Success Stories

My name is Sonja Brown. I live in Boise, ID and I am 52 years old. I am a stay at home mom. I have lost 35 lbs in the last 3 months and I am so excited. It is so cool. I have gone from a size 14 pants to a size 4! I heard about Positive Changes through the newspaper ads. My husband and I have done the program together and we have been very successful. We’re happy with what we have seen. We kept seeing ads in the newspaper and I decided to go and find out about it and make a decision.

We found that this is going to be a life change, not just 3 months of somebody saying this is what you are going to do and then monitoring us and then you are on your own. We were in the program for 3 months and are ecstatic with the results. We just feel better and our food choices are better. Our use of time is better and our outlook on things is much more positive. We are happy that I came in after seeing the ad.

The change for me was probably within the first week. I noticed that I wasn’t obsessed with when my first meal was or what my next food was going to be. Within the first week it was just a change in attitude including the drinking of more water. Both my husband and I immediately said “oh my gosh, we are consuming so much water, it’s unbelievable”. The actual weight loss was healthy; it was as they said, 1-3 lbs a week. Sometimes you would see a half a pound and sometimes you may see a 1/4 lb. It averaged out to be about 1-3 lbs a week so we felt like it was healthy. It wasn’t a dramatic 6 or 8 lb drop which you know is water weight so that has been amazing in itself.

I notice that I have more energy. Neither of us have any major illnesses, thank goodness, but we both have the energy to exercise more and now we want to which is always wonderful. Putting on the ski clothes now is ok because they don’t bind and aren’t too snug. It’s more just an overall well being. It has definitely been a mental adjustment as well. We tell all our friends about it.

I’ve had to watch my weight for my entire life. I’ve always been the big kid and I’ve always fought it. I have always had to watch what I eat but sometimes you just throw your hands up and say I just don’t really care, so it’s been a constant battle all my life. I have tried essentially every diet that is out there on the market, from the quick foods, to the one type of foods, to the drink diets, everything. I’d hate to tally up all the money that I have spent on weight loss products over time. I’m doing this one for me this time; not for an occasion or somebody else, but for me.

I don’t think weight loss is ever considered easy to be perfectly honest, but it’s a life change. It’s bringing forward in your mind everything that you have learned about nutrition, quantities and portion control, to the point where it becomes a natural way that you live and eat. You’re not obsessed with thinking about calorie counts and you make better healthy food choices that you know are benefiting your body. Easy, no, I would never say that losing weight is easy, but I haven’t had to think about it, so in that respect, yes, but I know that it’s something that is for a lifetime. I am so thankful that I was able to find the Positive Changes program. Food was definitely an obsession with me and now it is not. It is something that I know I need for me to have energy and that I know I need to feed my body to make it do the things that I need it to do, but it’s not something that I plan my life around.

My confidence and self-esteem are 100% better. I was at a point in my life where I did not like to do social things because when I walked into a room, I always put myself down because of my appearance. I felt that I wasn’t as good or as acceptable as other people because I wasn’t at a weight that society considered thin. Now that I feel better about myself, I don’t even think about it. I can go and enjoy the event and not worry about if I’m fitting in or am I standing out because I am heavier than anyone else in this room.

The most important benefit I have received is the self-esteem. Absolutely, it’s not an issue for me anymore. It’s not just a fad thing; it’s really listening to all the things that you’ve learned. It’s just naturally there. I have recommended Positive Changes to many of my friends and I actually have 2 friends that have already signed up. I am just so glad that I made that decision to come in and we took that first step and 3 months later we aren’t looking back - we are just looking forward.