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Ashley Hampton
Benton Harbor, MI

I decided to make some healthier choices and get back to the old me who lived a healthy lifestyle.

Before working at Whirlpool I was very athletic and always looking for ways to stay in shape, but sitting behind a desk definitely slowed down my drive. My story began when I decided to make some healthier choices and get back to the old me who lived a healthy lifestyle. I noticed myself gaining weight, so one day I was in the hall where I notice our health coach who had a challenge going which really sparked my interest. I approached Carrie, our health coach, to ask about the water challenge. It was a challenge to live healthier and the first step was to drink more water. I wasn’t a fan of drinking water but I pushed myself and it not only became a part of a challenge but my number one choice of drink (the first step I took towards changing my life and getting back active).

The beginning was a little shaky because I was so used to drinking soda and juice, but that one choice I made to drink water trickled down to all areas of my life towards creating a healthy lifestyle. Through my journey I definitely came off my hiatus from working out, and although working out more was a major hurdle I had to overcome, drinking water and eliminating soda and juice was even harder but I overcame those as well. Along the way people recognized my determination and it motivated them to start making healthier lifestyle choices as well and I can’t forget the weight loss that I experienced from taking the leap of faith.

The impact I’ve seen on my life has been that I have more energy and my decision to live healthier has inspired others. Others would say that I’m always pushing them to reach their full potential when it comes to a healthier lifestyle. This change was significant because I feel like I’m in better shape than I was before and it has definitely impacted others on the job to take the same stance. This change was significant to me because I set a goal for myself and accomplished it, it motivated me in other arenas when it comes to goal setting and my willpower to achieve anything I put my mind to. Now that I’ve changed I feel inspired to set more health goals for myself and challenge myself to always go a step further when it comes to healthier living.

My team members and co-workers through my job and building have been a huge help to me. They supported me by their encouragement and also their dedication to make some of the same health goals that I had made, the even greater reward was us as a team working together towards being more active and drinking more water. Whirlpool was a part of this change due to accessibility of health coaches who came in and spoke to us about living a healthy lifestyle. Whirlpool provided the tools needed through these onsite health coaches and programs which motivated us to reach our health goals.

Through this experience I would recommend that people start off with a small goal and stick with it because you never know how it will trigger larger goal setting and achieving on a wider scale, you must stay focused and motivated. The sky’s the limit for me and I know that it takes baby steps. I still want to lose some more weight but I plan on tackling this next by first having a goal, then creating a plan.