I recently started a weight loss program with Retrofit (retrofitme.com), which was started by Jeff Hyman, who is someone I used to work with at Intuit. I kept getting news alerts about articles he was quoted in or featured in. In mid December, I finally sent him an email saying it was cool that is company was doing so well. I also told him that I had lost 27 pounds the prior year and had regained it over the last year while in a job where I commuted for 2 hours a day and could no longer work out for an hour a day. He sent me a friendly note back and also said they had a friends and family discount. Would that be something I was interested in?

At the time I was loathe to spend extra money on anything that wasn’t an essential item like housing or gas or food. But in the end, I called the person he referred me to and I spoke to Phyllis for almost an hour and we discussed my fitness goals and my work situation, which isn’t conducive to regular exercise like I had been doing before taking this job.

I decided to join the program and get my act together. The sustainability aspect of the Retrofit program was really attractive to me. The Retrofit program concentrates on putting sustainable changes in place, not just temporary changes that can help you lose weight and then, later, once you start slipping back into old habits (because your new habits aren’t sustainable), you start gaining the weight back.

The Retrofit program is also attractive because you work with three different coaches to help you make the changes that you need to make (the suggestions are personal to you and your needs). The coaches you work with are a fitness coach, a dietician, and a behavior coach. All three of which are important to get at what/figure out what works/doesn’t work for you.

It was apparent in my initial screening call that Retrofit wasn’t out to just separate me from my money like other diet programs that sell you the food and charge a participation or program fee. The payments for this program basically cover the costs for the people who will be assisting me, personally, for a year to help me change my habits into something sustainable. You can choose to target losing 10% of your body weight or 15% of your body weight (and there are different fees associated with each because they have different amounts of counseling associated with them).

I chose to do the 10% program for a couple of reasons – it was a baby step in the right direction – I definitely and desperately needed to do something; it was a lower commitment and less money than the 15% goal; and it was for a full year. I had previously done a similar program that was 7 weeks at a time (more on that one later), which was completely effective but with my current job, not sustainable.

I love that the Retrofit program focuses on sustainability, but I really appreciate that it focuses on walking. I usually walk this 5-mile loop on the weekends, but it is clear that being a weekend warrior is not enough. It’s not enough to help me get back to a healthy weight. The Retrofit goal of 10,000 steps a day will help me be just that little bit more active, enough to lose weight. I am looking forward to making sustainable changes to help me be healthier! I am choosing my health as a priority!