For Nancy Lambertson, the need to make a change in her diet and exercise was quick and certain.
She was admitted to the hospital in January 2017 with blood clots in her legs and her lungs. It was an unexpected event, and Ms. Lambertson got help from her sister and nephew while she recovered. Doctors sent her home from the hospital with a diet limited to 2,000 mg of sodium a day, and Ms. Lambertson was determined to follow their guidance.
Ms. Lambertson’s personal motto is “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” and remembering this has given her strength to seek out ways to make these changes.
Making a drastic diet change is often difficult, and Ms. Lambertson wanted to find ways to make her food tasty but still low in sodium. She asked her doctor if she could meet with a nutritionist to help her find ways to make good, low-sodium food, and he suggested she join the CHANGE project.
One of the things Ms. Lambertson enjoyed most was working with her CHANGE Community Health Worker, Denita.
“Working with Denita and the CHANGE program helped to refresh my mind, and the materials were a great help to me,” said Lambertson. “Her talking to me and sharing some recipes and different things she tried were very helpful. She was always positive, and that helped a lot, too.”
The CHANGE program helped Ms. Lambertson find foods and recipes that she enjoyed while still keeping her salt levels low. She even surprised herself at the foods she started to eat.
“I despise whole wheat anything, but started eating it for my health,” she said. “Brown bread, brown rice, more vegetables, I drink more juice, I eat more nuts. Not a lot of French fries, fried foods and I just changed because I have to and I know it’s better for me. That’s just the way I’ve got to live.”
Ms. Lambertson’s efforts have led to weight loss. Her experience with CHANGE has also led her family to make healthy changes. They are all eating less salt and fried foods. Lambertson said she would recommend anyone with the opportunity to enroll in the CHANGE program.
“Think positive, get in the CHANGE program, remember that you’re doing it for yourself and you can do it to help your family, also, so you can all live a better, healthy life.”
Nancy Lambertson lives in Rich Square, NC.
A PDF file of this success story can be found here.