My Story

   

 I have struggled with being overweight for 30 years.  I have tried every diet under the sun to only gain more weight as an end result. 

I was diagnosed with Lupus in my 40’s and I am convinced that my weight had a lot to do with its’ onset.  In addition, my doctor said NOTHING about my weight.  When I tried to discuss it with him, he did not have any support to offer me.   

My hips and knees were in tremendous pain from all the weight and since I was (and still am) the only one working I had to keep going.  He prescribed pain medication but that only assisted in gaining more weight!  In January 2006, weighing in at 315lbs, I decided that the medical profession did not have the answers to my quest and I went on a quest of my own to regain the natural body I once had as a young woman at 140lbs. 

As I was continuing my quest and continuing to not loosing much weight, it was then I met Jennifer in September 2006. She introduced me to Take Shape for Life!  At the time, I had no idea what a difference one person could be in my life.  Soon after I started my food program, I noticed a glimpse of health being restored to my body.  I must admit, my years of old habits of stress eating and food hoarding have been hard to break.  However, with Take Shape for Life and the support from Jennifer, I have had success to this date of loosing a total of 90lbs and keeping it off! 

I still have my goal weight and I know I can reach it now.   I tell Jennifer, “You saved my life,” because the weight is coming off, I can now walk without pain, I am off all my mediations and I can live a wonderful life again.

My eating problems started when I was a child.  My parents had nine children.   

While I was growing up, my eating habits were formed.  I did not have a mentor to teach me the dangers of eating poorly.  Since there were so many of us in the family, my mother would prepare a meal and divide the food amongst us.  The only way to achieve additional food was to consume it faster than my other siblings.  So I developed a habit of consuming food quickly.  

In addition, food was used as a form of punishment.  I remember at a very young age when my parents argued over money and mentioning, “How are we going to feed all of our children?”  After hearing this, at night I crept into the kitchen, stole food and hid it under my bed in a suitcase.  It was then my food hoarding began.

It is my quest to help families.  Beginning with teaching parents the value of a healthy lifestyle to save their children and teenagers from developing the same poor eating habits I experienced at an early age.

 

A FEW WORDS FROM MY TAKE SHAPE FOR LIFE HEALTH COACH!

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I have struggled with being overweight since high school and continued to gradually put on more weight as time went on.  I had tried almost every plan and fad diet I heard was successful.  I tried prescriptions and pills that were advertised on TV, but I rarely lost over 10 pounds and worse, was never able to keep off what I had lost.

My weight and lack of energy was really affecting my life. I weighed 270 pounds. I slept 8-10 hours a night and I never felt like it was enough.  I only had 1 pair of Jeans and stretchy pants that fit and that contributed to a lack of self-confidence.  I rarely went out and dreaded going to work as a medical bill collector everyday. It is amazing how fast your life can go by when you are always wishing it away.

 

April of 2006 was a turning point in my life.  I was about to turn 30 and I was very depressed.  I saw a commercial for Medifast, started doing research on the internet and started the program.  It looked like a program that worked fast and that is all I cared about.  What I discovered was more than I had ever hoped for. I placed my first order and started the Medifast program 2 days after my birthday, April 23, 2006.

A typical day on the program, was wake up at 6:30 a.m., shake at 7am, blue berry oatmeal at 9, Apple Cinnamon Crisps 10:30 or 11, Chicken Noodle soup 1pm, caramel nut bar 3 or 3:30, Chicken with broccoli and Shirataki Noodles at 6, banana pudding 9pm.  This was a good sample day, but I like a lot of variety so I changed the majority of my day every day.

My first 6 weeks on the program, seemed to go so fast.  I ate my 5 Medifast Meals and Lean and green each day.  It was easy because all of the food was so convenient, and it tastes good.  I had a vacation scheduled in the beginning of June.  I really wanted to be in a size 16 before the trip, I had a lot of size 16 clothes.  I got very close to my goal, but I didn’t make it.  I went from a size 24 to a size 18 in 6 weeks, looking back I think “wow”, I lost 6 sizes in 6 weeks. 

As I progressed on the program, everyone I knew noticed me losing weight.  It is an incredible feeling to be called “skinny”.  I was getting more attention than I had ever received for anything in my life.  People started asking about how I did it and some of them started on the program themselves because they saw my success. I loved that I had made an impression on people enough to encourage them to start losing weight too. This program seemed perfect for me, the weight was coming off fast, I felt great and was sleeping about 6 hours a night with plenty of energy.  One of the best parts is that I wasn’t doing it alone, I had my health coach to help me.  My health coach would call every week to see how my week went and how much weight I lost.  If I had any challenges or questions I could call her and not only was there no charge for having a health coach, it was less than ordering directly off the internet.

After I lost about 80 pounds, I decided I wanted to be a health coach. Two months after becoming a health coach I was making more money than my full time job and was able to quit and became a full time health coach.  It is the best job I ever had.  I get to help people to lose their weight and regain their health, and I work from home.

It had only been a little over 6 months after I started on the program, and I had already lost 110 pounds and had reached my goal weight. I felt great, looked great and had a great new career!

I did it.  But it doesn’t end there. Maintaining your ideal weight is very important. The Maintenance Phase is the next step.  I continued on into a regular exercise routine and lost another 2 pounds and was down to a size 6 in January of 2007! 

In October of 2007 I wanted to celebrate my first year of maintaining my weight by running a 5K Event on Thanksgiving morning.  SUCCESS! Not only did I finish it, but I did it in under 30 minutes.  This has greatly inspired me to do more, I have continue to do the 5K’s and started playing softball again.  If anyone would have told me at any point in my life that I would be a size 6, running 5K’s and that my job would be to help others lose weight and regain their health…I would never have believed them.

But look at me now…

I look better, feel better and am more confident than I ever thought I could be.  I can’t believe how Medifast and Take Shape For Life has changed my life.

 

- I am a new person, inside and out.