Page 68 - HCPVitalityChronicles

Sophie Chang, MD, Inspires Her Patients to Transform Their Health

for the Better

As a physician, Sophie Chang, MD, Indeed, Dr. Chang practices what
HCP Sepulveda, believes strongly in she preaches. She joined the Vital-
the organizational mission of fun ity wellness program the first year it
and fulfillment. “Part of living our was offered. “I believe in taking
mission of fun and fulfillment is to care of our teammates and cowork-
inspire our patients to take action to ers,” she said, “and caring about
better health, and in turn to inspire their fitness and health. I enjoy the
others around them,” Dr. Chang idea that Vitality speaks and acts
said. our intention that physical fitness
matters for the whole community,
To help her patients succeed, Dr. and that we value it as an integral
Chang uses honest, encouraging dia- part of our total health.”
Dr. Sophie Chang on a diving/snorkeling excursion
logue. The results have proven very with her family.
effective for one of her patients in
particular, Samuel Matafeo. When he first
started seeing Dr. Chang three years ago,
he was, in his own words, miserable. “I was
very overweight and I faced a lot of issues
related to pre-diabetes: high cholesterol,
high blood sugar,” Matafeo recalled.

Since April of this year, Matafeo has been
on a journey to improve his health. Starting
at 230 pounds, he has lost a total of 60
pounds so far. His blood sugar test results
dropped from 114 to 83. “I learned to have Samuel Matafeo, before and after his healthy
control of my mind instead of being con- transformation.
trolled by my emotions,” Matafeo said. He and his wife have For Dr. Chang, who has been
incorporated exercise and healthier eating—no more soda, with HCP for 18 years, family
no greasy food, low sodium, and fresh foods rather than fitness is very much an inte-
processed—into their lifestyle. gral part of her life. She earns
points through attending reg-
“Dr. Chang is a huge part of my journey,” Matafeo said. ular exercise classes at the
“She’s very encouraging, and she gives you straight talk. She gym, including strength train-
told me, ‘You have a problem, and no one can fix it but ing, kickboxing, yoga, cycling, Zumba, and cross training, and
you,’” he said, adding that Dr. Chang advised him to eat by logging in her Healthy Habits, such as when she hikes with
healthy and to maintain staying healthy, rather than focusing her kids on holidays and weekends, or walks laps around the
strictly on his weight, thereby making the transformation a fields while watching them play soccer and baseball.
positive lifestyle change for the long term. Continued on next page