Success Stories

My name is Laurie Marino and I live in Auburn, WA. I am a construction company Office Manager. I can remember "going on my first diet" at the age of 12. I have been a yo-yo dieter ever since...lose 20 pounds, gain 25…until I was 60 pounds overweight. I have tried many methods to lose weight in the past. I've tried Weight Watcher's 3 times, Nutrisystem 2 times, Atkins, Slim Fast-too many times to count, Hershey's Sweet Success, Myoplex, and Lean Cuisine for years. And then there were the supplement diets: Hydroxicut, Alli, Herbalife, Quick Slim. My favorite form of diet torture though was starvation until you crack and binge. I almost always had success until I went back to the same eating habits or dealing with my life with food again.

I was always in control of my eating habits, until I wasn't. I have spent the past 40 years thinking about food all the time; too many calories, too much fat, too much sugar, and fighting my cravings for all of them. My eating habits were always good. I would have vegetables, lean meats, and whole grains, until I lost control and stopped for fast food or some other "treat" to deal with life! I felt horrible about life and I beat myself up every minute of every day. I had no self-esteem. I hated myself!

My family has diabetes and high blood pressure, and a history of colon cancer and strokes. I was beginning to have high blood pressure but nothing else. I wanted to do something before I was faced with any familial health problems.

I exercised sporadically and only when there was a goal in mind; which is exactly the same way that I always dieted. I decided to do the Danskin Triathlon to lose weight and get into shape. I lost 20 pounds but didn't work at training nearly as hard as I should have. I finished the triathlon through shear determination, not because I was in good enough shape to do it. I love to bike ride but even that had become difficult because I had gained so much weight.

My daily routine was get up, try to find something to wear that would hide my body, sit at my desk all day, and go home and follow whatever diet I happened to be on at the time until I could snack on what I really wanted to eat. Now I get up, love getting dressed and putting on my make-up (which I had given up on because it didn't make any difference anyway) and still go to work and sit behind a desk, but I never think about food unless I am truly hungry. I go home and eat dinner with my husband and eat only what I'm hungry for. I have been amazed at how little it takes for me to be full in comparison to what I used to eat. I love that I never feel uncomfortable or guilty because I've eaten more than I should. It is so much easier to exercise now that I have 60 less pounds to haul around. Just walking the dogs is a joy and I feel like I am flying on my bike. I have never been a "runner" but now it's a breeze. I am no longer in constant pain or short of breath as I was before.

My routine now is the same as above except that I now enjoy shopping for clothes on the weekends which is something that I used to dread. My weekends are still filled with running errands or taking care of my family but I find so much more joy in life. I now make time for myself, something I never did before Positive Changes because I constantly felt guilty about my weight and was consumed by dieting, not dieting, exercising and not exercising!

My husband heard about Positive Changes and mentioned it to me. I decided to enroll because I read the testimonials and found out they were from people just like me in my community. I have known for a while that my problem wasn't dieting. My problem was that I needed to change the way I used food as a crutch. I knew that I had to change the conversation in my head. This was the only program that I had heard of that I thought might be able to do that.

I was sure that it was my last chance. I felt like an addict enrolling in rehab. My husband first mentioned Positive Changes to me in February of 2009. I attempted to make an appointment but due to a series of phone tag, I gave up and joined Nutrisystem again. I joyously lost 20 pounds in 3 months and gained it all back by the end of August. That was when I made the appointment with Positive Changes.

I was only skeptical when I heard hypnosis. I had the old-fashioned vision of the Las Vegas style shows in my head. When it was explained to me that it was a form of relaxation, I just hoped that I would be able to let go enough to relax and let it work. My first session with the hypnotist was what sold me. I was so shocked when I woke up and realized how relaxed and positive I felt.

I said I wanted to lose 40 pounds because I couldn't bear to face what I really weighed. My original goal was 145 and I started at 190, it's much easier to say now. As soon as I saw how well it was working and that this was NOT going to be another failure, I decided to change my goal to 135. When I set my original goal at 145, it was because that was what I weighed the last time I felt somewhat comfortable with my body and I realized that I was another 11 years older. I have now lost 60 pounds and have never felt healthier in my life.

I noticed changes immediately after joining Positive Changes. I was thirsty for water all of the time. I was satisfied with very little food and had no trouble throwing away what I wasn't hungry for. When I was hungry, I ate with no guilt and ate what I liked to eat. I did not focus on non-fat or sugar-free foods. I ate healthy, non-processed foods. I was sure that I would have trouble giving up the caffeine in my tea but within the first week, I started drinking naturally decaffeinated tea and haven't missed the caffeine at all. I have not had a food craving since I started Positive Changes. I used to live my life for food and envied those who ate to live. Because of Positive Changes, I have become a person who eats to live and I love the freedom that has given me. Through all my years of yo-yo dieting, I had saved every size of clothing from 6-16 for if I gained the weight back or if I lost weight again. This was the first time in 30 years that I knew I was never going to need or want those clothes again. As soon as the clothes were too big, they went to Goodwill.

The program at Positive Changes is not even a diet. It's a program about changing your life, not about losing weight or deprivation. It's about changing the way you look at food and how you feel about yourself. I started seeing results immediately, more in how I felt about myself than if I was losing the weight. This is not a diet. Truly, the weight loss is secondary to how I feel about myself and about the food that I'm eating. It was the change in my behavior that was most important to me. I was drinking a lot of water, making good food choices and not snacking and none of it was hard. It was easy and in the beginning I listened to my personal hypnosis sessions 2-3 times daily.

