George lost 92 pounds – So can you! Trying to lose weight can seem impossible, but it’s not! Sometimes it just takes the right timing and support. If you don’t know where to start, contact us and we will help. Way to go George! Eat healthy, move a lot, laugh, love, and live...
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“I have never been my ideal goal weight EVER in my adult life. The last time my weight was normal was when I was in the 7th grade!” Thanks to the Full Fasting program at Positive Choice I have lost 150 lbs. My blood pressure is now normal and I have now been able to stop taking blood pressure medication. My starting weight was 325 lbs and I am currently at 175 lbs. I am looking forward to entering the maintenance program. The Positive Choice Wellness Center and the OPTIFAST Weight Management Program helped me tremendously. I have had a great experience with everyone on staff. I am very thankful and proud that I decided to come in and give Positive Choice a try. It is something that has changed my life for the better!”...
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My name is Cyndi Kalbaugh and in 2007 I lost 86 pounds in Kaiser Permanente’s Positive Choice Weight management Program. We all have our stories of how we put the weight on, mine started soon after I married. I was busy with “life” and pressing forward, working on my marriage, planning a career, helping my parents, and starting a family. I was devastated when my Dad passed away after losing his battle with heart disease. He had been obese most of his life. Still, I pressed on. I had a marriage to focus on, a career to develop, and I was taking care of my Mom who had been ill for many years. I focused on everything and everyone else but myself. I thought, “If I put everyone in front of me I won’t have to deal with myself and my emotions.” The pounds were creeping on… first 10 … then 20, then my first son and oops there’s another 20. A couple years later I had another child and added another 20 pounds. I had to take care of them, no time to worry about myself. At least that’s what I convinced myself of subconsciously. I strayed away from taking photos. I kept telling myself “I’m in control, I’ve been under a lot of stress, but if I get this weight off, I can take care of it from there.” That was the beginning of several years of yoyo dieting. I’d manage to lose weight, or at least some of it, but when it came to maintenance and I hadn’t dealt with my personal obstacles, then the weight would creep back on. It was hard for me to admit that I could have some personal issues. Even when my closest friends would tell me it’s okay to need help, I’d think to myself, “Not me, I’m in control.” Then a family member called me and shared devasting news of a serious health issue. I was turning 40 and all of a sudden I thought… “Oh my gosh I could be type 2 diabetic or have some other serious ailment and not even know it.” That was the beginning of this new journey. I decided to join Kaiser Permanente’s Positive Choice Wellness Center’s Weight Program. Within several months I had lost 86 pounds, but more importantly, this time I was ready to listen. Before I would have sat with other overweight people and thought “I’m not like...
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Carlene’s Story I wanted to lose weight for health reasons. It was getting harder to manage my blood pressure even on medication, I was pre-diabetic, my blood cholesterol was high, my knee hurt so much I wasn’t exercising, and I had other disturbing health problems. I am a Grandmother to 5 beautiful grandchildren and I wanted to be around to enjoy and have fun with them. After discussing options with my doctor, she recommended Kaiser Permanente’s Positive Choice Weight Management Programs. I was eager to resolve some of these health issues so decided to do the Full Fasting Program. Before starting, I wrote down all my health problems to help me remember why I felt I needed to do this program. I had a purpose far greater than just “looking good”. As I lost weight, people would tell me how great I was looking, and it was easy for me to quickly say, “The better story is that I am feeling better”. The looking good was a nice end result to another better reason for losing the weight. As I lost the weight, I did begin to feel a lot better. At one point, I moved a bucket of items in our storage unit that weighed about the amount of the weight I had lost. What a shock to realize how much I had been carrying; no wonder exercise was not a part of my life!!!! I wanted this so much that I never entertained thoughts of cheating. I also was never hungry. I was just so determined to do this for my health. The shakes never bothered me. I did what the program asked me to do. I drank the shakes, the chicken soup, and the water. I felt the program was wonderful. The staff was great. My weight loss counselor, Tama, was so helpful and positive. The receptionist, Allison, gave me great advice and cheered me on each week as she checked me in. :) Now that I have lost the weight my blood sugar levels are normal! Yeah!!! My blood pressure is good and I am on less medication. My blood cholesterol dropped from the 200’s to 179. I no longer have to take daily gastric...
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Germina’s Story I was classified as obese for 25 years, and could never stick to a weight loss program for very long. I was a compulsive overeater and was embarrassed by my weight, as well as the inability to control my eating. Every year I attended a banquet of runners with my husband, and each year I dreaded going because I was the only fat girl in the room. My self-esteem was low and I was not living the life I had always dreamed of. I could only dream of living a life free from food addiction. I finally realized that I had spent years putting everything else first and had forgotten to take care of me. At this point, I felt depressed and reached a low point in my life and decided that it was time to focus on myself. I also realized that I needed more than just a diet, so I went to an orientation at Kaiser’s Positive Choice program. I remember at the orientation the first thing I heard from the counselor was, “you will not be able to keep the weight off if you do not exercise.” I was determined not to fail like I had done so many other times. So the next morning, I woke up at 4:00am and went to the gym, and I have continued to go every morning since then. I chose to go on the Partial Fast Program in Kaiser’s Positive Choice program. This was because I wanted to face and conquer the beast within, my addiction to food. I listened to my counselor, participated in class, and shared with others as to why I used food to fill the void in my life. Each week I took one of the tools mentioned in class from the counselor and reflected on it throughout the week. For example, one week the counselor mentioned, “How much food will it take to solve the problem or fill the void within?” I reflected on this all week until finally I realized that no amount of food would solve the issues or fill the void. This was just one of the great lessons I learned from the program. After reaching my goal weight,...
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