women all around the Michiana region. Each of them eager and hopeful to be chosen for the Healthy Me! Program.  Each candidate presented some unique circumstances, and almost all presented with the underlying problem of obesity.

The youngest candidate was just 18-years-old, looking for help in losing some of her overweight frame. The oldest, an 83-year-old male, with diabetes and arthritis who just wanted to feel better. Males, females, ranging in ages and backgrounds, some with families, some without, all seeking to become healthier individuals.

At first, I was very sad about the 162 applicants who received letters and emails stating that they were not chosen for the program.  Yet, today, I was energized by the number of applicants and that each person wants to change.  I only hope that because they weren’t selected, that they don’t give up.

Over the next year, The Medical Foundation and our partners: St. Joseph Regional Medical Center, Family Medicine of South Bend, P.C., Memorial Health & Lifestyle Center and Dr. Mader will be giving healthy tips on the www.sbmf.org website, on this blog and on our Facebook pages www.facebook.com/SBMFLAB and Twitter www.twitter.com/SBMFLAB.  I’ll post information about classes which may aid those with Diabetes or those who need to stop smoking. There’ll be classes on ways to deal with depression and support for healthier ways to eat. 

So don’t lose your ambition, your motivation!!!!!

If you don’t exercise now, make a plan to start today.  If you don’t think you can exercise, walk to the house next door and tomorrow walk two doors down. Do something to move! Start small, there’s no need to set your sights on a marathon just yet!

One of the things I read a lot in the applications was that many of the applicants eat fast food because it is convenient.  Instead, take a few minutes each night to plan ahead for the next day’s meals and pack a lunch and snacks. If your household is too hectic at night, plan on Sunday what you’ll have for the week and buy healthy things like vegetables and fruit that you can bag and grab on the run.

Plan ahead! And again, make small, manageable changes.

Empower yourself to begin today!

“You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.”
-Christopher Columbus