Gain Support, Lose Weight

Valerie Duke was unprepared for what the registered dietitian suggested she do to lose weight. "You want me to write down everything I eat?" Duke asked incredulously. "Do you think I'm not already busy enough?"

"Just try it," replied Sally Neeves, a nutritionist working with LIVE FOR LIFE, Duke's employee wellness program. "It really helps."

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Nearly two years later and 50 pounds lighter, Duke still keeps a food journal in her purse, and after each meal or snack she jots down what she ate.  "It stops me from fooling myself about how much I'm eating," said Duke, an administrative assistant at the Duke Cancer Institute.

Duke continues to receive support for changing habits through Steps to Health, one of two weight management programs offered to Duke faculty and staff by LIVE FOR LIFE. Steps to Health participants connect three times a year with a health coach by phone or email. The other program is the more targeted Pathways to Change, which offers monthly in person or phone coaching for people at high risk for health problems.

Both programs offer full access to nutrition and fitness experts at LIVE FOR LIFE who can provide tools and education to employees striving to learn new health habits, said Lauren Updyke, health education manager for LIVE FOR LIFE. 

"Research has repeatedly shown that people are much more likely to successfully change habits if they have support and coaching," Updyke said. "These programs offer different levels of coaching and accountability, depending on what a person needs."

Renee Halberg on American Tobacco Trail

Renee Halberg, a clinical social worker at Duke, turned to Pathways to Change for help when she realized the extra 60 pounds she was carrying was pushing up her blood pressure. She knew she needed to change her habits but couldn't imagine how.

"My biggest barrier was that I wasn't exercise literate," Halberg said. "I didn't know how to start."

The monthly meetings with a Pathways to Change coach helped her set realistic exercise goals. She also learned how to cope with setbacks and integrate new eating habits with exercise routines.

She lost nearly 50 pounds and can now easily walk three to six miles on the American Tobacco Trail most days. "Exercise is now part of my life," she said. "If I don't do it, I miss it."

Halberg and Duke agree that the support from LIVE FOR LIFE programs is vital in helping them stick to lifestyle changes. They both avidly promote the program services to friends and colleagues.

"I tell people I'm a healthier and skinnier person because of these programs and the amazing experts just waiting to help me," Duke said. "I couldn't have done it on my own."