About
two-and-a-half years ago, Connie
Mikel was startled when a man wearing
motorcycle gear including one of
those black motorcycle helmets appeared
at the door of her workplace, pointed
his finger at her and said in a
loud voice, "You!" Mikel was too
surprised to respond, so the darkly
garbed man again pointed his finger
at her and repeated, "You!"
Even when the man removed his helmet,
it took Mikel a moment to recognize
him as Harry McPhierson, a customer
she helped six months earlier.
Mikel was thrilled
to see McPhierson, obviously feeling
and looking so much better than
when she sold him a True Fitness
treadmill. "I couldn't believe the
difference in him," she said.
For people, like McPhierson,
with diabetes, it doesn't go away.
It's something they have to work
on every day. Almost three years
ago when McPhierson was diagnosed
with Type 2 diabetes, he began looking
for ways to keep the disease from
advancing to the point that he'd
have to take insulin. With the help
of his doctors, a good diet, and
True Fitness, he changed his life,
he said.
McPhierson describes
the way he found out he had the
disease as, "kind of a funny thing."
Seven years ago his brother was
diagnosed with adult Type 2 diabetes.
"From that point on, he'd been after
me to go get tested," he said. "I
didn't want to do it and I probably
didn't care to know the answer."
But, he was destined
to receive a wake-up call three
years ago this Christmas. While
visiting his brother in Missouri,
his brother told him he was tired
of nagging him, and said he'd quit
if McPhierson agreed be tested with
a home diabetes detection kit; and
if he would go to the doctor if
he tested positive.
McPhierson tested positive
and made an appointment to see his
doctor. At the end of the tests
it was confirmed he did, indeed,
have Type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is
the most common form of diabetes.
In Type 2 diabetes, either the body
does not produce enough insulin
or the cells ignore the insulin.
Insulin is necessary for the body
to be able to use sugar. Sugar is
the basic fuel for the cells in
the body, and insulin takes the
sugar from the blood into the cells.
"My doctor told me
I had two choices," McPhierson said.
" I could change my lifestyle or
he could put me on medication I
probably wouldn't take, and a few
years he'd put me on another medication,
and about five years down the road,
I'd be on a combination of drugs
and insulin."
When you are diabetic,
every day you can avoid insulin
is one more day you can avoid some
of the more devastating affects
of the disease, he said.
Harry's next step was
to go through diabetic education.
The people there said he was lucky.
"They said they usually
see people who are going blind or
have had amputations," he said.
The bottom line was that he was
going to have to change his eating
habits and get into an aerobic exercise
regime.
Before his diagnosis
he said his exercise routine consisted
of "lifting a TV remote and pushing
a button."
Five-foot, nine McPhierson
weighed 240 pounds when he chose
walking as his aerobic exercise.
He does a lot of traveling and he
decided walking was something he
could do anywhere, he said.
But Chicago isn't the
greatest place to go walking outside
in the dead of winter so he began
his quest for a treadmill.
As he researched and
shopped, he found a lot of them
were poorly constructed. McPhierson
figured he and the treadmill, "were
going to be buddies for a long time"
so he wanted a treadmill he could
easily operate, be comfortable on,
and be of high quality construction.
Some of the treadmills
he tried were difficult to use because
the settings and speed had to be
changed while trying to maintain
pace, he said.
He said he had just
about run out of the general sports
store equipment to look at when
a friend told him about Fitness
Experience. It was here where Mikel
helped him find the perfect machine
for his particular needs, which
happened to be a True Fitness treadmill
with Heart Rate Control technology.
Fitness Experience
is an innovator in the fitness industry.
Its employees are respected for
their work ethic, business skills
and leadership skills. Vice President
Phil Singer even has a co-patent
with True Fitness on the most sophisticated
interactive heart rate controlled
treadmill on the market.
Considering his health
problems, True's superior HRC feature
would help McPhierson maintain optimum
heart rate with very little effort
on his part.
True Fitness acquired
the first-ever U.S. patent for treadmill
heart rate control technology and
was the first company to use incline
control motors on home treadmills.
Heart rate training is the most
efficient way to maximize fat burning
for weight loss while maintaining
a low level of perceived exertion.
The treadmill automatically adjusts
speed and/or grade to bring you
to and keep you at your selected
target heart rate.
Even though the True
treadmill cost more than the $1,000
McPhierson had originally allotted
for a treadmill, he felt the quality
and the HRC was worth giving True
a try. So he bought it, had it delivered,
and worked it into his exercise
routine.
"You just strap it
around your chest and it automatically
adjusts your workout. It only takes
you to the work out you can do,"
McPhierson said.
The True treadmill
gave McPhierson the confidence to
maximize his workout to meet his
physical ability. The HRC reduces
the incline and speed automatically.
"I knew the machine wasn't going
to let me go too fast," he said.
"And I was able to program the HRC,
so as I became stronger, I could
increase the pace."
He also bought the
portable HRC, which he uses when
he walks outside. He can use the
same parameters to achieve the results
he gets on the treadmill, he said.
When McPhierson began
using the True treadmill his optimum
heart rate was around 130. Through
his diligence of using the treadmill
and the HRC, he's improved his stamina
to a heart rate of 148 to 150.
"I can just watch the
news. The machine does the adjustments
for me," he said.
McPhierson has been
able to lose 55 to 60 pounds; he's
been able to keep his blood sugar
in check; and there has been no
need for him to take insulin so
far.
"The True treadmill
has been a wonderful aid to help
me make this change in my life,
he said.
He has been able to
keep his weight off for almost three
years. He's recently added weight
training to his routine. He believes
the exercise and diet have helped
him become a "semi-normal human
being."
"My family is really
pretty proud of me, I'm working
more now than I used to. It's definitely
impacted my business."
McPhierson not only
wears motorcycle helmets, he imports
them for a living.
"There's no question
I've become more vigorous in my
daily life and more aggressive in
my job. I'm not in front of the
TV all time now. The whole thing
has been life changing," he said.
When McPhierson first
began his workouts his biggest problem
in general was getting the best
workout without hurting himself.
"My biggest battle
right now is if only True could
come up with inducement to get me
to get on the machine."
McPhierson wants to
let anyone facing diabetes who needs
words of encouragement know he's
willing to talk with them.
"In my opinion, it
can be done. It's not easy but it's
doable."
For more information
about diabetes go to www.diabetes.org
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