By Patty Rexrode

June 13, 2008

I’ve never been a person who could stick to a diet or healthy eating regime for long periods of time. Healthy eating to me meant a few cups of morning coffee and nothing else for the rest of the day unless my stomach churned from hunger.  Even then, I would usually eat something that was either available at work or what I had bagged, like a bagel, pastry, pretzels or cookies. I never associated feeling tired or having mood swings (tons of anxiety) and headaches with what I was putting, or not putting, into my body.  I blamed an overload of coffee for my symptoms and thought feeling lousy was normal.

That all changed in February of 2008, when the new company I was working for brought in a wellness advocate named Donna Martini. She was around my age, but looked at least 10 years younger, was so healthy and full of energy. She spoke to us about diet and exercise and what she called “Positive Manipulation”.  I have to admit, I was initially skeptical about her ideas of positive thinking.  Achieving what I wanted seemed unattainable to me.  I was tired, depressed and full of anxiety over being a single mom of a 10-year old daughter and caretaker to a dad with Alzheimer’s.  At the time I met her, I had accumulated mountains of debt from being out of work the year before, and I was trying to deal with my daughter’s alcoholic and abusive father.  The workload and demands of the new job put me over the edge of what felt like an endless abyss.  I saw no light at the end of the tunnel.

At that point, I had just lost almost forty pounds after trying to diet for years.  I was proud of myself for something, and wanted to continue eating the way I was so I could maintain my new weight.  But, since I really had nothing positive in my life that I could see at the time, I grasped onto Donnas concepts.  She was very concerned about my eating habits, explaining how bad sugar substitutes and caffeinated drinks were for my body and my emotions. She was convinced that my diet was the cause of my mood swings and without the proper nutrients, I may never get back my energy or a clear head. 

Then one day she introduced the Vita Mix machine at our weekly group meeting.  She described how we could make delicious, healthy fruit and vegetable smoothies for breakfast that would make us feel energized and less hungry all day.  I could not afford to buy the machine, but I did change my diet at her suggestion and started to focus on what I could control, mainly my attitude.  The “Positive Manipulation” she taught was helping me believe that I was in control of my journey; I had the power to attain things that I wanted, and I could be healthy and happy.  

Well, it did not sound all that simple to me, but something very positive happened to help change my mind.  The company, as an initiative to keep their employees healthy, gave away a Vita-Mix machine to the person that was voted to have put the most time and effort into the program.  I couldn’t believe it, but I won!  Donna was right; positive thinking really did enable you to gain things you wanted in your life!

As soon as the Vita-Mix arrived at my house, I started making smoothies for breakfast.  I had fun trying out all different kinds of fruits and even added some carrots to the recipes. You can make some really delicious shakes!  It’s limitless!  After just the first one, I noticed that I wasn’t hungry for the rest of the morning.  After about a week, I noticed that I wasn’t tired all the time and actually had energy!  That was enough to keep me diligent about using it.  I had gotten so used to being tired that I thought “exhausted and depressed” was the way my body was supposed to behave.  Having energy was such a great feeling.

It’s been three months since winning the Vita-Mix and smoothies have become a morning routine, like putting on a pot of coffee.  I always have fresh and frozen fruit in the house and keep the Vita-Mix on my counter, so whipping up a smoothie takes no time at all.  I feel good, haven’t gained any weight, and in fact, I believe I’ve actually lost a couple more pounds.  Mainly, I feel healthy.  I thank Donna for my newfound healthiness and for guiding me towards my new outlook on life. She’s truly amazing. Thank you Donna!

Patty Rexrode