I met Robbie Vann when we both worked at the Cherokee Nation Gaming Commission several years ago. She’s one of the many Indigenous women who I keep tabs on, even from afar when we have very little day-to-day personal connection. And now, there’s a lawyer in her immediate family, so we’ll all be fan clubbin’ each other even more.

Over the past few years, I’ve noticed a big change in Robbie that might also inspire many of you. A physcial change, check. A change in her apparent confidence, check. As as women who was already beautiful in every respect, now she just glows even more. She’s killing it. I’ve watched as she has slowly gotten healthier in a way that has a high likelihood to stick.

What did she do? Be more active. Be more mindful of food. Try to set a good example for others, especially the next gen. Commit to making better choices each day, and when you don’t, it doesn’t help to beat yourself up about it. Just note it and redirect yourself. Pretty much the essense of this blog.

Here’s Robbie telling her own story of big change that flows from baby steps:

“My name is Robbie Vann. I am a proud Cherokee Citizen. I take great pride in working for my tribe as a Compensation Analyst for Human Resources, Compensation Department. When Stacy Leeds reached out to me about being featured in this blog, I was very intrigued and thrilled. This meant a lot to me because it meant that all of my “small” lifestyle changes were being noticed. 

In my early, to mid-20’s I was diagnosed with being pre-diabetic which turned into me being type-2 diabetic. Diabetes runs on both sides of my family.  I was so ashamed when I found this out. I think a lot of it came from being upset with myself for eating badly and not being active. I was embarrassed to be so young, overweight, and have diabetes. I never told anyone for years. I kept it to myself and ignored it for a long time. I didn’t take my medication regularly and didn’t take it as seriously as I should have. Thinking back I still can’t believe that I did that. This was a great learning experience for me.

In my adult life, I have always battled with being over my ideal weight based upon my height, 5’10. Back in 2015, at my heaviest, I was in graduate school finishing up my degree. With late-night homework projects and working full-time, I didn’t make time to food prep, exercise, or sometimes even buy groceries. Eating out was a normal thing. I had 2 right shoulder surgeries, one in 2014 and the other in 2016 (old basketball injury), that really slowed me down. With grad school and surgeries, I always found excuses not to be active. When I was released from physical therapy after my 2nd surgery, I finally decided that I needed to make some lifestyle changes if I wanted to live a long healthy life with my husband. 

The year 2016 was busy but a great year. I graduated (for the last time) with my Master’s degree, married the love of my life, moved to Oklahoma City so my husband could pursue his dream of going to Law School, we bought our first home, and I had to find a new job in the big city and leave my family, friends, and work-family that all meant so much to me. Needless to say, my life was a whirlwind and I was just trying to keep up. I dealt with a lot of anxiety and a little bit of depression. Leaving our family and friends to start a new life in a new place was scary but exciting and that came with a lot of different emotions. My health got put on the back burner. 

When we got settled and things slowed down a bit, my husband had a great idea of doing a 5K. We signed up (I was horrified) but we did it, together. We signed up for another one a few months later at OU (with all the in-shape students). I’ll never forget, we were the last ones to finish but I was so proud of us. We ended up doing the 5K section of the OKC memorial run, which was such an honor to be a part of. When our time in OKC came to an end, I was 30lbs down and to this day have kept it off. Moving away from everything we knew was a blessing in disguise. It helped us form healthier habits, grow our careers, and got us out of our comfort zone (where great things always happen). 

In 2018, God blessed us with our daughter. She changed our lives in every aspect in such a positive way. She is such a blessing to us all. My husband and I both want to raise her being active so she knows nothing but to be active and to eat healthy. She now asks to go on walks and she loves turkey, chicken, broccoli, and bananas are her absolute favorite food of all time. We hope that she doesn’t have to deal with being diabetic at a young age and hopefully will never have to deal with it all. We want to be the change for her and to end the cycle of being overweight. 

I will say that if you are ever diagnosed with diabetes, don’t be ashamed and try to be open about it with your loved ones. God has helped me through so much in my life and helping me battle diabetes is one big thing that He has helped me get through and overcome. I am now 75lbs lighter and I feel amazing. I try my best to always eat healthy and try to always make the better choice. It’s not easy but it’s worth it. I do in-home workouts and have found out that is what I love most versus going to the gym. My daughter asks to exercise with me now and it warms my heart. We go for family walks during the evening or on weekends. I couldn’t ask for a more supportive husband and family. I can keep up with my daughter a lot easier now. My health journey will never be over and it has turned into a lifestyle change, which is something I’ve prayed for, for a very long time. I’m so thankful for the determination and discipline that God has blessed me with. I’m so happy that I took control over my health and I’m so grateful to be adding years to my life.”