Weight Loss is Now Becoming a Reality

I was a little chunky as a child but not too bad until I hit my teen years and decided to go on a very strict unhealthy diet of one apple a day with water. I survived but became anorexic and almost hospitalized. At 5'10" tall and weighing in at a whopping 110 pounds I was pure skeleton, but loved it. Then my life changed and I began eating again, but not healthy. With that came the wrong types of food -- how can you not eat fast food when it is practically thrown in your face everywhere! After two children and unhealthy eating I ballooned to an extremely high weight and began wearing plus size clothing. Something had to give because my family doctor informed me of all the health risks I now had and was probably looking at knee surgery in the near future. I now have diabetes, fibromyalgia, arthritis and hypothyroidism. Not a good combination with morbid obesity.

To make a long story short, he had me check with a doctor in our town who has the Program 3+2+5. I was so reluctant to join, it took me about 6 months until I finally felt ready. Boy, I wish I had done this sooner. My two kids had both gotten married within two months of each other in 2004 and the stress of two weddings and seeing the wedding pictures pushed me over the edge. I knew once I saw the pictures it was time. I just now completed my 3 month mark (12 weeks in) and have lost 51 pounds!!!! I feel great. No more knee pain. I have even been able to wean off some of the medicine I have been taking for years. I exercise daily by doing water aquatics for at least 40 to 50 minutes daily with a fairly intense workout in the water. My husband and I go hiking at a local park on the weekends when the weather is decent. I never could hike very far before without becoming short of breath. Not now, I can hike for over an hour and it feels good.

I just recently cleaned out my closet down to the bare minimum because my thought is to get rid of those big clothes - no alterations for me because I need to feel good about myself and those "big" clothes just kept reminding me of how I was. I am now two dress sizes smaller and love it. I still have a long way to go and know that without the support I get from my class members this would not have been so easy an undertaking for me. The encouragement I get is just what I need and it is so personalized. I really like that aspect. If we need help with an upcoming outing, we all throw in helpful ideas. We have become a second family all geared to do well and support each other weekly with praise.

To all of you out there -- there is hope. I have tried every diet out there and none of the weight stayed off. I think with the tools I am learning in my weekly classes and the support I receive weekly it will keep me motivated. I think the food is great, though it would be nice to have a breakfast entree of some sort eventually. This site is wonderful because of all the great recipes you can try and not feel like you need to go "out of the box". Hopefully my weight will continue to drop, maybe not so quickly as these first 3 months but I hope over time I can get to a healthier weight and maintain it for a long time. Good luck to all!

Successful Dieter

Results not typical.
makes no claims that these results are representative of all patients in the program.