Three women share how the Vtrim program changed their lives.
When Deidre Purcell crossed the finish line in the MORE half-marathon this past April, the 45-year-old had already embarked on another kind of long-distance challenge: As one of the winners of MORE’s Vtrim Online contest, she had recently enrolled in a comprehensive, six-month weight-loss plan.Created by the University of Vermont, Vtrim is a 24-week weight management program that provides an unusual amount of support. After you enroll, a certified facilitator provides you with a daily target of calories and fat grams; you keep track of your efforts with a daily log. Every week, you participate in online meetings in which you discuss weight-loss topics with your instructor and other participants who are trying to shed pounds.
Purcell says the program (which is free for her but normally costs $695) has helped her stay focused on her weight-loss goals. Despite being an active person, she had put on 14 pounds over the last few years; when she started with Vtrim, the scale read 154. Tight clothes weren’t her only worry: “We have a lot of family health issues,” explains the Clifton Park, New York, resident. “My sister has multiple sclerosis, my mom had diabetes, and both my brother-in-law and mother had brain tumors. After my mom passed away in 2007, I knew I had to get healthy. I wanted to dedicate my efforts to her.”
It wasn’t always easy. “I’m a nervous eater,” she admits. “It was hard to get back into the swing of things.” As an insurance adjuster and the mother of two teens, Madison, 13, and Corey, 15, Purcell was constantly on the go, grabbing takeout instead of cooking healthy dinners. Improving her exercise routine seemed easier, which is how she found herself in the MORE half-marathon in April 2009.
“I hated running,” she says. “Hated it. But I challenged myself to do it. It was the first step toward reclaiming my life.”
After she began training for this year’s race, Purcell knew she still needed a push to correct her eating habits. Winning the Vtrim contest gave her the inspiration she needed to rededicate herself to health. “Writing everything down gave me a clear, conscious look at what I was consuming. Once I saw what I was putting in my body, that was it for me.”