To date I've lost 60 pounds. I've gone from a size 16 to a size 2 or 4, depending on the clothing line. Every week I lost 4 or 5 pounds in the beginning. I lost 18 pounds in the first month, 10 the second and 10 the 3rd month. I reached my goal weight of 135 pounds in 5 ½ months, on my 30th wedding anniversary.

Because I was always "on a diet" in the past, I ate a lot of "diet food", processed chemicals actually. The food that I eat now is natural and full of fiber and protein. I eat fruits, vegetables, yogurt, fish, chicken, granola bars and anything else that I am hungry for.

Hypnosis eliminated cravings, food binges and poor eating habits from the very first day!! Before I would crave different foods but it would depend on the day, the emotion, my energy level and hormones. I would crave sugar or salt, creamy foods or pastries, fast food or anything that I didn't have to think about. I don't crave anything now. I just eat what I want when I'm hungry. The difference is that I don't want junk food. Now I enjoy eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean meat but I also don't panic if they aren't available. I've learned to limit my portions and eat slowly and drink a lot of water. I hate feeling full now. It is very uncomfortable.

I'm not hiding from my family and myself. I now realize that I was depressed by my weight and the constant conversation in my head about food. I was in constant pain from the extra 60 pounds I was carrying around and from the dehydration caused by drinking diet coke instead of water. I no longer crave empty calories in the form of junk food. I would say that I eat less and enjoy it more because I take the time to actually taste what I put in my mouth.

I tell everyone I see how easy it was for me. I have never felt deprived since the day I started the Positive Changes program. That was the problem with every other program I did, eventually I would feel deprived and want to eat what I "couldn't" have.

I was in so much pain when I was overweight that I actually thought I might have fibromyalgia. I am now pain free. The most acute suffering I had though was the guilt and shame. I was embarrassed to be seen with my husband or my sons but now I am proud to be with them. Losing weight has given me more confidence and I'm proud of my accomplishments. I feel tremendous.

I used to have trouble sleeping but now I sleep peacefully. I used to feel tired and I lacked energy. Now I have energy to spare. I used to experience stress that I did not acknowledge. Now I deal with stress before it overwhelms me.

I have seen my doctor and she is thrilled. She said she had not given such good numbers (cholesterol, BP, etc.) out to a patient in months. She had heard of Positive Changes, was happy I was going and is now recommending it to her patients before they try surgery.

I learned more about nutrition and good eating habits here than any other program I've ever used. I thoroughly enjoyed the classes each week and looked forward to them as much as the hypnosis sessions. Those weekly sessions were time that I made for me and I couldn't wait for each Saturday to come. I always came away with new insight into myself; feeling more relaxed and confident than ever before.

My family has noticed but it would be hard not to because I am a completely different person. They say that I look beautiful and 10 years younger and that I now "look like I fit my skin". I am now happy inside and outside.

My kids are grown and I think we did a great job no matter my size but I hope I can be a role model for everyone in my family who is overweight. I don't enjoy cooking and that hasn't changed much but there are definitely a lot more fruits and vegetables in our home than in the past. Everything about me has changed. They think it's nice to finally see me enjoying life again.

Now I'm not embarrassed to be seen in public or worried about embarrassing my husband or sons. I now look forward to functions that I would have previously declined or dreaded for weeks. My next goal is to become more physically fit and drastically reduce the times I have accomplished in prior Danskin Triathlons.

The most valuable benefit that I've received as a result from Positive Changes is my positive outlook on life. I feel like anything is possible now which is not a feeling I have ever experienced before.

My husband took me to Hawaii to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary and I was proud to wear my swimsuit and enjoy the beach. I wasn't afraid to have my picture taken so now we have pictures to remember our wonderful vacation together.

I feel the cost of the program is justified, how do put a price on such a life changing experience. I'm more satisfied than I ever expected to be. I have always carried my weight in the lower half of my body and always lost weight in the upper half of my body with every other program that I tried. With Positive Changes, I lost weight evenly the entire time, for the first time ever. I believe that it is because it was the healthiest weight loss I have ever had. My body now metabolizes food much more quickly because it doesn't think I am starving myself.

I have recommended Positive Changes and I will continue. People stop me all the time and ask what I did to lose the weight, but even more comment on the weight loss not being what they notice the most. I've been told on numerous occasions that it is that I look much happier than I have in years. I give all the credit to Positive Changes. I have attempted so many weight loss programs and have failed at all of them. Positive Changes is not a weight loss program; it is a life-changing program.

If someone asked me about Positive Changes, I would say sign up right now - don't wait another minute. I wish I had known about Positive Changes Hypnosis 10 years ago because I feel like I have wasted so much of my life being controlled by food rather than controlling my life myself. It is so wonderful to have that burden lifted off my shoulders.

I have believed my weight loss was permanent from the first month. I have saved clothes in all sizes for almost 30 years hoping to someday be "that size" again, and afraid that when I did lose weight that I would need the larger sizes again just in case I gained the weight back. Now as I lost weight, every time I tried something on and it was too big, I took it out of my closet and took everything to Goodwill on New Year's Eve. It felt like a great way to celebrate "my new year." I don't even think about gaining weight anymore. The conversation that has been in my head about food for the past 40 years is gone and I don't expect it to ever come back. I have finally gained my freedom and it feels marvelous!