“Because of you …” The 170 pound weight-loss that created that statement
Jodi Davis
| 3 min read
Today’s post is special to me. It’s about helping someone; in fact, it is more about changing a person’s life.
If a person fell into deep water, we would do whatever we could to keep them from drowning. We would help them with every intention of saving their life. Once they were safe and out of harm’s way, we would feel good knowing that we did our part to help. I can only assume that the person who was pulled out of the water by you would be forever grateful. They might even feel that if it wasn’t for you, their life could have been changed forever or could have possibly ended.
Yes, it would feel incredibly rewarding to know that you were responsible for helping this person.
So when I share my weight-loss success story with others, please understand that I don’t share it because I’m a great storyteller. I do it to help someone. It’s extremely gratifying for me to know that I have the ability of allowing countless individuals to realize that they can change their life, just like I changed mine, thus saving my own life.
So when I share my weight-loss success story with others, please understand that I don’t share it because I’m a great storyteller. I do it to help someone. It’s extremely gratifying for me to know that I have the ability of allowing countless individuals to realize that they can change their life, just like I changed mine, thus saving my own life.
This happened back in January 2001. Ever since then, it has been my ultimate goal to help others do the same.
Imagine how it felt when I was informed by a lovely individual that I achieved that goal. At first I had no idea that this person (Judy) had ever met me before, but if you know me at all you’ll know that it only takes me a few seconds to start a conversation with someone. I was taking part in a health fair at Chrysler World Headquarters and Judy explained that when she noticed some BCBSM tables, she wanted to take a moment to see if I happened to be there. Judy was happy to find me and informed me that she had met me back in September 2009 when I was working at a health fair at her place of employment.
During that event, I shared my story with her about how I changed my lifestyle by eating healthier and simply walking 1.5 miles every single day, which resulted to my 162 pound weight loss. I explained to Judy that I knew she had the ability to live a healthier lifestyle as well and believed she could succeed like I had. Then she said those three words: “Because of you …”
That’s all I heard at first, but it was followed by “I changed my lifestyle and lost 170 pounds!”
Judy told me how our conversation had such an impact on her. She went home that day back in 2009 and knew she had to make some changes. She was overweight and she was scared. Judy wanted to be there for her grandchildren. She wanted to live. She decided to change her lifestyle “because of me.” Her changes included living healthier by eating better and exercising daily, believing she could lose her excess weight.
I still tear up when I go back to that moment and those three words that will forever stay in my heart “because of you …” How incredibly rewarding. When you think about it, we all have that capability – allowing others to know that we believe in them and that they have the ability to change. Which is why I’m sharing this experience. I want to help a person change, help to save a life, I do it “because of you.”
