An Exercise for Love
LaTonya M. Baldwin (Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan participant)
Not long ago, my guy sat me down for a serious talk. He asked me how much do I love him, do I love him enough to get serious about my health. He said he was fed up with my failure to consistently take my meds. He said when he was diagnosed with diabetes, he took action. He lost weight, started measuring and tracking his carbs and he significantly reduced the sugar in his diet. He asked me what would I think if he took a spoonful of sugar and poured it over his food. Of course I said I’d be alarmed and I’d ask him what was he doing.
That’s when he hit hard with my behavior. He said I’ve known for years I should be taking iron, that I have blood pressure medication that I fail to take on a regular basis, that I will add salt to my food when I know better. He asked me would it be fair of him to be irresponsible with his health? How would I feel if I lost him because of his attitude and behavior about his health?
Do you love your family enough to take charge of your health? Do you love them enough to get serious about doing the things you need to do to extend the time you have together?
I felt pretty guilty. I was upset. I felt ashamed of the contradiction in my behavior: walking, talking the talk about exercise and eating well but failing to commit to the other factors of my health. Exercising is not enough. Eating well is fine but it doesn’t excuse not taking medication I need. It doesn’t excuse not having regular check-ups or screenings I need to monitor my overall health.
So I got serious. I recently signed on for Healthy Living Blue Rewards. I currently meet three of the criteria and come March after my exam, I’m hoping I meet all five. I completed the online health assessment courses and currently working on the digital coaching. I made an appointment with my doctor to complete my qualification form. I’m completing the Blues Point reward program.
Yesterday, I bought a blood pressure monitor and since my talk with my mate, I have taken my blood pressure medication and iron supplement every day. I started Zumba last week. Can I tell you how good it felt to measure my blood pressure and see my numbers were good? This morning when I took my readings, I realized that monitoring and tracking felt natural because for more than twelve weeks now, I’ve been walking, tracking and uploading my numbers.
Thank you Walkingspree for helping me establish a habit of monitoring my behavior and activity.
Do you love your family enough to take charge of your health? Do you love them enough to get serious about doing the things you need to do to extend the time you have together?
Be well.
Blues’ First Walking Challenge Winners!
LaTonya M. Baldwin (Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan participant)
The winners have been announced for the Blues’ first Walkingspree challenge and the winners’ appreciation and excitement is electric! According to Blues News Direct, more than 1,700 employees met the Walkingspree challenge, accumulating at least 280,000 steps from October 24 to December 18, 2011. In October more than 4,000 employees signed on for Blue Cross Blue Shield’s call to step their way to better health. Almost half the participants succeeded in meeting the challenge goal of achieving 5,000 steps a day. Impressive, way to go, Blue!
I had an opportunity to talk with a few challenge winners. Check out what they had to say:
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Winners of the first BCBSM challenge Congratulations to the 21 winners! To qualify for the drawing, participants had to walk an average of 5,000 steps a day between Oct. 24-Dec. 18. Grand Prize Treadmill winner Claudette Lee
iPod Touch winners Wii Sports Resort Bundle |
Pat Wagner
BCN SIU Liaison
I was so excited to win an iPod! To win the new one through the Walkingspree Challenge is an honor. Last May I had the Gastric Sleeve surgery to lose weight and walking is an integral part of my program for continued weight loss. For me walking is the foundation for exercising, so when the Walkingspree challenge came along participating was the perfect fit. My goal was low, only 6,000 steps per day to start although for the most part I walked farther and I completed the challenge several weeks prior to the end date. Since winning the iPod, I feel more energized and plan on joining a gym if only to use the treadmill during the winter months since people don’t shovel their walks. I will definitely enjoy using my iPod while working out! I have been at BCN for thirteen years. Thank you so much!
Paul Mozak
BCBSM Vice President Finance
I have exercised regularly for the past three to four years, and participated in a number of running events, including a several half-marathon and even a full 26.2 mile marathon.
The Walkingspree pedometer is great for tracking my activity during days when I don’t get to run (especially in the winter) and is a great compliment to setting other daily or weekly goals. I believe that goal setting is critical to achieving any objective, including exercise and weight loss. The social and competitive aspects of the Walkingspree site are great and I encourage others to use them and set friendly challenges.
Fellow employees should also check out the new Active Blue Employee Resource Network, a new group dedicated to combining sports with charitable activities at BCBSM.
