success stories

Jody
Wabash, IN
Weight Lost: 193 lbs and counting

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I've been overweight all of my life. As an overweight child, I never wanted to participate in sports or go out with friends, do the things that kids like to do, simply because it was difficult and it was awkward and I was never very comfortable with myself.

When the doctor told me that I should consider bariatric surgery, he wasn't just telling me I was overweight, he was telling me that I needed help and I needed help quickly. I was borderline diabetic. I had high blood pressure and my knees were beginning to hurt. My hips were hurting, ankles, feet - any joint ached all the time. My doctor suggested the OPTIFAST program. My first thought was, been there, done that, don't want to try another program. It took me two months to call and it was the best decision I have ever made.

OPTIFAST taught me how to eat for nutrition. I had been using food to alleviate stress and medicate other parts of my life that weren't working. The things that I've learned with the OPTIFAST program have freed me, so to speak, because I don't feel tied to food anymore. Yes, I think about it and it has to be a part of my daily life but I'm not consumed with it like I used to be. I quickly learned, it isn't just about losing the weight for the moment but it was a lifestyle change.

I have lost 193 pounds and I am still losing weight. I am more active now, I have a lot more energy to give to my students in the classroom. I can get down on the floor and do things with them and I can go in the gym and play basketball with them, and I'm not grumpy or short-tempered, I just have a lot more energy to devote to them. I look for things to do now instead of looking for excuses not to do them.

When I think about the future since I've been on OPTIFAST there are so many more things that I want to do, that I know I can do, that I wouldn't have even considered before I had started the OPTIFAST program, but now I see them as possibilities and I have more dreams.

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