A Battle for Better Health
Diane Racine found inspiration and encouragement in her efforts to manage her weight and improve her health.
Diane’s experience with the MOVE! team at the West Linn VA Clinic in West Linn, OR, helped her build her resolve and make meaningful changes to her lifestyle.
Finding Something That Sticks
For Diane, the struggle to reach a healthy weight was part of an all-consuming effort. "I have been in a battle with my weight and my emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being for many years," she explains. Given the stakes of this battle, it made sense that Diane would turn to VA for support and guidance. Her health care team suggested the MOVE! Weight Management Program for Veterans, which offered an alternative approach to methods that hadn’t worked for her in the past. Diane decided to give MOVE! a try, hoping that it would help her achieve lasting change.
I can change my life from desolate existence to one of blooming flowers, experiencing the gifts of nature around me.
Diane Racine
Developing a New Perspective
"Since I have joined up with MOVE!," Diane recalls, "I have received an incredible amount of support and guidance that has changed the way that I look at myself and the world around me." Diane strengthened her own motivation with the encouragement of her MOVE! team and took full advantage of the resources at her disposal in her weight management journey. In addition to attending group sessions, she used TeleMOVE! and MOVE! Coach with Care to engage with MOVE! outside of her VA. She also signed up for daily text message reminders from VA’s Annie MOVE! Weight Management Subscription that she says uplift her and help her stay accountable. Most importantly, Diane developed a new perspective that aided her efforts. "I’ve learned not to live in shame," she shares. "I now live in a ‘can’ world."
Continuing to Push Forward
As Diane appreciates the gradual and consistent positive changes in her weight and health, she is developing a healthy lifestyle including mindful eating and physical activity that she knows she can maintain for the long term. Diane says she has reshaped her life along with her mood and mindset. "I am on track to be living a healthy life and continue on my journey with increased joy and serenity," she says. "The MOVE! program in all its forms is the most supportive, caring, and motivating program that I have ever been a part of."