Rita Makulski
BCN Clinical Support Coordinator
I was so happy when Blue Cross Blue Shield announced they were offering their employees a pedometer and the Walkingspree program. I never heard Walkingspree While I have always included exercise in my life I never really set any goals. The Walkingspree program gave me the tools I needed to set goals, track my progress, and have fun with co-workers by joining walking teams. I was able to see that I was not very active. I did not realize I was not even meeting the 5,000 daily steps the program recommended. I gradually increased my daily steps goal to 6,500 steps and my aerobic steps to 2,500. I plan to keep working to increase my daily and aerobic steps. I have found it much easier to reach my goals by spreading my steps out during the day; I now exercise before work, during my lunch hour and later in the evening. I won an IPod Touch from the challenge which I can use to listen to music while walking. I have worked for BCBSM for over five years.
Deb Bronson
Professional Provider Inquiry Team Lead
I won an IPOD Touch! I was so excited I told everyone. I will use it by listening to fast paced music for my cardio and weight lifting and slower music for my cool downs. The challenge to walk 10,000 steps a day made me hit the gym more often. I made sure to walk for at least half an hour up to an entire hour. I added more weights and even encompassed the Hoola-hoop into my workouts. It was fun to come to work and compare the amount of steps I had acquired with my team mates. It was a true motivator. I have been with BCBSM for sixteen years.
Claudette Lee
Unit Leader MPSERS Medicare Advantage
I just can’t believe that out of all the entries, I was the winner of a treadmill. I am so excited about it!! Winning the treadmill has really made me take a serious look at my lifestyle. I have a stronger determination to live a healthier life. I must do what my doctor says about my health. I want to live to see my grandchildren grow up and I don’t want to be on high blood pressure medicine all my life. As a single woman, eating healthy and consistent exercise is not a priority for me. But you know there is a purpose for everything, and because I know better, winning this treadmill, will make me do better. “What’s for me is for me!!” Thank you BCBSM and Walkingspree for my winning in this Walking Challenge!!!! I have been with BCBSM for twenty-seven years.
Monica DeVette
Claims Liaison/SIU
Whether it was walking, aerobics, lifting weights or yoga, I have always done some type of exercise throughout my life. Still, it was easy to slough off and make excuses, too. Unfortunately, for the last four years I did just that. The feeling of sluggishness, tiredness not to mention my mid-section from sitting at a desk all day caught up to me. The sitting and inactivity took a toll on my body. I used Walking Challenge combined with our fitness allowance to take charge of my health. No more sitting around and no more excuses. The challenge gave me that much needed incentive. My goal was to walk 8 -10,000 steps per day no matter what. I was exhausted but I had my pedometer to keep me on track, and I had a goal to keep. I started walking in October and completed the contest before the actual end date. I won an IPod, wow! Also, I feel great being on track again with my health and the benefits of keeping fit. What a pay off. I now have more energy and a better well-being. Thank you, Walkingspree.
Denise Smarch
BCN Claims processing adjudication
I recently won the Wii console and Wii fit bundle. The new console will give me more options for physical activity especially during the winter months. The walking challenge helped to keep me motivated and made me accountable. I set a goal and could see how close I was to achieving that goal daily. Wearing the pedometer reminds me to get up and get moving. I like to see the 10,000 steps on my pedometer every day.
You Know You’re A Stepper When….
LaTonya M. Baldwin (Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan participant)
It’s the middle of January already. As I mentioned in a previous blog, this is a hectic month at work. It seems I do little more than work and sleep. Despite the madness, I’m steppin’. How do I get it done? I just do because I’m a stepper and you know you’re a stepper when:
You wake up in the morning and the first thing you do is reach over to your nightstand and grab your pedometer and then your glasses.
You know you’re a stepper when you walk to the gym to work out. 
You know you’re a stepper when you don’t care how you look dancing at the bus stop while waiting to be picked up.
You know you’re a stepper when you go on break at work and you walk instead of sit.
You know you’re a stepper when it doesn’t feel natural not to walk.
What about you? You know you’re a stepper when…..
No Fat Cat Here
LaTonya M. Baldwin (Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan participant)
In my house, our cat Patches rules. That is until I got a pedometer, remembered how much I love dancing and discovered Deep House Cat music. I’m a stepper and dancing is one of the most fun ways I boost my aerobic minutes. I’ve mentioned a few other sites and I’m introducing another because as much as I love steppin’ and the benefits of exercising, the reality is, I have to keep working out fun and varied or I lose interest (and the body becomes very efficient when it comes to aerobics so variety matters). If you haven’t given serious thought to music and how it impacts your workout, revisit the issue and while you’re researching the effects of music on working out, check out Deep House Cat music. Each podcast offers a different guest dj with club music that will keep you steppin’ for forty-five to sixty minutes. 
