My name is Eddie Campoamor and I have been employed by WBU-Anchorage Campus for over 11 years. Prior to working for WBU-Anchorage, my jobs were quite physical in nature. It took no extra effort to stay in shape other than to do the work I had been hired to do. My job at WBU-Anchorage is administrative in nature, which is my way of saying I sit on my “blessed assurance” a lot. Needless to say with such a work environment (my job responsibilities usually requires 10 to 12 hours a day at my office) it did not take long to begin, and continue, to gain weight.

Just as bad, I have been blessed/cursed with the ability to carry my weight well, meaning that most people could observe that I had gained weight, but unaware of how much weight I had gained. Fortunately for me, a “scale” observes not by sight but by actual weight. I began working out April of 2009 on a daily basis.

My intentions were to get ready for the Wellness Program that WBU was going to be rolling out later in that year; I have the personality trait of trying to be “prepared” for change. I am proud of our university for giving us the opportunity to take active steps in doing a very good “thing” for us! I realize that by so doing, it is also good for our university, so I see it as a win-win situation for everyone who is involved in the program.

I have changed a little my eating habits, but truly, not so much that it was difficult for me. What has been a drastic “before/after” action is that I do work out every day; I walk vigorously for 35 minutes and work out with weights for 20 minutes. That’s it. It only took about three weeks of disciplining myself at the very beginning to do this every day, after that, it was a habit, much like muscle memory. I don’t even think about it anymore, it’s just something I do every day. Yes, I have lost weight, 42 lbs to be exact; however, that really isn’t the moral of my story.

Like I said, I am blessed/cursed with carrying weight well. The moral of my story is that I just plain feel much, much better, and I have so much more energy than I used to do. Feeling better and having more energy just makes everything else I do less stressful and more pleasurable. Yes, you heard correctly, my administrative job is pleasurable! You want to change how you “feel” about yourself, your job, your energy? I have but two solutions for you:

1. Commit your heart, brain, and soul to Christ, and

2. Commit your body to exercise.

For me, there is no substitute!