After seeing several of my friends and a family member join the Weigh Station I became very interested in their new life style. I read over all of the info on the Weigh Station website around Christmas time and was very intrigued to say the least. New Years came and I made the same weight loss resolutions as I always do but this year would be different. My Birthday came in February and of course income taxes too, so I figured what better time than now, and I called and made the appointment. I knew I couldn’t do this by myself so I made the appointment for the both of us. When I told Andre about this, he was very skeptical, said it all sounded too good to be true. He told me he would need to do a little more research. After talking to a friend at work he was told about another co-worker that had lost 200lbs by going to the Weigh Station, he didn’t believe this person until he was shown before and after pictures on Facebook, after seeing this; he was ready to give it a try.  March 6th 2012 was the day!!!! This was a very bitter sweet day for me, I was happy to think about the promises that Dr. Shaffer had made but also very upset that I had let myself get this way. Dr. Shaffer told me I was a “carboholic”, he warned me that this journey would be tough especially in the beginning as my body detoxed from all the carbs, he told me about possible withdrawal symptoms from the carbs and the caffeine. He was very upfront and honest and did not sugar coat anything, he prepared us for the worst. We were told from the very beginning that we needed to be completely committed to this new lifestyle. We thought of how we had successfully quit smoking almost two years ago and thought that if we could do that, then we could do this too. The first week was SO hard, I was so hungry and I had no energy, I became very scared that I wouldn’t be able to do this. However, after just one week we both lost almost 10 pounds, this gave us the motivation to keep going! After the 2nd and 3rd weeks we began to see a noticeable difference and so did everyone else around us, the compliments were wonderful and gave us even more incentive.  As each day passed it became easier and easier and between the info we received at the Weigh Station, from the website and also from the Weigh Station Winners Facebook page, everything was very clear in black and white. There was no room left for interpretations or any guessing involved. If it wasn’t in the book, then it wasn’t allowed, that simple! After just a little over three months we had both lost 50lbs and we were ready to begin maintenance. Not only did we lose the weight but our overall health improved drastically. Andre was able to stop taking his blood pressure and acid reflux medication that he had taken daily for years. Andre went from a size 36-38 to a size 30-32 and I went from a size 14 to a size 6. We took a vacation in July and for once I wasn’t embarrassed of how I looked. I threw away all of my one piece bathing suits and cover ups and bought several bikinis and I wore them with pride while we were at the beach, haven’t felt this satisfied with myself since high school.

 Once reaching maintenance and looking back at what Dr. Shaffer said to us that very first visit, it all makes sense now….this was not a diet, it is a lifestyle change! Since joining the Weigh Station FAMILY, we have been questioned buy a lot of our family, friends and co-workers; they want to know all about our “diet”. Our answer is always the same, the same thing that Dr. Shaffer told us that first day… this is NOT a diet, this is a permanent lifestyle change. If you are committed and are absolutely serious about losing the weight, it will work. We both feel so much better now, about ourselves and about each other and it’s both physically and mentally, and now we can feel great about providing a positive role model for our children.