Looking Ahead to Healthy Living: Denise’s Vitality Story

Like many people, Denise, 60, had often struggled with eating healthy and maintaining her weight, though she was diligent about working out, including with trainer Andrew Johnson at FOCUS Fitness. When the new Elevé launched in 2020, Johnson suggested Denise attend Elevé’s open house.

“I was in my later-50s, and my kids were out of the house. I thought, ‘I need to start working on this because I want to continue to be healthy,’” Denise recalls. “Especially if I ever have grandkids, I want to be able to still play and be active with them.”

She liked Elevé’s focus on prevention and longevity, and the idea of having a coach to help her with nutrition and workouts. “Probably my biggest crutch is my eating,” Denise says. “While I still struggle sometimes with that, now I have great tools, resources and advisors.”

Working toward longevity and vitality

After joining the Vitality program, the Elevé team started Denise off with comprehensive testing, including her bloodwork, which included an assessment of her glucose, cholesterol levels and other health factors.

The team completed a DEXA scan which analyzes body composition, including visceral fat that impacts cardiovascular health. And they had Denise take a VO2 Max test, which measures the body’s oxygen uptake capacity during exertion.

Starting at about 40 pounds overweight, the Elevé team knew Denise could benefit from talking with a nutritionist as well as continuing her workouts with Andrew. “I thought, ‘I like this concept, I'll have a coach every month, I'll have someone who follows me and helps me along on my health journey,” Denise says. “I also learned that my relationship with food is rooted in my mental wellness, so they helped me connect with resources that could help me along in that process too.”

Working with individual needs

Because Denise’s bloodwork revealed that she had high cholesterol—which can lead to cardiovascular disease— Elevé addressed that health concern by placing her on a targeted diet for several weeks. “I never wanted to be on pills,” Denise says. “After that diet, I lost weight, I felt great, and my blood work was wonderful.”

But Denise knew that the restrictive diet would be difficult to maintain without being able to indulge occasionally in the treats she enjoyed. But the team worked with Denise to find a balance where she eats a clean diet most of the week and then has days where she can incorporate some of her favorite treats, like chocolate or a glass of wine.

“That's what I like about Elevé, is they really listen to you, and talk about how can tweak your lifestyle to ensure the program will be successful for you,” Denise says. 

Denise also learned about her physiology to understand a realistic body weight. “Through the years you absorb messages from society or certain books that say ‘you’re this old, you’re this tall, you should weigh X amount,’” Denise says. “But those figures don’t take into consideration all the factors.”