On July 15th, we closed our annual Vitality Victories campaign. For the second year in a row, we invited Vitality members to inspire us with their stories. We told them, “It doesn’t matter how big or small your Vitality Victory is. We would love to hear about it and celebrate your accomplishments with you!”
And share they did! We were completely overwhelmed by the number of submissions we received this year. More than 1,400 Vitality members from different geographies, industries, ages and walks of life shared their stories about how they’ve made real positive changes to improve their health.
There were so many inspiring and motivating stories— some that brought us to tears— that we felt compelled to share them here. Below is a small handful of these stories:
“I am writing to let you know what I am PROUD of. I am a 56-year old female and always maintained a good weight. However, my eating habits were very poor – lots of carbs, lots of sugar, pop, candy and no thought to how much salt I was using. Vitality has opened my eyes to better eating and I’m striving to reach 10,000 steps per day and find many fun and easy ways to get a small workout in during a busy day. Vitality has also encouraged me to set goals and it’s fun for me to see if I can achieve them. I now am eating far more fruits and vegetables, drinking more water (almost eliminating pop) and pushing myself to keep moving. THANK YOU for all you have done to better my health.”
-Kris S.
“The Vitality Cotinine goal was probably the only stop-smoking activity I’ve engaged in that was successful for me. Ironically, the fact that it didn’t involve a support group of people moaning about how hard it was, or facilitators pounding in the fact that smoking was bad, etc., is what made it successful for me. I know it’s hard. I know it’s bad. I know it’s expensive. What I needed were the tools to help me succeed. I think the fact it was a personal challenge, with measurable steps and milestones that I could track, and supplemental information that I could review on my own time and at my own pace, in my own home, is what motivated and made it work for me.
“Just like an alcoholic, I will always be a smoker. I still love it. However, I now make the conscious choice not to smoke and when I’m tempted to do so, I have options to fall back on. I recognize that I might smoke again, but if I do, I now know what works for me and I’m armed with tools to help me. Vitality works.”
-Vivian G.
“I have been a very active Vitality member since my company introduced the program more than three years ago. Before that, my Fitbit had stopped working and my daily activity was declining. The Vitality program inspired me to get back on track. I started to build more steps into my days and have increased my daily step goal from 5,000 to 12,000, which I often meet. Vitality information and education has continued to inspire me to eat healthier, meditate, and do more varied exercise. This year, I became a 10-year cancer survivor, and with the help of Vitality, I feel that I am in the best physical and mental shape of my life.”
-Steve D.
“Vitality has changed my life in many ways, but the most significant way is my health. Around this time last year, I was not feeling energetic, I was always tired, just living life for the weekends, and not living to my full potential. I went to the doctor and was told that I was overweight, borderline diabetic, and at risk for many diseases. This was a shock to me, because I was so used to not feeling great that it felt normal to me. I decided to make a change and started to eat less processed foods, eliminated junk food, cut out sugars, and those things alone made an enormous difference. Shortly, afterward, I saw my primary physician again and was told that I was out of the danger zone and to keep up the good work. I was so ecstatic to hear that and glad that I made such a change that it reflected in my body in just a few months.”
-Nadia A.
“I have been continuously trying to make small changes to my diet and exercise to achieve a healthy weight. I have lost 20 lbs over the last couple of months. Using Vitality helps keep me accountable by using the goals. It’s like a competition to try and get points. I try to go to the gym at least three to four times per week for an hour or two at the minimum. I have found that since I got myself back into the gym, it makes me more accountable to watch what I am eating. If I go and exercise for two hours and then I am sore, I sure the heck am not going to eat that candy bar!”
-Crystal S.
Thank you again to all of our Vitality members for choosing to share their stories with us! If you’d like to read more of these amazing testimonials, make sure to follow Vitality on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. We’ll be featuring new testimonials each week.
And don’t forget, no (health) victory is ever too small to celebrate!
