I was nervous when it came time to review the results from my second Coronary Health Improvement Project Heart Screen. Would four weeks of CHIP lifestyle changes be enough to make a difference?

I’m conditioned to believe that deprivation is required to lose weight and get into shape. The greater the sacrifice, the greater the result.

This wasn’t the case with CHIP.

The changes I made were relatively painless. I cut back on saturated fat by reducing my consumption of meat, chicken and dairy products. I increased eating whole grains by consuming whole grain bread, cereal and pasta. I’m not much of a vegetable eater, but I made an effort to eat more salads with dressing on the side, pizza with vegetable toppings and easy on the cheese, and more fresh fruit.

Exercise was more of a challenge for me. As a writer, I lead a sedentary life with most of my time spent in front of a computer screen. I didn’t do anything special, but I tried to incorporate changes such as parking farther away from the door and taking the long way around in stores.

The fact that I had a CHIP meeting from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday for four weeks also helped. It got me out of the house and away from sitting on the couch and watching TV.

Was it worth it? Absolutely

More than anything, I learned that good health isn’t by chance, but by choice.

Can I keep up my new lifestyle without ongoing support? I won’t have to. To reinforce what we’ve learned during the CHIP experience, we will continue to meet about once a month as an alumni group. It’s a great way to stay in touch with those of whom you have shared this life-changing program.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church and Twice Is Nice will conduct the next four-week Coronary Health Improvement Project the end of January. To learn more, CHIP information sessions will take place in mid-January.
For more information, call Jere Clayburn, director, at (320) 234-3645, or e-mail: hutchinsonCHIP@gmail.com [2].

To see my results and read the entire story, see the print edition of the Hutchinson Leader for Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008.

(Kay Johnson is a staff writer at the Hutchinson Leader. She can be reached at johnson@hutchinsonleader.com [3]).