Updated: 1/22/2004; 8:08:45 PM.
ronpih I guess...
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Monday, September 01, 2003

Lifestyle Changes

One of the great things about working for Microsoft is the benefits package.  Recently (and after a long pilot program) Microsoft began offering the Obesity Management program as a benefit.  They will pay 80% of the cost of an approved program (subject to some conditions like you stay with the program to completion and show some results).  Qualification is based on body/mass index (BMI).  The cutoff level is lower if you have certain health problems (diabetes, hypertension, etc.).  A qualified program attacks the problem from more than one dimension.  Not just via diet, not just via exercise.

Recently I went to an informational meeting on one particular program and what they said made sense to me so I signed up.  In order to qualify for the benefit, you need to get examined by your doctor and they have to certify your BMI level.  If you meet the criteria, you get accepted.  Since I didn't have any of the health problems that let you get into the program with a lower BMI, I was "lucky" that my BMI was high enough to get accepted without any major health problems (the only thing the doctor found during the examination was borderline high blood pressure, which has already started to go down three weeks into the program.)

The first thing they did in the program was get me set up for 3/week personal training sessions.  These sessions have become the focus of the program for me.  The personal traning program works on both cardio exercises and strength training.  I am slowly getting into shape and it feels good (although immediately after each session I'm totally wiped out).  One benefit that is already happening is that alleviation of my chronic back pain.  Immediately before starting the program I had been having really bad lower back pain that involved visits to the chiropractor at least once a week for the previous 3 weeks.  Now, three weeks into the program, it isn't an issue.

The second aspect of the program was counseling sessions every 2 weeks with a therapist.  I've had one of these sessions so far and am not sure this has really had an effect for me yet.  This may be an aspect of the program that takes a longer time to develop.  They did have me fill out a couple of psychological questionnaires at the start of the program which may have told them that I don't have any immediate pressing psychological issues to deal with.

The third part of the program is bi-weekly meetings with a nutritionist.  In my case, the first meeting didn't happen until midway through the second week of the program so I've been working with this part of the program for a shorter time than the other two parts.  One of the issues we discovered in the first session was that I'm pretty much oblivious to my food intake so I am currently keeping a food journal.  I have been doing this for about a week now and it looks like this will provide a lot of material for discussion at our next meeting.

So how am I doing?  Well, in the first two weeks I haven't lost any weight to speak of but I feel stronger, more flexible, and my back pain has subsided.  Most important, I'm more aware of things like what I eat, how much sleep I need, and my activity level.  This feels like a good base that I can build on moving forward.  I'll report back again on how this is going, most likely at the 12-week point which is when I'm scheduled to report back to the doctor to see how phase one went.


2:25:35 PM    comment []

© Copyright 2004 Ronald Pihlgren.
 
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