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Cyndee L.
Years of overeating and not taking care of myself lead me to a life of obesity.
Over the years, I’ve dieted unsuccessfully more times than I can count. Of course, I would lose weight, but I would always put back on - plus additional 5 to 10 extra pounds. Eventually, I reached a point where I simply stopped trying and I would tell myself that I was happy being overweight and that I couldn’t do anything about it.
In 2006, I visited Yosemite and had my picture taken while wearing a pair of men’s large jean overalls, which I wore because I thought they hid how big I was. When I got home and viewed my pictures, I saw all 292 pounds of myself.
What have you done to yourself? I thought. How could I have allowed myself to become so overweight? I looked awful and my uniform and I hated the picture. I simply couldn’t look at it, so I pretended it didn’t exist. But, as time went by, I couldn’t get the picture out of my head.
It was clear to me that I was no longer ok being a “fat girl.” And, I decided that I no longer wanted to be the girl in the picture.
I enrolled online in Weight Watchers and became committed to the program. But, after five months, I was down 36 pounds. This was awful; I decided that if I was willing to work hard, I wanted better results. I then decided that perhaps weight loss surgery was the answer.
I then met with my doctor and discussed the possibilities of having gastric bypass surgery. Although I was definitely a candidate for the procedure, my doctor said that I would have to diet for a year and continue to check in with him. As a result, he would then evaluate my progress and we would then decide if surgery was the best option.
On my way home from the doctor, I broke down and cried. I am not one to cry, but I did that day. There was no way I was going to wait a year and then wait for my HMO to tell me if I had their approval. I suddenly realized that my life was being put in someone else’s hands and not mine - no thank you!
So, I wiped away my tears and I remembered a friend of mine telling me about his wife’s success on the New Lifestyle Diet program. As soon I got home, I went online and read all about the program. I discovered people just like myself that had struggles with their weight loss, but eventually found the program and succeeded. I was very excited and I placed my first order with NLD that night.
Almost a year later, I visited Yosemite again. But, this time I was dressed in hip hugger skinny jeans and looking much different. Having now created a new lifestyle, I stood at the same spot I had before and made a promise to myself that I was never going back to my former self. And, to mark the occasion, I had my picture taken again, but this time looking great and now weighing 165 pounds (down from 292).
When I got home, I decided that I had unfinished business with my doctor and I made an appointment to see him. I wanted to let him know that I was no longer interested in having weight loss surgery.
On the day of my appointment, when my doctor walked into the room, he just stood there and stared at me.
He said “Cynthia, my goodness look at you. You don’t even look like the same person who sat here a few months ago”.
We then talked about how I was doing on NLD, and after a complete checkup, my doctor actually sat down and talked to me about how much he admired my courage and the discipline it took to lose the weight without surgery. He said, it was the first time he ever had a patient lose so much weight on their own without surgery.
I started my weight loss journey weighing 292 pounds, in October 2007. When I found NLD, I weighed 237 pounds and by April of 2008, I reached my goal weight of 165 pounds. My total weight loss was 127 pounds. In fact, March of 2010, marks my 3 year anniversary of having lost 127 pounds and keeping it off successfully with The NLD maintenance program.
NLD changed my life, it gave me back my confidence and it offered me the tools and support I needed to become the person I am today. I will forever be a “NLD Girl”.
- Cyndee L.
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