You can download podcasts from iTunes or Deep House Cat’s website.
On my early morning walks, I often listen to classical. For the treadmill or the bike, it’s rock. During lunch or my break, I tap on my Nano and select one of my Deep House Cat mixes. It’s twenty minutes of pure dancing pleasure.
Depending on intensity and goal for a walking session, I choose a different tempo and style of music. What about you? What moves you?
2 Million Steps and Going: Meet Walter L. Epps
LaTonya M. Baldwin (Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan participant)
Hello fellow steppers, recently I had an opportunity to talk with another Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan stepper. When BCBSM launched its first challenge in October, it quickly became evident that Blue participants were committed to making a real difference in their lifestyles by getting healthier by walking. At BCBSM, top steppers log as many as 50k steps a day. Today, I want to you to get to know more about one of those lead steppers, Walter L. Epps.
While Walter has been with the company less than a year, it’s clear, that his values align with Blue Cross Blue Shield’s commitment to advocating and promoting a healthy lifestyle. To date the single, 42-year-old Detroiter averages 38k steps a day. Since October 24th he has trekked 2.2 million steps or over a thousand miles. He says he gets in most of his steps after work. He runs two miles a day and walks everywhere, every chance he gets. He’s in the Navy Reserve so staying fit is a must. Walter says he’d classified his fitness level between fit and athletic. He works out at home and when he’s not walking, he’s lifting weights or participating in casual pick-up sports.
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| Walter works in Corporate & Financial Investigation. He’s been with the company for nine months. |
Okay, less of me giving you a summary; I’ll let Walter tell you more.
LaTonya: Why did you choose to participate in the challenge?
Walter: I was asked by a co-worker, who motivated many of us in the office to participate.
LaTonya: Your stats are amazing: Over 2 million steps and you’re regularly in the top five on the leader board. What do you attribute your success to?
Walter: I have to admit it was tough especially towards the end. The key factors that kept me going was one, making myself comfortable by wearing the proper clothing; I even went out and bought new shoes. Two, dedication to the walk! I was very dedicated. I gave up a lot of personal things that I’m used to doing like going to the movies. All I did was walk, walk, walk.
A typical day for me after work would commence with a hard two mile run, then a walk. I walked the treadmill, the River Walk and Jefferson Avenue and all around the city (of Detroit) and the malls. I walked with friends and sometimes I was the lone stepper. I concentrated on increasing my steps, stamina and endurance. For me it wasn’t walk for a certain point, it was to walk within a certain time frame. Because I did not have the opportunity to do much walking during business hours, I would have to hump. Gradually, I was able to reach an average of about 40k steps or about eighteen to twenty-one miles a day according to the pedometer; I often thought I had actually walked more than that sometimes. On weekends, I really tried to boost my numbers. My best day was about 73k steps but that was out of pure desire to keep up with the diehard walkers at BCBSM.
While I probably always took walking for granted in the past, I have come to respect the WALK, and I do intend to walk ten times as much as I’ve done before this challenge. Walking is now part of my workout regimen.
LaTonya: Okay, let’s talk about food. I’ve had some real challenges in this area. What about you?
Walter: In this area I was bad. I noticed that my appetite really increased. I was always hungry! I drunk a lot of water, but I ate just about everything I could get my hands on with the exception of candy. I ate everything though that would be considered a dieter’s nightmare.
Now that I have resumed my regular workout routine,I eat much more sensibly. I eat cereal for breakfast, a light lunch and a pretty light dinner closer to 7:00 PM. I cook meals for myself, but I am conscientious mostly not to eat a lot of sweets, and I minimize my intake of sugar-based drinks, not too much soda pop or juices.
LaTonya: What did you gain or learn from participating?
Walter: I’ve learned a lot about my physical self since I started walking. I guess I had gotten use to running everyday, so my body was pretty efficient at running. But after I started walking, I noticed my body changed in a good way: my breathing and my form improved. I learned that my body responds well to walking. While I probably always took walking for granted in the past, I have come to respect the WALK, and I do intend to walk ten times as much as I’ve done before this challenge. Walking is now part of my workout regimen.
LaTonya: Any parting words?
Walter: I walked so much, I drove everyone around me crazy. It was really hard to motivate others to walk. Some did walk, but only for a short time. I’m really impressed with the way BCBSM encourages their employees about the importance of good health. Now we have to spread the word!!!
LaTonya: Walter, you’ve encouraged me. You keep me going. Thanks for taking time to share with us.
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