Wellness Programs at the YMCA!

The St. Cloud Area Family YMCA is committed to helping prevent chronic disease by giving individuals of all ages tools for healthy living. As part of their Wellness Program, the YMCA is working to prevent Type 2 Diabetes.  Here is another guest post from Chad Johnson, the YMCA’s Health and Wellness Director, personal trainer and a Lifestyle Coach for the I CAN Prevent Diabetes program.

Greetings Everyone! 

What if I told you that in order to lose weight and become healthier you just need to take a pill every day for the next 90 days, and you don’t even need to change your diet?  That sounds like a pretty awesome deal, right?  What if I also added that as soon as you stop taking this pill, you will gain all your weight back and probably even a little more! 

This is an unfortunate trap that the majority of us have fallen in at one time or another.  The media does a fantastic job on convincing us that there are shortcuts to better health.  It does not help that we live in a quick and easy world.  We have drive-through and take out restaurants, express lanes, 10 minute meals, etc. etc.  I agree that convenience is a good thing to some extent, but we as a society unfortunately expect this to occur with all aspects of our life, even our own health!   We as Americans struggle to hear hard facts like this.  We love those quick fix solutions that will allow us to achieve our goals without actually working. 

Get Started!

Everyone has different reasons as to why they do not make the healthiest choices, but the good news is that it is never too late to start getting healthy.   If you struggle with your weight and health, it is important that you all know that there is support in this community.  I am the Health and Wellness Director at the St. Cloud Area Family YMCA, and I lead Disease Prevention Classes at the Y.  This class is called I CAN Prevent Diabetes, and it is a class that changes lives!  To learn more about the program, please visit the St. Cloud Area Family YMCA!          

Below is a success story from Betty, an I CAN Prevent Diabetes Champion graduate.  In 16 weeks, Betty lost over 15 pounds (10% of Body Weight)!

           “This class gave me the tools to change my eating habits on my own and as a result I exceeded
            my weight-loss goal.  What I liked best about this class is that I was able to learn some
            perimeters regarding total amount of fat and calories a person should have daily and good ways
            to incorporate healthy food choices.”

            Pre and Post Blood Work Test Results!
            Cholesterol          189           145 
            Triglycerides        195           157

This is one of many stories that come from this program.  For me, the most important take away is that the participants understand that being healthy is much more than a quick fix diet.  Rather, it is an overall shift in the way we live our lives.  It is a total package which includes eating healthy food, exercise, keeping stress low and getting plenty of sleep!  This may sound easy on paper, but the real challenge that I help participants with is not only reaching their goals but to also find out what their obstacles are that prevent them from being healthy.

Bottom Line

We as a society need to become more proactive with our health.  Our lifestyles are bankrupting America with medical bills.  Diabetes medication alone can cost anywhere from $300-$600 a month per person!  Just think how much money and lives we could save if everyone went out today and started biking everywhere we went!  That is a world where I want to live because I know that I want to still be taking my bike out when I am 90 enjoying the beautiful Minnesota weather! 

Good luck Central Minnesota!
Chad Johnson
chadj@scymca.org