I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye last night – you are such a RockStar after those support group meetings. After your talks I always leave inspired and motivated … you have a gift. I’m thankful that you are passionate about sharing it with all of us. And you make us laugh
Regina
TESTIMONIAL
Advanced 12-Week Program
August 23, 2009
WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY
I had the gastric-bypass surgery in January 2007. In the first 18 months I lost 125 pounds with at least another 100 pounds to go. But then I hit a plateau and stopped losing weight. Around two years post-op I was slowly gaining weight again. With no regular exercise routine, I had reduced my gym time to maybe once a week and only walked once or twice a week. And my diet, well it was just bad. I returned to some of my old habits – fast food, eating several times a day, and eating at bedtime. I constantly thought about food throughout the day. Now I understand why – carbohydrate addiction.
I went to the annual reunion at Northeast Baptist in April 2009. I sat there watching the models and hearing their weight loss success stories and couldn’t help but feel disappointed for not being at my goal yet. I knew I wasn’t doing things the right way – healthy eating and exercise. I talked with Claudia after the event and told her I don’t want to give up, and want to continue losing weight but didn’t know how to break the plateau. She told me about the Healthy for Life program and offered to coach me on a healthy lifestyle. She gave me the websites to research and her email and phone number to contact her when I was ready. I was ready! I left feeling hopeful once again and appreciative to Claudia for wanting to help me with my weight loss goal.
HEALTHY EATING
The program is called Healthy for Life and the website is www.releasingfat.com. Most mornings I have a nutritional protein shake. At snack times I have a nutritional bar or a piece of fruit.  At lunchtime I’ll have a salad and a piece of fruit. At dinnertime I’ll have meat and vegetables. At restaurants I almost always get a salad or an entrée with meat and vegetables.  I order the nutritional shake mixes and nutritional bars from USANA and the website is www.claudiapramirez.usana.com. Claudia’s email and phone number are on the website.
EXERCISE
I have a “two-day rule†I learned from USANA. Never go more than two days without exercise. I do strength training at the gym two times a week and walk 30-60 minutes the other days. This is good for my heart and also great for burning fat.
ACCOUNTABILITY
Besides the healthy eating and exercise, the most important thing that has made a difference is being coached by Claudia. Every day I maintain an online journal of my supplements, meals, fluids, and exercise. Claudia reviews it and gives me weekly feedback and encouragement. I can email, call or text her anytime with questions. Some people have sabotaging friends or enabling family members in their life, so it is encouraging to have someone “on your sideâ€, fully committed to helping you get to the goal.
The daily and weekly emails from the Healthy for Life program have taught me much about carbohydrate addiction and insulin resistance. Since I’ve been living the program I feel great and have more energy. There have been incidents where I didn’t stay completely on the program (life happens). But overall, I feel like I’ve ended the carbohydrate addiction. I broke the plateau and have lost 20 pounds so far. With the Healthy for Life program I found the answer to weight loss:
HEALTHY EATING + EXERCISE + ACCOUNTABILITY = WEIGHT LOSS
As a child I went through times were I was a little chunky but for most of my childhood through my early twenties I was very thin and didn’t struggle with my weight. I married my husband at the age of 25 and weighed about 125 we both gained that newlywed weight but I still wasn’t very concerned because it had always been easy to lose weight when I put my mind to it. That was not to be the case though. I began to gain between 10 and 15 pounds a year until at 28 when I became pregnant with my daughter I weighed 170 pounds. While pregnant I was in control of my weight but after my daughter was born I gained it all back plus 20 pounds. This is where my obsession with dieting began. I tried the Hilton Head diet, lost and gained, Deal a meal, lost and gained, Jenny Craig, lost and gained, Weightwatchers…..I think you get the picture. Fast forward past the years of infertility, gaining, losing, gaining and gaining more. I was depressed and frustrated and felt like a big fat failure….literally. When I was 40 I was diagnosed with PCOS. I was disappointed that I could not have another child but thrilled to finally know that it was not all my fault. So now we could blame the PCOS I didn’t have to take any responsibility for my actions. It was the PCOS. Yet after finding out and going on all the medications I continued to gain weight.
I met Claudia Ramirez in 2005 and she became my personal trainer in 2006. I weighed 229 when we started working together. I worked out with her not always consistently because by now I was starting to have medical problems from my every growing body. She worked with me and counseled with me and encouraged me but I just couldn’t get past my need for food. I would do a very tough workout with her and leave and drive through Jack-in-the-box. In spite of her dedication to improving my quality of life and my health I just couldn’t commit to any diet or exercise program for any length of time. She stuck by me and never gave up on me in spite of what I knew was a growing frustration with me. I started considering Gastric Bypass surgery but my husband wanted me to see an Endocrinologist first. In May of 2008 I was diagnosed with dysmetabolic syndrome and weighed 255 pounds. She asked me to give her three months before considering surgery. I was put on several medications and the Doctor warned me that my life was in the balance and I must make changes to save my life. The medications worked really well for a few months and I lost about 23 pounds by August. I was excited and thought things were getting better. In January I was only down 31 pounds and was starting to get discouraged. I mentioned it to Claudia and said something to her that I was unaware at the time, would change my life forever. I said “I think I’m an addict…I can’t drive past a fast food place without stopping even if I’m not hungry. I eat chocolate many times a day…I feel like an addict.†That was it…she stopped turned around to her computer and printed out the Reset Program. I talked to my husband and we watched the DVD.
On February 9, 2009 I started the Reset program. It was the hardest week of my life but I have never been the same. I started the healthy for life program that same week and have lost 38 pounds. I am now down a total of 69 pounds in the past year. I still struggle at times but I always get back on program which I was never able to do before. I believe I am finally going to reach my goal. Claudia has been my biggest cheerleader. I couldn’t have done this without her…for the first week she called me three times a day and listened to me whine and fuss about how hard it was. As I became more confident she cut back and now we text back and forth when I need encouragement or want to brag but she is always there for me when I need her. The biggest reward has been in my health. I saw my Doctor in July and she was shocked. My triglycerides have gone from 477 to 155, my good cholesterol has gone from 8 to 45, my blood pressure and blood sugar have both dropped to normal and my cholesterol is 166. My Doctor said that by the time she sees me in November, if I keep going in this direction she will be able to say that my metabolic syndrome is totally reversed. She also said she will be able to take me off all my meds except the ones for my PCOS because the only cure for PCOS is menopause. I can handle that though. I have 46 pounds to go and I know I will get there. I have more energy and the cravings are gone. I am no longer an addict and I can drive past any fast food place with no temptation to stop. I enjoy eating healthy and having a more active lifestyle. My family recently visited Washington DC and walked everywhere and my family had a hard time keeping up with me. I jogged up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and I was barely out of breath. I know I might sound like a drama queen but I believe that Healthy for Life saved my life.
With Deepest Gratitude,
Vicki L. Pauli
