These are real testimonials from real people. Someone asked me why the pictures are not showing people who are super slim now…I laughed and said because the people who find us do not aspire to *super slim*, they aspire to radiance, feeling healthy, having joy, being mobile and loving their bodies. This is about changes that happen from deep within and create a change in needing to look like a Hollywood model. The whole program is designed to be sane, go slowly and never have to diet again.

What does this all mean in terms of weight loss? I FEEL better than I have for years. I no longer wake up in the middle of the night with pain in my knees. My emotions are more even keeled. The Dr. has taken me off all medications that I was on for over 10 years!!  So I have lost 72 lbs.

I don’t think I understood that this program is much more than weight loss until I got “stable”. Weight loss was the motivating factor for me in the beginning, so I understand why everyone is talking about it. It is so nice to be even-tempered and “radiant” that I would continue the program if I hadn’t lost weight, but it’s nice to know it can do both! One friend commented that I have such willpower….nope…I wasn’t the slightest bit interested in it. Enjoying the people at a party instead of obsessing over the food, do I look fat, how much can I eat without people noticing…can you imagine? I find that miraculous!

In the 2 years after I reached Step 7, I lost a total of 38 pounds.  In the last year and a half, I have maintained my weight and have neither gained nor lost weight – even over the holidays.  This is a first for me.  By changing what I ate and when, I have finally been able to stop the roller coaster weight pattern I had for most of my life.  I also no longer suffer from the depression that led to many of my eating “binges”.  I do think the program has helped me tremendously.

It’s been an interesting journey to say the least. I found a peace I’d never known. That constant obsession with what I ate, what I was gonna eat, what I should or shouldn’t eat, what I’d never eat again (but did) left me. Along with it went the broken promises to myself to ‘do better’ starting tomorrow, Monday, the first of the month, the first of the year…you know the drill. Depression (at times severe and suicidal), mood swings, anger, resentment, feeling ‘done to’ and somehow out of place on the planet and in my own skin faded away. I have a bad day on occasion. We all do, but they are few and far between despite some major life challenges the last couple of years. Migraines and PMS..they are history! Instead I have peace around food and along the way food ceased to be the focus of every single day. In its place is this thing called life :).

With this plan I have never felt better. I no longer have body aches, high blood pressure or migraines. I wake up happy and ready to meet a new day. I no longer worry about where I will be getting my sugar or desserts, nor do I hide sweets from my family. That is what I did before doing this plan.

I forgot to tell you, Kathleen, that on Dec. 8, I had an unusually good cholesterol reading.   (I’ve been on Lipitor since 2001, so I go every six months for a blood screening.)   The only difference I’ve made in my lifestyle since my June 9th screening is that I began YLD on August 4th. The total cholesterol now is 180; HDL had increased by 10 points (it has always been good); but the LDL dropped by 20 POINTS.   Dr. Hampton said “he had never seen anyone’s reading make such a drastic change.”

I had mentioned this program as a way of ending cravings, getting rid of depression and anxiety, gaining clarity and joy in living, and he replied that he saw me as a woman transformed. He couldn’t believe I was the same person he had met two years ago. He remembers an anxious, solemn, depressed, slow moving, sad looking person. He said he can’t get over the changes in me, and that I even look years younger, and that with my just letting my gray hair grow out. <smile>.

I’ve lost LOTS of weight over the years over and over again on other “diets”, so I have lots of experience with losing weight (just not keeping it off,)  The amazing thing I’ve noticed and appreciated about my new life with Kathleen’s program is how gentle the weight loss is. Don’t know how else to describe it. How it feels natural and how I’m not at all stressed out about it or obsessing over it. How it’s so totally comfortable for me and how I can just tell when I’m ready to lose a few more pounds. My body tells me so. This is so refreshing and fulfilling! Something tells me this is the way it’s meant to be.

I know I have done extremely well with your program, the best ever in my life. I’ve lost 38 lbs and have another 40 to go. I plan to be 148 lbs at the end of August this year. Already my clothes look better on me and people are commenting on how good I look! I can’t tell you how much better I feel, although you know that yourself. 2004 is going to be awesome! I’ve kept an old pair of jeans from the really big days so it’s just a boost to try them on from time to time!

I saw the post requesting information about weight loss and realized that for the first time in recorded history I did not know my weight. Friday I had an MD appointment and asked the RN to weigh me (I stopped weighing in several months ago but wanted the numbers to report to Kathleen). When my MD came in he commented, “I was surprised to see your weight on the chart. I thought we agreed that this is not about weight loss but about freedom and mobility for you.” I laughed and explained to him that I wanted to report this information for the Radiant Recovery Community. He congratulated me saying “You have gone from grossly obese (yes that is bona fide medical term), to morbidly obese (you’re fat and sick), to obese (you’re fat but your obesity does not constitute a health risk) and are working your way to pleasantly plump.” I won’t go into the details of my long and futile battle with weight, how it has shaped, twisted and limited my life, which is simply history. Currently I’m working on Step 4. Since giving up the diet mentality and making a commitment to Radiant Recovery I have gone from 482 to 279.5. Although the weight loss is dramatic it is not the miracle. The unbelievable miracle is not the weight loss but the radical life transformation that his program has created.

I went from 159 down to 135 but the change was not dramatic.  I have had many people say that I look good and I certainly feel good.  I was up to size 16 and now my size 12’s fit loosely. I work out 5-6 days a week.  On workdays I get up at 6 AM and work out for 40-50 minutes. I lift 7 1/2 lb. hand eights about three days a week. I have a very demanding job in the winter at a local ski resort.  Without good nutrition and my exercise, I would not be able to keep up the pace.  One of the young men (age 16) who works with me was astonished to learn that I’m the same age as his grandma.

I started the program about 18 months ago. At that time I weighed 195 and was at risk for heart disease, not only because I was overweight, but also because of the genetic history in my family. Now I weigh 165 and I feel better, I feel healthier. It is great when your body reaches a state of nutritional balance.

I’ve been working your program for nearly 2 years now- not perfectly, but within reason for me. During that time I’ve lost 40 pounds without actually feeling as though I was “dieting”. The weight loss was almost a bonus. The real success was being able to eliminate the cravings and the emotional ups and downs. I’ve been at my current weight for nearly a year of that time with no real effort to maintain this other than following the program.

In the past, I’ve NEVER been able to maintain a loss for any length of time because I’d always return to my previous eating habits the second I reached my goal. Couldn’t wait to get back to the things I craved throughout the diet period. Now, I don’t even care! How weird is that!!?? But nice…   I’m currently within 5 pounds of my “ideal weight” with lower cholesterol and way more energy. I’ve managed this through various plane trips and emotional upheavals, both positive and negative.

During this time period, I’ve become more active in my artwork and participated in a group show, helped manage another group show and had a solo show of my own work. All without – or maybe BECAUSE I wasn’t – breaking my eating program.

Thank you so much for a truly lifesaving – in more ways than one – program. I’ll be forever grateful for the day I first opened your book!

We would love to hear from you!

Email Kathleen at kathleen@radiantrecovery.com and include your picture if you like