Memphis Associate Drops 131 Pounds In 15 Months Memphis city driver ERNEST COLEMAN ERNEST COLEMAN embarked on a weight loss journey in 2021. The 6-foot associate weighed in at 309 the night before Father’s Day last year – the heaviest he had ever been in his life. But just over a year later, Ernest is down 131 pounds and counting with the help of a healthier diet and consistent exercise. “I just got tired of the weight being on me,” Ernest says, so he and his wife began researching ways to live healthier lives. Along with finding advice on how to lose weight through basic internet searches, Ernest found health tips and smart food choices by using his BlueCross BlueShield benefits. “BlueCross BlueShield has a ton of tips about how to live healthier,” Ernest says. “They have a lot of meal plans and nutrition facts, and Blue365 gives you access to gyms for a discounted rate. My wife and I can go to just about any gym we want with our membership. “A lot of associates may not know it, but we have a lot of benefits through Averitt that can save your life. They have mine.” When Ernest began his journey last June, he was wearing a 2XL shirt and his pants were 46 inches in the waist. He got rid of all his clothes but kept one pair of jeans as a reminder of his starting point. He began with an overnight detox and switched to a low-carb, low-sodium diet. To fight fatigue in the early goings, he leaned on his zero-sugar sports drinks and three healthy snacks between meals. Ernest says it was tough at first, but his body began to adjust to the lower calorie intake and soon began dropping pounds. “You’ll feel like you have no energy at first and want to give up, but seeing MOVING FREIGHT AND LOSING WEIGHT
Memphis city driver ERNEST COLEMAN credits a healthier diet and consistent exercise as reasons he's been able to lose more than 130 pounds.
results gives you that boost of confidence you need to keep going,” Ernest says. With the help of basic calisthenic workouts, a stricter meal plan and running daily, Ernest now weighs 178 pounds, wears a size 32 pants, and wears size small or medium shirts. “Portions are important,” Ernest says. “I have always eaten relatively healthy, but I always ate large portions. Now, I eat no more than 1,200 calories per day, my snacks throughout the day are raw vegetables and shakes, and I drink a gallon of water over the course of the day.” In addition to his clothes fitting better, Ernest has also lowered his blood pressure and no longer needs medication to help control it. His wife has also benefited from their new lifestyle, coming off her diabetes medication completely. Ernest says his next goal is to come off his CPAP machine, and those jeans he didn’t throw away are his main form of motivation. “I look at those size 46 jeans every morning while I’m getting dressed,” Ernest says. “I don’t want to go back to that.” To learn how you can take full advantage of your BlueCross BlueShield benefits and live healthier, visit BCBST.com. And to find out how to obtain a gym membership like Ernest’s, check out Blue365Deals.com. T m
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