Jim Simmerman with Brent Brown

Jim Simmerman, with Brent Brown, has experienced great success through simply changing what he eats. Making healthier choices and eating smaller portion sizes is just the beginning. Small changes create success but Jim has shown extraordinary committment by cutting red meat and soda pop out of his diet altogether. He also focuses on healthy subsitutions when eating out by choosing a salad or chili over french fries. One of his favorite snacks now are raw almonds. Being aware and conscious of his food choices has really helped him. He's lost over 30 pounds and lowered his cholesterol and blood pressure.

“Knowing that I have to track every week helps me make better choices. The small changes make big differences.”

Marlene Bemis with Equitable Life & Casualty

Marlene Bemis, with Equitable Life & Casualty, has experienced success in a number of areas of her health by making minor adjustments to her diet and exercise. She makes sure she gets at least one whole grain and five fruits and vegetables a day. Exercise had been difficult due to arthritis but her Apple Health Coach^TM helped her come up with creative stretches and exercises that enabled her to work around that. As a result, Marlene has lost over 10 pounds and has cut her total cholesterol in half!

It's been a lot of hard work and success hasn't necessarily been easy but it has definitely been worth it.

“Working with my Apple Health Coach^TM was a really fun and helpful experience. When I had some tough health situations, she always had new ideas of things that I could try. I enjoyed every single one of our sessions!”

UPDATE:
Marlene has taken her health to a whole new level. Marlene’s hard work and dedication to her goals has resulted in more exercise and hence, more weight loss. The increased weight loss has helped Marlene to have less arthritic problems, better breathing and lung capacity, and improved joint functionality. You can now find Marlene at the park playing football with her grandkids. She related a story that teaches all of us a lesson. One day when at the park with her grandkids, two 14 year old Tongan boys recruited everyone at the park – including Marlene to play a football game. Marlene said that she “actually threw the ball”. Not only did she think it was precious that these teenagers included her and her grandkids, but she was thankful that she felt so good and was able to keep up with and play with her grandkids. Marlene said that in the past after having done something like that, her joints would be sore and swollen the days following the activity, but this time she felt great.

Shane Ward with Ken Garff

Shane Ward, with Ken Garff, has experienced great success working with The Apple Program^TM. In the last six months she has lost almost 4o pounds and has dropped three pant sizes. She had tried to lose weight on her own but says that working with her Apple Health Coach^TM is what helped her realize her weight loss goal. She feels great and is really proud of what she has accomplished. She feels young, spunky and fun.

"I have enjoyed working with The Apple Program^TM. My coach has been great keeping me motivated and has been a great help in answering all my questions. She has given me great ideas that I have tried and have ended up making changes to my eating habits and also put into my little work outs. It is great to know that it is more than a discount on our health insurance. You guys are awesome to work with! I enjoy the brown bag lunches also. Thanks for all you guys do!"

Murry Sproul with Harmons

Murry Sproul is the handy man for all of Harmon's. He said that when he first started participating in The Apple Program^TM he thought that it was a real pain in the neck. Now that he has been working with the program and is seeing results he says that the whole thing has really helped him out. He has lost over 15 pounds and is still losing. Previous to working with The Apple Program^TM, Murry never ate his 5-7 servings of fruits and vegetables a day but he is religious about it now. As a result, his blood pressure is back to normal. "The thing about it is, I just feel so much better!"

Murry just married off his 6th child and just had his 10th grandchild born. His family is the most important thing to him and he uses that as his motivation to be healthy and active. He started a softball team with his sons and grandsons and is the oldest guy in the league but loves to play. "My incentive is to live long and feel good while I am doing it so that I can have more time with my family. I want to live to be old enough to play softball with my youngest grandson."

Dave Lore with Tooele County

Dave Lore, with Tooele County, says that The Apple Program^TM is really working for him. He is participating in a Biggest Loser contest with Tooele County and said that he may not win but he is losing weight and getting in better shape. He has lost over 30 pounds and is exercising a lot more. He is jogging instead of walking and is making a point to get out more. Dave hasn't implemented a strict diet but has found that by eating his seven servings of vegetables he doesn't crave unhealthy foods. Dave says that the vegetables along with a large glass of water really fill him up.

"My Apple Health Coach^TM is great. She is always positive but she challenges me. I have lost over 30 pounds and have dramatically changed my life. The simple changes my coach helped me make have increased my energy and made me feel healthy. I appreciated her encouragement when things weren't going as fast as I wanted and enjoyed her enthusiasm when I had success. The changes are simple not diets but lifestyle changes. I am happy not just for weight loss but with a return to a more active life. Thank you!"

UPDATE:
Since this poster was published Dave has more than doubled his weight loss from 30 to more than 60 pounds. He is excited to share that his physician took him off of his blood pressure, cholesterol and insulin support medications. Dave is now medication free!

Dave continues to emphasize that he did not make any major changes. His trick was to eat at least seven vegetables each day before enjoying any treats. He says that if he wanted a slice of cheesecake he knew what he would have to do – eat seven vegetables first.

Dave recently completed two 20-miles hikes in one weekend and has a 50-mile hike in Yellowstone planned for later this summer. His pants size has decreased from 42 inch to 36 inch.

Dave is enjoying his new life. He’d like to offer encouragement to others by saying “It is possible and it’s not that hard. You don’t have to go on a huge diet.”

Don Werber with St. George Ford

Don Werber, with St. George Ford, has been focused on health and fitness in his life and credits The Apple Program^TM with giving him the final push to accomplish his goals. He has found the importance of water to be an integral part of his health and is a self pronounced "water-holic". He is focused on cutting back his sodium intake and has found that eating smaller portions through 5-6 small meals has helped too. When he works out at the gym Don has shifted focus to integrate cardio instead of solely working on resistance training. He says that people in the gym really notice a difference.

"Thanks for all your help. Knowledge is the key to success in everything (even if I think I know it all!). You have helped me take more steps toward my overall success....stubborn me!"

John Harris with Associated Foods

John Harris, an employee of Associated Food Stores, has lost over 45 pounds in about six months. He has taken time to write his own meal plan to help him revise his entire diet. He threw out all of his favorite indulgences and started counting calories as well as tracking the fats and proteins that he eats. In addition to diet, he has learned the importance of exercise. He tracks his exercise for the week and gets one free day per week. He bought a Bowflex and a treadmill for his home to help him get in his allotted exercise. John has been focused on his health throughout his life but had lost sight of it in the last three years. He said that The Apple Program^TM Weigh-In inspired him to start back on the path of health and lose the extra weight. The accountability of the program and working with an Apple Health Coach^TM has really kept him in check and he has not missed a single week of tracking his goals online. His coach helped him identify his body fat percentage and track his progress. He has seen a significant drop in his body fat percentage. John feels awesome with these new changes in his health and is happy he has done it the right way. He feels like this time the changes will stick and he is continuing to set goals for himself.