Just this past week, we had some drivers who have completed the Driver Health and Fitness (DHF) Program report on how their lives have changed. I want to share some of these success stories.
Many members of the Prime family know David “Riko” Nelson. On September 16, 2012 David started the DHF Program, weighing 350.8 lbs. and having a BMI of 41.6. On his application for the program, David stated that he never knew the nutrition content of the food he ate, that he was out of shape, didn’t exercise, described his diet as being “poor”, and said that he got seconds at the buffet “most of the time”. Nevertheless, he stated that he wanted to weigh 250 lbs – that meant he had to lose 100 lbs.
In week #1, David had the following metabolic profile:
Avg. Calories Burned: 5018; Avg. Calories Consumed: 1352; Avg. Calorie Deficit 3666; Avg. Steps 6411 Avg. meals Logged: 5.9 per day Avg. Moderate Activity: 68 minutes Average Vigorous Activity: 3 minute
“My first comments to David were:
To: David Nelson
Sent: 9/26/2012
Greetings David, We had a good session this morning and you already know what to work on. Starting the day with a better breakfast nutrition profile with more protein and less carbs, switching to the Multigrain Cheerios, adding the low-carb, good protein snacks . . . You are ready for a very successful 13 weeks.”
After four weeks, David had increased his physical activity from 68 minutes to 127 minutes and his vigorous activity from 3 minutes to 8 minutes. He was still averaging 5.7 meals per day. After eight weeks, David’s moderate activity decreased to just 100 minutes while his vigorous activity increased to 12 minutes. He was exercising less but with greater intensity. In my notes I wrote:
“To: David Nelson
Sent: 11/13/2012
Greetings David
Week #8, Face-To-Face Consultation. David is doing EVERYTHING right. Hence the 42.2 lbs. of weight loss. There’s nothing more to teach him at this point unless he plateaus. He just has to finish out the final 5 weeks.”
And that’s what he did. He finished the program in December 2012 (winter!), eating 5.7 meals per day and getting as much as 22 minutes of vigorous activity. His final weigh in: 290 lbs. – that’s 60.8 lbs. lost in just 13 weeks, or 17.4% of his body weight and a BMI of 31.4. At that point, David had reduced his risk for sixty medical disorders and twelve cancers – two and a half times!
Armed with the behavior changes and new habits he learned and developed in the DHF program, David was ready for the next challenge – could he continue on his own?
Now, over a year later, David has continued on his own, losing another 20 lbs., making his total weight loss 85 lbs.!
Earlier this week, David came to see me to announce that, after eight years on the CPAP machine, he has been cleared to get rid of it. David is a great example of the long term benefits of the DHF program and the effect it can have on your life. But he isn’t the only one.
Another Prime Driver (name withheld per request of driver) was David’s teammate in DHF Class 2. She started the program at 334.8 lbs. and a BMI of 61.24 On her applications, she stated, “I do not exercise in any way. I am morbidly obese and it is very hard to even walk at times. But lately I have become extremely motivated to do something to change my lifestyle. I just need a little help getting started.” Asked about her goals, she said,
“I would like to become more healthy, be able to walk without becoming winded. I would like to stop taking all the medications I have to take for type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. I would like to live longer and enjoy my family. I have fought weight all my life. I lost 70 lbs. on weight watchers but slowly put it back on after I started driving w/my husband. I have also had lap band surgery that did not work. I do not like to exercise but I do know that I will not lose weight and keep it off w/o it.”
Here are [Prime Driver]’s metabolic averages for her first week:
Avg. Calories Burned: 3266; Avg. Calories Consumed: 1178; Avg. Calorie Deficit 2088; Avg. Steps 3161 Avg. meals Logged: 4.0 per day Avg. Moderate Activity: 33 minutes Average Vigorous Activity: 11 minute In my first review to [Prime Driver] I said,
[Prime Driver] during DHF Orientation After four weeks, [Prime Driver] had made some improvement. In her review I wrote,“To: [Prime Driver]
Sent: 9/26/2012
Greetings [Prime Driver],
We had a good session on the phone today. You are burning a ton of calories – 3266 per day, way above your target of 2440 calories. We went over your nutrition…eating a little bit more to increase the metabolism, and the synergistic effect of all your vigorous activity. We have a lot of work to do but you have gotten off to a great start so be encouraged and be consistent.”
“To: [Prime Driver]
Sent: 10/18/2012
Greetings [Prime Driver],
Week #4 You’ve been pretty consistent all four weeks. Your four week average daily calorie burn is 3059 and your four week average daily calorie consumption is 1233, giving you an average deficit of 1826 calories per day, which is an estimated 3.5 lbs. of weight loss per week. Your four week average daily activity is 24 minutes with 11 vigorous minutes. That means that when you get out there to exercise, you are not wasting time. Finally, you averaged 3.9 meals a day over the first four weeks, with44% carbs (138g), 35% fat and 20% protein. That’s pretty good. As far as your food choices, there’s nothing egregiously wrong. With you, it’s just little things. The major culprit right now is the Lipton Brisk Tea which you had five times in week 4. That’s 500 calories and 135g of carbs that you don’t need. Try switching to Vitamin Water Zero or Sobe Zero Calories to get flavor without adding calories or carbs. Keep up the good work! You are doing things right and the weight will come off.”
By week 8, [Prime Driver] was struggling a bit. She was down to just 8 minutes of physical activity, but 3 minutes of it was vigorous. By the end of the program, [Prime Driver] had lost 14.0 lbs. which was a little more than 1.0 lbs. per week, which is the goal for the class. [Prime Driver] was disappointed, however. She wanted better results. Her thyroid condition, which affects her metabolism, wasn’t helping. Ultimately, [Prime Driver] met with Doctor Abraham. They discussed the situation and decided to make a change in her thyroid medication. Earlier this week, [Prime Driver] called me to report that, over a year after finishing the DHF program, she has lost 56 lbs. and lowered her BMI by 10 points!
The American Council on Exercise states that, “It is important to note that the physiological demands of exercise can uncover underlying disease or dysfunction that may not be revealed while a person is sedentary.” In [Prime Driver]’s case, her participation in the DHF program led to a change in medication that ultimately restored her hormone levels and helped her reduce her body weight by 16.7%. [Prime Driver] has now reduced her risk for sixty medical disorders and twelve cancers more than twice!
These are just two examples of how the DHF program is changing lives and having lasting, long term effects, thereby fulfilling Robert Low’s mission to increase the quality and longevity of the lives of Prime drivers.
I point out these two examples because these drivers came to me with BMI’s over 40 which is classified as “extremely obese” and each of them reduce their BMI by 10 points and have kept the weight off for over a year. What else did these drivers have in common? They both were intensely motivated to change. And that’s what this program requires. Any driver can transform their health, their life and their driver career through the DHF program PROVIDED that they are ready to change. You bring your motivation to the table, and Prime brings this effective program to the table, and together it works.
Ask yourself: Are YOU ready to change? If you are, take the first steps that David and [Prime Driver] took by going to www.driverhealthandfitness.com and click “Get Started 13 Week Basic Program”.
