“...because of the SparkPeople system and my focus and dedication to my goals I survived that accident.”
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All of our success stories in the past have been about individuals who have used the SparkPeople System to improve their lives; physically, mentally and emotionally. The story about Bill Smith though goes a step beyond this – the success he found from his program saved his life.
Before Bill started using the SparkPeople System last September, his life was in disarray. He weighed 335 pounds and was an eating machine. He loved the buffet and would order an entire large pizza and finish it by himself. He did not exercise at all, was stressed out a lot and just wanted to sleep all day. In his words, “I truly wanted to curl up in a corner and just give up.”
Bill had attempted to use different diets in the past, but to no avail. Nothing he had tried in the past involving goal setting, and just the straight diet was no good to him. Even when Bill first starting using the SparkPeople web site, he did not do much. He would post every now and then, and he did set some goals. But he did not really get going until October.
This was when Bill’s wife told him she wanted a divorce. She had actually lost a lot of weight and said that her life had changed because of it. Bill blamed himself and became depressed and even more stressed out. “I began to hate myself for what I was and started realizing that I had a lot more I could look forward to,” said Bill.
So he started to get serious. He re-did his goals and really concentrated on them. And he started depending on the SparkPeople Community for support. He saw how much support the message boards provided and realized through other’s stories he could make a difference in his life.
Exercise wise, he started out by walking two miles a day. After a month he moved this up to four miles a day. Then by January, he also started to incorporate workouts at a gym. Soon after Bill started exercising, he saw huge results in all aspects of his life. For starters, he was losing weight consistently, every week.
His weight loss spread into the other areas in his life. He felt like going out and doing something instead of lying around. He did not depend on food to get through the day as much and saw a reduction in his food intake. Instead of walking or lifting weights to get into shape, he did it because he wanted to.
Bill also started a new position of work at his church, becoming a pastor in compassionate ministries at his church. Now, Bill was also helping others along with helping himself. He was making great changes in his life and feeling great. He had also seen incredible results.
From October, when he started getting serious, until recently, Bill had lost 100 pounds! His weight dropped to 235; since then he has added back on 15 pounds in muscle. He also went down 10 pants sizes. He was now in the best shape of his life.
However at the beginning of May, Bill was in a critical car accident. A pick-up truck hit him head on; the driver was blinded by the sun and did not see him. His car was crushed. He was pinned inside the car and was almost crushed also. It took paramedics 45 minutes to free him from the car; he could hardly breathe during the entire time.
Bill suffered many injuries – 3 broken ribs, a severally sprained neck, a broken shoulder and facial damage, along with injuries to his legs and back. He was in critical condition for the 3 days and at one point the doctors thought they had lost them. But Bill battled back and after nearly 3 weeks in the hospital, he was released.
Bill told both his doctors and paramedics about the kind of shape he was in a year ago and they all agreed – if he was still in that kind of shape, the crash would have killed him. He was so big that he would have been crushed and died before the doctors had a chance to save him.
Throughout his stay at the hospital, Bill showed character and determination that was non-existent only one year ago. Through his persistence he was able to get a laptop computer and Internet access in his room so he could continue talking to the SparkPeople Community, while getting work done as well. While his stay was nearly 3 weeks, the doctors anticipated him to stay 6 weeks.
As remarkable as his progress from September to May was, his recovery from the accident might be even more remarkable. The day he was discharged, he received the “Making a Difference” award at his church’s annual convention. The award is not even given out every year, but the church awarded it to Bill. He realized, more so than ever, how the change in his life had not only affected him, but others around him.
In less than a year, Bill has lost 100 pounds by exercising and has developed better sleeping and eating habits. He is not only making a difference to his body, but in other’s lives as well. His physical improvements even saved his life. With all of his original goals accomplished, he is now looking forward to a full recovery and jumping right back into continuing along his SparkPeople program. With his determination, this shouldn’t be a problem.
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