Since completing the challenge I am on a course to continue forward with the healthy lifestyle changes I've made during the 12 week challenge.  My goal is to stay focused, to not get discouraged when I have weak moments because they will happen, to continue increasing my activity level and to help spread the information I learned to as many people as I can.  I will not get obsessed with the scale but will continue to weigh in once a week because for me keeping that number fresh in my mind helps me stay on track.  I really like the new me, I have a lot more confidence, I feel so much better in my clothes, I look forward to doing my exercises and making the healthier food choices is easier, I sleep better at night, my overall moods are better and life is good!  

My disease is still with me, so I still have a challenge to keep going.  But being better equipped, my goal is to reach others and make them aware that they also could overcome, and become successful managers of their health conditions.  To me the best salesperson is word of mouth, and if this message could just reach one, and make a difference.  That one could reach another, and sure enough, they will be enough to make it count, and together, we could say "YES, WE CAN"!

That I did, in just a few short 12 weeks, I have lost weight, lowered my cholesterol, kept my sugar normal, and lowered my blood pressure so much that my doctor took me off my prescription blood pressure medicine!! Thank you all for helping me save my life!!  I also want to thank my friends, old and new, and co-challengers Jenny, Bob, Felix and Janice, a special hug for all of the sharing and caring and support that you have shared with me along our journey. I am also thankful that Evan shared in the challenge and learned a lot with us, perhaps he cured himself before he was inflicted with any of our diseases and will keep him healthy as he ages! It was great! So for the last time you all, just get out of that chair and move it!!

Blessing to you all, Vickie Dietz-Kelly

I will continue to tell others about the program. I will continue to set short and long term goals for myself. I will continue to move it, move it, move it.I try very hard to limit my sweets. I will attempt to check on the other challengers once a month or whenever. I will call Chris, Sarah, Pam, Joyce, Stefanie, and Stacy to let them know how I am doing. I will take care of Janis and always remember now and in the future that I was apart of the I Can Challenge and Yes I Can Do All Of The Above.  

Now that I have completed the Challenge, what’s in store of me?
Continuation, after all, the whole point was to effect a lifestyle change.

I’ll take this time to chime in my two cents about the Challenge focus, which to me seemed to lean way too heavily on weight loss.   About week six, when weighing in and finding that I actually gained weight from the previous week, it hit me that weight has absolutely no value as a metric, at least no value during the 12 weeks of the Challenge program.  It took me 25 or so years to get into the atrocious physical condition that I was in when the Challenge began, so it seemed completely unreasonable to assume that any measurable improvement would occur in 12 short weeks. 

After week six, what actually happened to me was (1) my A1c went from 10.0 to 8.7, (2) I felt so much better, (3) I could see that my bad eating habits were changing to the point that the things I craved (like fast food) were becoming so much less important (4) my weight had decreased slightly from week one of the Challenge.

Now that the 12 week ‘official’ challenge is over I find that my weight is coming down every week not because I’m dieting, but because I have actually changed my lifestyle, i.e., I live by the 9 inch plate rule; I exercise and enjoy it; it’s actually fun eating out knowing that I’m capable of making intelligent choices; and I FEEL TERRIFIC!  It’s my view that by continuing to practice what I’ve learned in the challenge, my body will adjust over time to its ‘normal’ weight.

Bottom line:   Don’t fall for the fad diets; change your lifestyle!