Judy Darling, assistant teacher at Williamson Central School District, sees her primary care physician every year. Under the care of her doctor, she gets her annual biometric screening — measurements of her blood glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, weight and blood pressure.
But for the 2015-16 academic year, UR Medicine-Employee Wellness offered a unique biometric-screening pilot program as well as a six-month lifestyle-management weight-loss program held in conjunction with the screening. Darling, who had a history of unsuccessful weight loss attempts, was intrigued.
“I had tried a lot of different things,” says Darling, in reference to her weight-loss attempts. “I had made lifestyle changes that I thought should have worked but didn’t. It made me want to give up.”
Darling had put sincere effort into her previous weight loss efforts. She cut out soda, snack cakes, cookies and chips from her regular diet. She did shave off a few pounds, but never really felt good about her weight.
“It was discouraging,” she says. “That’s why I gave up. I’d just eat because, what does it matter?”
When Darling heard about Ur Medicine’s Employee Wellness program’s lifestyle approach to weight loss, she decided to ditch her comfort zone and try it out.
In fall 2015, Darling went to her first UR Medicine-Employee Wellness screening. It was the starting point of the pilot program’s six-month timeline with the goal for participants such as Darling to lose 10 percent of their body weight.
Each week, Darling attended a meeting at which she weighed herself and learned about effective, sustainable lifestyle changes. Meeting discussions focused on the roles fresh fruits and vegetables, various fats and refined carbohydrates have on health and energy levels. This was key. Darling had previously become overwhelmed with weight loss information gleaned from the Internet and social media. This program, however, focused on an attainable goal: one pound per week. It also encouraged light exercise starting with 10 minutes each day and adding five minutes each month.
“For me, that idea was revolutionary,” Darling says. “I always had higher expectations. I began to think, ‘Maybe I can do this.’”
Under the program’s guidance, Darling cut 500 calories from her daily consumption. It was a concrete starting point. She logged everything she ate and drank, a process she found time-consuming and challenging. But as she worked at it, she noticed the weight was coming off. Soon, her husband, Doug, who was not officially part of the program, joined her.
At the end of the six months, Darling had lost a total of 30 pounds and her husband lost 90 pounds. The pilot program is ultimately about being healthier and feeling better, and at the 2016 screening, Darling discovered all her health numbers had improved dramatically.
Today, Darling is equipped with a new, healthy skill set to keep her on track to wellness. Since the program ended, she’s lost an additional 10 pounds. She’s even taken her new knowledge and stepped out of her comfort zone again: She held a presentation on healthy snacks at the Superintendent’s Conference Day.
“The thing is, I’ve always wanted to lose weight but didn’t know how to do it,” Darling says. “Now I have the tools to do it in a way that works for me and I plan to stick with it.”
