Leslie is a widow and mother of three sons. At 73, she’s lost 52 pounds on the Livongo Weight Management program and is working on maintaining her weight loss with the help of her coach. A self-proclaimed extrovert, Leslie loves being a member of her community and says she can’t wait to start hugging people again after COVID-19. This is her story.
When did you hear about Livongo and what inspired you to join the program?
In the mail, I get a card about Livongo. I knew nothing about it. I never heard of Livongo, and I saw that they gave you a free digital scale and I saw that there was a free program that went along with it. I signed up, they sent me the scale, and I put the app on my phone. I’ll tell you what, it has made all the difference in my life. I take my phone to the doctor when I go to show them my weight and my progress. They were all impressed and wanted to know about the program for their patients. I joined Livongo on June 23, 2019.
What other aspects of Livongo do you use?
I saw that I could get a free coach, and I thought, “For free?” I’m retired, I’m on a fixed income, and I’m a widow. Rebecca gets ahold of me. So I started chatting back and forth with her and she gave me information and along the line I got a nutritionist because of her suggestion. That helped me a lot. Rebecca and I are buddies. We’re friends.
Rebecca is very, very helpful to me. We chat twice a week. She always checks in with me on Mondays and Fridays. Sometimes I reach out to her and she answers me as soon as she can. She’s given me great ideas and things I can try. Now my goal is to stay the same weight and not lose anymore. I’m retraining my eating. For a while I wasn’t eating properly. I’m retraining myself by looking at the food that Livongo recommends I eat. With all the exercise I’m doing, I feel like I need to eat more and Rebecca is trying to get me to do that.
I told her, “I reached my goal. I’m 10 pounds under where my doctor wants me to be at. Does that mean that I lose you as a coach or that I have to leave Livongo?” And she said no. I see this as a journey for the rest of my life.
How has Livongo helped on your journey?
I’ve been on a diet all my life. But being accountable to my coach, to getting on the scale and knowing Livongo sees my weight, made me more determined to have the number on the scale go down and stay down. I do not want to be anorexic. My mother was anorexic, my niece was anorexic, and so we have to be careful. But Livongo makes me accountable. Instead of putting it away, I left the scale out. I take my numbers to my doctor to show them what I weigh and my progress. It’s a very accurate scale. I weigh myself every week.
How do you motivate yourself every day?
I pray every day. I read my Bible. I have a friend who lives across the street and we walk together. We used to do a whole lot of things, but since COVID broke out, we’re very limited. I talk to my sister who’s a vegetarian, who gives me advice on protein and what to eat.
I just want to be all that I can be, not only for myself but for other people — for my family, for my friends. I’m very much a caregiver. I haven’t been back to church yet, but that’s a great support system there.
Doing this is due to my health. It’s for me, to be healthy. If God wants me on this planet, then I want to be as healthy as I can be, to take care of myself and to live the life He wants me to live.
How do you describe Livongo to people who’ve never heard of it?
Livongo is a fantastic program. I keep the number in my purse to hand it off to people. I’m an advocate. I firmly believe in Livongo. I sing its praises everywhere I go. Since I’ve lost weight, I feel great all over.
Where do you see your life going from here?
I don’t really know. I just take each day as it comes and say, “Okay, God, what do you have for me to do today?” My goal is being able to hug again. I’m a big hugger. I need people around me. I’ve never met a stranger. I love everybody. I want to get out into the community again to sing my praises for Livongo. I do it because I believe in the program.
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