Page 39 - HCPVitalityChronicles

Linda Sanfilippo, PA, Becomes Authentic with Herself on Journey

to Self-Improvement

A couple of years ago, Linda Sanfilippo, PA, HCP Fountain Through it all, she was very pleased that her patients were
Valley, had several a-ha moments that shook her out of her witnesses to her journey. “I became more authentic; I
current existence. One of these moments occurred when could really empathize with their pain,” she said.
she was talking to a patient about weight loss. “They were
empty words,” Sanfilippo recalled. “I felt guilty for talking Now her weight loss program for patients has taken on a
to someone about something I was not doing myself.” new meaning, because she can speak from her own true
experience. She sees them
Another of these a-ha moments every six weeks for food logs
came when she realized the and weigh-ins, and encourages
mental image she had of herself them to use applications, such
did not match the real picture of as MyFitnessPal, to track their
her. When she saw a picture eating, water consumption
that someone had taken of her and exercise. With RunKeeper,
in front of a food truck, she did they can log their walks/runs
not recognize the person in the and count calories. “I want
picture. “The real picture didn’t them to encompass a big goal,
match how I envisioned myself,” to push their limit to some-
Sanfilippo said. thing bigger than they have
ever done before,” she said.
Linda Sanfilippo, PA, at left. The mental image she had of her-
At around the same time, close self did not match the image she saw in the picture. At right, And because she herself has
to Halloween, a coworker asked she is pictured with Ronda Barker, MA, after having lost 65 done this, she can speak to
Sanfilippo if she realized how pounds. them truthfully.
many calories were in a bite-size piece of candy. This
didn’t stop her from curbing how many she ate. Her patients are the ones who keep her motivated. “If I am
authentic with them, it keeps me motivated,” she ex-
At the time, Sanfilippo, a HCP employee for 10 years, was plained. “I can’t be a coach or a motivator if I’m not willing
having mobility problems. She could not walk to the end of to be authentic myself.” When at times she wants to fall
her driveway without experiencing pain. And at work, she back, someone will come in who needs the motivation of a
used a cane to get around. weight loss experience, and she steps right back up.

These a-ha moments all led her to reconsider how she was She also is grateful to her staff, including Ronda Barker,
living. She made a conscious, dedicated decision to try to Medical Assistant, HCP Fountain Valley, for keeping her on
improve her health. She bought an elliptical machine—at track. “It's funny, I never noticed Linda as being unhealthy
first, she could only use it for four minutes at a time. Then or overweight,” Barker recalled. “She was eating more
she was up to four and a half, five, six minutes. “It was a candy around Halloween time and I mentioned to her how
progressive journey,” said Sanfilippo, a new member of Vi- the candy adds up if you eat too many. Fun size doesn’t al-
tality. Over the course of one year, she lost 65 pounds, and ways mean healthy or a healthy portion. She started losing
gained a tremendous amount of confidence and trust in weight and I noticed her complaining less about her back
herself. To date, she has also run four half marathons. Continued on page 2