About two months ago, I decided to open myself up to this blog and share how the stresses of Covid-19 had sent me to a cardiologist, and the EKG machine finally taught me after 51 years of life that I was not invincible. Thankfully, all of my subsequent testings came out negative, and I get a green light from my cardiologist.
Perhaps more importantly, Tammy Weiler, a reader of this blog who I don’t know personally, shared with us the story of how her husband had used an app called Noom to help him with his weight loss journey. I had never heard of Noom, and based on Tammy's recommendation, I downloaded it and started using it. My friend from Inc, Laura Lorber, also pointed out that Noom is an Inc 5000 company and number 45 on the Inc 5000 list this year.
Noom has changed my life by giving me the tools to think about and monitor what I eat. There are no special shakes, pills, or frozen meals that get delivered. I eat regular food. The app encourages me to track what I eat, record it, and monitor it. In about two months, I have lost 7% of all my weight. I still have a long way to go, but I feel like a whole new human being.
Sadly, it took a global pandemic and an EKG machine to change my ways, finally. But to me, the beauty of this story is the insight I was able to take from a stranger on this blog, and how it helped me. So thank you, Tammy Weiler. I hope that we can all continue to share and grow together.
Congrats on your health journey, Ami! Noom is amazing. I started on it last October -- lost 30 lbs in eight months and did so in a way that is easily sustainable and hasn't made me feel like I am denying myself anything.
Ami,
I empathize with you as it is very easy to get carried away with the demands of the day, especially in this COVID environment. I am happy that you found a tool that works for you - Noom has such a great reputation.
I, myself, went Vegan to support my daughter who suffers from Lupus. I have RA, so I want to support her journey. Each of these diseases is an autoimmune disease. To make an endless story short, she has gotten off of prednisone (she was on it 30 years) and my RA is coming back to normal.
As I am learning, there is more than one way to skin a cat. BTW, going Vegan has helped me lose 30 pounds since January.
Congrats again, Ami
Ami,
I haven't been very connected through social media of late, but I just logged in to LI and saw your post. Thank you for sharing and I'm so proud of you for taking control of your health. You have always been one of the most thoughtful, intense, driven people I know when it comes to your business and your family, leaving no time to care for yourself. Without our health we have nothing. We haven't spoken in a while and I want to share something with you, that I typically would not do publicly, but I believe it's important to share. One year ago yesterday, I lost my fiancé to hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. He was 48 years old. He left behind, not only me, but two beautiful daughters, ages 11 and 12 and parents and siblings, with whom he had amazing and loving relationships. Not a day goes by where I don't wonder how this could have happened and what I could have done to prevent it. What I've learned is that cardiovascular disease is so common, but so treatable and had we understood the signs, Chet would most likely be alive today. I know I can never bring him back, I would give anything to do it, but I hope that by sharing my tragedy, I can help save others from succumbing to this horrible disease.
There are plenty of simple things one can do to control cardiovascular disease, such as regular check-ups and monitoring blood pressure and cholesterol. Unfortunately Chet did pay careful attention to these things, giving us a false sense of security. There are several other risk factors that should never be ignored and extra steps such as your EKG, can be the difference between life and death. I'm not qualified to give medical advice, but I hope by sharing my story and spreading awareness I can scare enough people in to seeking it out before it's too late.
Stay healthy and sending love,
Jennifer
Jen - It's good to hear from you - but so sorry to hear this story. My thoughts and prayers with you and Chet's kids.