Success Stories

My name is Connie Rice and I live in Gresham, OR. I am retired from a career in education. I have been overweight since high school. I have tried so many weight loss methods in the past. I recently figured out that I had spent over $20,000 trying to lose weight and keep it off. I did Optifast, the medical diet, the weight loss clinic, and Weight Watchers 3 different times. I did actually lose 100 pounds twice but gained it all back and more.

I have never really been in control of my eating habits. Before, I was one of those fast food junkies. I worked long hours and lived alone for the last 20 years or so. I would just do through the drive thru after work and pick something up. I felt terrible about myself and every morning I woke up with the thought, oh my gosh, I am so fat, how am I ever going to deal with this? It took over my life.

I exercised before coming to Positive Changes but it was more sporadic. I would do really well for a couple of months and then I would totally stop. Since I've been coming here, I exercise 90 minutes a day. I get up every morning and go to Curves, then sometime during the day I also do a boost walk and I go between 3-4 miles in an hour.

Before coming to Positive Changes, I was pretty much a slug. I would sit around a lot and watch TV and read. I would eat all the bad kinds of stuff. I had bad food in the house and my evenings were horrible in terms of snacking. Before coming here I was just dong everything that was negative and bad for my health. I was constantly going out to eat and my social life revolved around it. I was eating all the wrong things there too. I focused a lot of time on the food and what I was going to be able to eat and enjoy. That has really changed considerably.

Now I only have healthy food around. I still go out to eat often but I make such good choices now. b I don't feel compelled to have what everyone else is having. I look at the menu and choose something that I know is going to be good for me and my health. Occasionally I have a glass of wine or something if I feel like it. My exercise routine is strong and if I'm going to miss part of it, it bothers me and I feel compelled to fit it in wherever I can.

I heard about Positive Changes through the ads on TV and in the newspaper. I decided to enroll because of the encouragement of a really good friend and neighbor. We joined together and we have been coming regularly. It takes us about 45 minutes to get here so we have time to encourage each other. Sometimes we also arrange to walk together. We have been very supportive of each other.

My first impression of Positive Changes was that it is expensive. When I went to the evaluation I didn't think I could afford it. After talking it over with my friend, I thought you know what, I've never tried anything that works with the mind and subconscious. That was a factor that encouraged me to try it. I made the decision really quickly. I was only skeptical about the cost to begin with, but right from the start I was totally sold. In the beginning, I wanted to lose 115 lbs. Then the more I kept going and the more successful I was, I consulted with my doctor and decided that I wanted to lose 135 lbs.

To date I've lost 132 pounds. I feel absolutely wonderful. I noticed changes in my behavior after the first couple of weeks. I was buying healthy food and I was planning healthy meals. I think the biggest thing was the consistent exercise and the positive attitude about the exercise. Drinking water was totally new for me. I had been one of these diet pop people so replacing it with water was huge. I started seeing results right away. I'm a very visual person and I started a graph from the beginning. I think the first week I lost 8-10 pounds or something like that.

I've gone from a size 26 to a size 10, which is thrilling for me. I can't even remember being that size in high school. I have been coming to Positive Changes for almost a year now. My eating habits are a complete turnaround. Now I just eat 3 meals a day and they are healthy. I look forward to it and I enjoy the food.

Hypnosis really completely eliminated my cravings, food binges and bad eating habits. I was a chocolate and carbohydrate person. I liked the fries, burgers, and all the bad stuff. Now I'll occasionally take a bite of something and taste it, but the cravings are just gone. Now I crave healthy food. I've learned that it's not about the food, it's about everything else that's going on around it. I no longer focus on food. Once in awhile I'll realize the day is half over and I should probably eat. I listen to my body now.

My sister from Maine is coming this week and she hasn't seen me for a couple of years and it will be very exciting. It's so nice that I will no longer be the fat sister. I have two sisters who are very close and I'm just so looking forward to spending time with both of them.

Positive Changes made it so incredibly easy to lose the weight, but it's not been like anything else. It's taught me to focus on other things and to not be so consumed with the food. They don't give you a diet, all they do is give you encouragement and tell you the kinds of things that you need to do. You manage that yourself and I just found that so much more helpful. The only person I was answering to was myself and that's the big thing that it taught me. I'm doing this for myself and not for anyone else.

I've always been a confident person but losing the weight has given me more relaxation. I'm not as self-conscious. I don't find myself bumping into people. When I pass a mirror, I can hardly believe what I'm seeing and that's nice. I'm really proud of my accomplishments and I feel good about myself.

A few weeks ago I mc'd a retirement party for a couple of teachers I had worked with a few years ago. Many of the people had not seen me in awhile and they were all amazed at how I looked. A couple of them walked by me and didn't even recognize me.

I used to drink about 3 sodas a day and now I drink none. I used to eat fast food at least once a day and now I never eat it. I would say that there is an occasional exception and I'll go for a salad bar at Wendy's if that's where everyone is stopping. I used to drink maybe one or 2 glasses of water and now I drink 10 or more. I don't snack at all and I used to snack all the time, especially at night. My food portions are more reasonable now. I've taken the advice and I use the smaller plates. I don't feel guilty about throwing away food that is left. If I eat out, I often take half of it home. I used to crave all kinds of junk food and I used to think about food all the time and now I don't.

I recently saw my doctor about a month ago. She was amazed and was so encouraging. She called me with all my blood work results and in terms of my cholesterol, she said she's never had such good results from a patient. I'm on the lowest dose of blood pressure medication that you can be on and she says its up to me about whether I want to try and go off of that or not.

I now wake up and say to myself, you are a thin and healthy person and you should feel good about what you've done for yourself. The classes and everything have been very informative. It has really helped me to relax. I still listen to my hypnosis sessions faithfully. I shop so differently for food now. I shop all around the outsides of the stores where all the good healthy food is.

My family and friends have been so supportive and are so complimentary. My son is thrilled. I have a 2 year old granddaughter and I go to Chicago practically every another month to visit. Now I'm able to keep up with her and enjoy her and that's another reason why I wanted to live longer. I want to live to see her to grow up.

I'm looking forward to enjoying life and enjoying the new-found confidence that I have. I am totally convinced that this time I am keeping the weight off. I feel so good about being active and enjoying every aspect of life. Positive Changes has given me back my life and I am so grateful for that. It would be worth 10 times the cost.

I'm incredibly satisfied with my results and recommend this program to others. I give Positive Changes 95% of the credit for my weight loss. I'll take 5%. The people there are amazing. They are so supportive and encouraging. The program has been excellent so for someone who is considering going here, I would say it gives you back your life. Even if you've tried everything in the world to lose weight, give this one a shot. I look forward to the rest of my life.