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Motivated by an increase in her blood sugar levels, blood pressure, and family medical history, UNC Healthcare employee Elaine Rogers began decreasing sugar and carbs in her diet and exercising more regularly. After losing 15 pounds, she hit a plateau. “I was bored of doing it on my own” she remembers, which is when she began looking for additional ideas to help reach her weight loss goals.

Elaine joined the Healthy Heels Weight Loss Program in June 2017 and continued to lose pounds. She was “startled” by the additional weight loss, noting, “I’ve been working on that for years and it’s never budged.”

Elaine explains that with the support of the group and hearing other members’ stories she felt she was not alone and was able to recommit to her health and weight loss goals. She remembers discussing her confidence at one of her last groups: “As I’ve reached my goals, I’m more motivated to keep working on it. I know I have made progress and that incentivizes me to keep going.”

For Elaine, Healthy Heels Weight Loss Program (HHWLP) “made a big impact.” She feels she discovered resources she would not have found otherwise. Today she is happy to report she has reached her lowest weight in the past 25 years, her cholesterol and triglycerides are down and her Hemoglobin A1c is “looking good.”

HHWLP groups meet weekly, serving 140 employees so far. Counselors provide information about healthy eating and physical activity. Group members report high satisfaction, and appreciate the nonjudgmental support and accountability the program provides.

HHWLP also offers additional group and individual counseling sessions at UNC Family Medicine Center (590 Manning Drive – down the road from the main hospital) to all UNC Health Care employees.

Any employee with a BMI ≥25 and willingness to make changes to their daily routine can participate.

Interested in joining? To enroll, please call 984-974-6519. Please direct any further questions to Stephanie Wilhoit-Reeves.