At Pivio, we are so proud of the partnerships we cultivate, and love to hear success stories from our partner organizations and their teams. BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont recently shared amazing transformations experienced by their employees, and how their lives have changed as a result of Pivio. Here are their stories…
Melanie
After going through 10 weeks of chemotherapy and radiation treatments in 2020, Melanie’s doctors had one recommendation to prevent a reoccurrence of cancer – change her diet. When Melanie heard about Pivio and learned it was a free offering to Blue Cross employees, she decided to take her doctors’ advice and try changing her diet.
To Melanie’s great surprise, her participation in Pivio yielded significant results that she believes will be permanent. She has already lost more than 10 pounds and reduced her cholesterol by 20 points. What Melanie learned in Pivio made her rethink what she should be eating and what is healthy. As she says, “It really changed the way I think about managing weight and diet.”
Melanie went on to say that she loved Pivio because it didn’t focus on weight loss. Instead, the program emphasized improving other metrics such as decreasing cholesterol levels. When those improvements were achieved the weight loss followed, and she hopes to lose even more.
Her biggest achievement was increasing the amount of fiber in her diet. As she says, “Fiber is your friend. The key to why I lost the 20 points on my cholesterol was really making sure that I have a lot of fiber in my diet.” Fiber from plant sources helps remove cholesterol from your body, she explains. “I’m proud that I was able to make some permanent changes and I haven’t reverted back to the diet that I was eating before.”
Ingrid
For Ingrid, the weekly group meetings were a highlight of the Pivio experience. “It was wonderful, a really great experience…I was looking forward to meeting with my team every week, just to see the changes we had done based on the lessons we were doing that week.”
Ingrid joined the Pivio program with pretty good health habits already, being a runner and practicing yoga. She followed the typical American diet though of high amounts of protein, including meat. As she says, “I didn’t realize the benefits of a plant-based lifestyle.” She now eats plant-based meals almost all the time and pays closer attention to the amount of oil she uses in cooking.
Ingrid and Melanie both echo that the Pivio program was life changing for them and their spouses, since the Pivio program is free for employees’ family members at BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont. Ingrid’s husband was prediabetic when he started Pivio, but now his glucose levels are normal and his cholesterol levels have dropped. As Ingrid says, “I feel that I have more control over how I am aging. I am doing the best that I can to age in a healthy way.”
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We are so appreciative to BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont for offering the Pivio program at their organization and sharing these incredible stories. We look forward to our continued partnership and many more success stories in the future!