Jeanne's Step One Success Story

This week’s blog is written by one of our customers, Jeanne, and I wanted to thank her for sharing her story.

Overcoming health obstacles is no easy task. Doctors and medications can help, but we also have tremendous power to help ourselves. 

Jeanne - congratulations on leveraging that power and creating significant health improvements!  Keep going!! We are all cheering you on!

 

Jeanne's Step One Story

My name is Jeanne Williams. I am 66 years old and find aging gracefully a challenge. I came to the realization that my body is going to age, and I need help to slow it down. 

Here is my Step One Foods journey. 

My good friend has MS. She is a strong, brave woman who is facing challenges daily. We talked about the health issues she was experiencing and how she is working hard to maintain her current level of health and trying to sustain her quality of life. She told me about Step One Foods. Her doctor suggested she try it as her cholesterol is remarkably high. She followed her doctors’ recommendation and ordered bars, sprinkles and oatmeal and was experimenting with them. She was only eating it once a day, every few days. So, she really had not committed to it yet. She had good things to say about the taste but was not sure how it would work.

A few weeks after this conversation, I noticed strange things happening with my pulse and breathing when I went out for my morning walk and made an appointment to see my doctor. She suggested I make an appointment with my cardiologist, and she ordered a blood test in January of 2024. My blood pressure was elevated, and the blood work came back showing my cholesterol was high. I was not prepared for this as I have always been in the normal range. On the high side of normal, but still within the guidelines. I once had a doctor at the hospital tell me that everyone over the age of 50 should be on statins for cholesterol. I asked him to leave my room. 

While talking again with my friend, I shared my results. She suggested I give Step One Foods a try. She said she would also try eating it twice a day and we both could see how it worked. 

My husband who is 70, has also received high cholesterol results, and his doctor has recommended taking statins, but he is unable to because of the side effects. He became part of our grand experiment. (I did get my husband’s approval to include his results here.)

I placed our first order on January 19th. We started two servings a day on February 3rd. My husband is an oatmeal eating person and I am more of a smoothie drinker. We both enjoy chocolate and peanut butter. We have our favorites and reorder them regularly.

So, I guess, the next thing to say is what the numbers looked like. 

My first test (baseline) was on January 10th, my follow up was on March 14th. Here are my changes after 6.5 weeks…

Total Cholesterol

January: 204

March: 173

 

HDL

January: 63

March: 61

 

Triglycerides

January: 62

March: 98

 

LDL

January: 124

March: 98

 

My husband had a base line from July 2023. The doctor did not do a test for him in January of 2024. He had one on March 24th and April 29th. Here are his numbers…

Total Cholesterol

March: 210

April: 205

 

HDL

March: 39

April: 45

 

Triglycerides

March: 150

April: 125

 

LDL

March: 143

April: 135

 

My friend also has had improvements to her numbers after following the plan. Her doctor has recommended that she continue to use One Step Products as part of her daily life.

I saw my cardiologist in March. My EKG was normal, and my echo/stress test was within the expected parameters. He was happy to hear that I was losing weight and that I was eating Step One Foods. He had heard of them but did not have personal experience with them.

I have been on a journey to improve my health for years now. I am celebrating 15 years of life after receiving treatment for breast cancer and  I have also survived uterine cancer. I have had issues with my heart, specifically, A-Fib. At times, my blood pressure has been high, sometimes my pulse races for no reason and other issues related to my heart. My regular doctor noted that I have metabolic syndrome x. The issues, lumped with a title, to my understanding are related to my weight. 

I have been under my doctors’ care for weight loss. For the past two years, I have tried Keto, restricted calories, diet pills to increase my metabolism and another more restrictive calorie count. I lost weight and gained back weight. I became so confused that I didn’t know what to eat or when.  

Step One came along at an excellent time in my dieting process. I started out with having a smoothie for breakfast and a bar for lunch. It made it easy to reduce calories, but I needed to find a long-term solution. Step One gave me room to breathe and reconsider what I needed to do. I joined Weight Watchers and am having success. I am learning to eat again while losing weight. I can include my smoothie and bars with the program. So, it is a win for me.

I have been aware of food solutions for helping to improve life. We have been gluten free for almost 15 years now. I have read about the good things that the right ingredients can do to reverse years of bad eating habits. We are learning to eat clean, whole foods and are cutting out most processed foods from our home. 

My doctor was impressed with the results, and we left her with information about Step One Foods with the hope that she will suggest it to other patients with cholesterol issues.

I have a long way to go to reach a healthy weight, but I am on the right path. I don’t feel like I am struggling any longer.  I am dedicated to a morning walk at least five days a week. My husband and I surf fish as the weather allows. A walk in the sand is a fantastic way to exercise. I have planted a vegetable garden, so we have fresh food to eat. And the exercise I get from that along with the sunshine is unbelievable. 

I am grateful for having been introduced to Step One Foods. I am impressed with the information provided by the company about the products and health benefits. I feel I can trust in their products integrity. Customer service is exceptional. I am happy to recommend Step One to my family, friends and perfect strangers.  I know that they will not be disappointed. 

 

Tips and recommendations on enjoying Step One Foods from Jeanne

• The smoothie mix...  I like to stir one package of smoothie mix with ¾ cup non-fat Greek yogurt and a ¼ cup of liquid (protein drink, oat or almond milk, or water) in a mixing cup before putting it in the blender. This hydrates the mix a little and helps to blend easier. I sometimes add other berries and maybe half a banana before adding the ice cubes. I have added a little cocoa powder for a more chocolate flavor at times. But not Hersey’s syrup. That would defeat weight loss. 

• The oatmeal serving is a little small to be totally filling. Both my husband and friend have commented on this. I am not an oatmeal person, so this is not a personal experience. They are both adding a little extra gluten free, natural instant oatmeal to make it a half cup of uncooked and it makes it more filling.

• The fruit bars are a satisfying snack. Kind of like the ones you would find in a health food store but healthier and better tasting. They are good to take on a road trip, a hike or a day out and about.  They will help keep you away from fast food. 

• Can we talk about the chocolate bars? Like they are everything you need to replace candy in your life. They are a tasty treat that seems impossible to be healthy. But they are. There are three assorted flavors. I will be a loyal fan of the dark chocolate peanut butter bar for the rest of my life. I enjoy them in the afternoon, it is that pick me up and keep me going until dinner treat.