Page 90 - HCPVitalityChronicles

Teammate Anna Garcia Continues on Path of Wellness and Fitness
through Inspired Success

Anna Garcia, Medical Receptionist, lot of Christmas gifts this past
HCP Atlantic, remembers the days year. “Now, I try to take advan-
when she coached her son’s baseball tage of every opportunity to ex-
team but that amount of exercise was ercise or be healthy. I feel really
as far as she could go. In the past, with good. I love exercising—it gives
her four children busy with sports prac- me energy. I get exhausted but
tices and the family eating late dinners, it’s a good exhausted.” At her
she did not find the time herself to ex- children’s sports practices now,
ercise or focus on eating healthy. she is not waiting for them on
the sidelines, but instead takes
This started to change about three advantage of the time for a brief
and a half years ago, when she had run in the park.
her gall bladder removed. This forced
her to start eating healthier. “Before Anna Garcia, in 2013 at left, and in 2016, right, with her Garcia knows that there is a lot
two sons.
this, I was eating cheeseburgers and of diabetes in her family. Her
greasy food,” recalled Garcia, who has been with HCP for own blood sugar levels used to be borderline. But she is
nine years. “I started eating clean.” proud to say that when she recently completed her annual
Vitality Check, her numbers were in the healthy range,
She remembers seeing her fellow teammate and Vitality champ thanks to her dietary changes.
Cristina Martinez having green juices and giving her a hard time
about how bad they looked. Now, she herself has started juicing. She wants to lose even more weight and wants to feel “fit”
Her diet consists of fruits and vegetables, salads, chicken, and fish. and comfortable in clothes. One way she recently saw her
She also used to drink soda daily as her caffeine—it was very diffi- progress was through her scrubs, which many of her team-
cult for her, but she cut that out and now drinks a lot of water. If she mates told her were too big after she had lost so much
wants caffeine, she gets a “macho water”—a type of green tea. weight. She finally believed them enough to buy some new
scrubs to fit her smaller size.
In the last year and a half, Garcia has dropped 56 pounds—
through diet as well as the addition of a serious exercise regimen. Her efforts are inspiring to other teammates. “I am very
Martinez encouraged her to join the Vitality program, which she proud of Anna, and it puts a smile on face when I pass by her
did about three years ago. About a year and a half ago, Garcia desk and she’s doing her morning squats before patients ar-
started joining Martinez on walks—four or five times a week dur- rive,” Martinez said. “Anna has been working very hard and
ing the summer, and now as often as she can depending on the is determined to reach her next goal, but she also takes the
weather. She also did T25, and in September of 2015 she joined a time to help others with fitness tips and encouragement.”
gym, where she does cardio and weights five to six days a week.
During the Atlantic site’s most recent Biggest Loser Challenge, she The journey so far has not been an easy one. Garcia de-
was going to the gym twice a day, as well as eating healthy. scribed it as slow and gradual, and admitted to having both
good and bad days. But the greatest lesson she has learned
The biggest change has been in her mindset. “I was lazy be- is not to give up. “It’s more of a mental thing,” she said.
fore,” said Garcia, already at Platinum status with the Vitality “Don’t ever think it’s the end. You can always start again.
program. She used her Vitality points and bucks to purchase a Every day is a new day.”
All information in the Vitality program is HIPAA protected. Members have chosen to share their personal health accomplishments.
For more information about Vitality, visit www.powerofvitality.com. Contact Janet Galli for further program information.