Sadly, I have struggled with my weight my entire life. My husband, Ronnie, was not over weight when we first met, but after 25 years of marriage he has a weight problem as well (partially due to the fact that my mother was a fabulous cook and passed that skill down to me). Over the years, Ronnie had watched me try diet after diet only to get discouraged and quit. He just kept telling me it didn’t matter to him how much I weighed; however, it matter to me. I was so unhappy with myself and knew there had to be something out there to help me. I was also concerned about the extra weight Ronnie had gained. I turned to God for help and begin to pray about our situation.
One night while watching the evening news, I saw a story on a patient at the Weigh Station. The story perked my interest and I begin to do some research about this program. My biggest fear was failure, yet I knew I had to take a risk. I made my appointment and started the program on April 7, 2011. My fear of failure led me to not disclose to anyone, including my husband, my decision to join the Weigh Station. The first couple of weeks were hard. I ate exactly what I was suppose to and was very careful to weigh and measure everything. Surprisingly, the weight began to come off. With other diets, losing weight was slow and I would often lose one week and gain the next. At the Weigh Station, the scales dropped each week. The weight loss was motivating; I felt accomplished and confident.
After six weeks Ronnie made a comment about my weight loss. This was the opportunity I had been waiting for. I told him I was glad he FINALLY noticed and there was something I needed to talk to him about. I pulled out all the material and explained the program to him. After a couple more weeks of “gentle nagging” he called and made his appointment. On everyone’s first visit to the Weigh Station clients are given a complete physical and EKG. At Ronnie’s exam, the doctors detected a heart abnormality. I am grateful to report that his heart problem has been corrected; however, I continue to be haunted by the fear of what might have happened to my husband if we had not discovered the problem. I feel like the Weigh Station truly saved his life. I often make him say, “Thank you dear for making me go”.