Becky of Norcross
Ever since her late teens, Beckie Hawk has struggled with weigh issues – it was a struggle that continued into adulthood – into all the milestones of marriage, children and career.
"I had been on a lot of diets but none of them were lasting or ever worked for me. Eventually it was so hard I would go off of it, usually around Christmas and gain the weight back and even more," she recalls.
The 52-year-old graphic designer and grandmother turned a corner with Inlighten’s weight loss program, where she successfully lost and kept off 60 pounds, and her gradual weight loss continues.
Each of Inlighten’s trio of experts made a lasting impression on Beckie. From Beverly, she gained invaluable skills to help her mentally prepare for eating and techniques to change her eating habits by triggers from her past that drive her urge to eat while not being physically hungry. From Gelsie, she learned the simplicity of choosing the right foods, with insight on things like lean versus fatty meats, and the importance of fiber and water intake. From Sean, she learned new ways to exercise that she never considered before – exercises that you can do at home or the office, that don’t require joining a gym.
"You can do things like park in the far end of the parking lot and that burns calories," says Beckie, who refuses to call the Inlighten program a "diet."
She adds that the program affords you choices – including permission to eat your favorite foods in moderation – a flexibility lacking in most diets on the market today.
"One of the key things about losing weight is you don’t get the point that you feel deprived of anything because once you feel deprived of something, it makes you want it more than anything," says Beckie. "As far as the food plan goes, I have never been hungry or felt deprived."
She concludes, "I have been able to maintain my current weight using the eating skills and knowledge that the Inlighten coaches gave me and being mindful to exercise in those little, small ways. The Inlighten program showed me how it’s really a journey. If you stumble it’s okay. Just get back on the track and refocus myself. When I stumbled on weight loss in the past, I would get discouraged and fall back into poor eating habits."
An End to the Yo-Yo of Weight Loss & Gain -- Bill’s Story
"I always struggled with weight."
That’s how Bill, 51 an Atlanta area businessman, recalls his relationship with weight growing up in a farming community in the South Georgia.
As an overweight youngster, he vividly recalls the humiliation of back-to-school shopping with his mother at JC Penney. "I dreaded it because of the inevitable moment when my mother would ask, ‘Where are the husky pants?’ and the guy would yell across the store, ‘Hey, Joe, where are the husky pants?’ I just wanted to die because that meant you were fat – that made it all real."
Bill struggled with weight all through elementary and middle school. As a high school student, he took up tennis. Between his junior and senior year he drank grapefruit juice and ate popcorn for four months, losing 80 pounds. Entering his senior year, he was so thin fellow students in the high school band didn’t recognize him. But by college, he went through a yo-yo of weight loss and gains. "I always made 50-pound weight swings – 50 pounds down, 50 pounds up."
The cycle, according to Bill, continued after marrying where he tried every known diet but was never able to keep the weight off long term. Then, in 2006 Bill was informed he would need a hip replacement. His surgeon and others kept saying "you would be a lot happier in your rehab if you are 50 pounds lighter than you are right now."
Bill tried the Inlighten program and it worked. "I kept thinking, because you get eat things like bread and peanut butter, that this wasn’t going to work because you should feel deprived when losing weight. I had come to associate diets with punishment." Bill recalls how in prior diets, he would experience so much pent-up demand to eat his favorite foods that once he achieved his weight-loss goal, the binging would begin and, with it, the added pounds. Since his 2007 surgery, Bill has kept the 50 pounds off and maintained his ideal weight. In preparing for surgery, he also began to lift weights to improve his upper body strength, and has continued that exercise regimen. "Exercise is a necessary part of getting your weight off. When you lose a lot of weight, you also lose a significant amount of muscle mass. I really had to do something to get additional muscle mass in a healthy way."
Concludes Bill: "It’s a remarkable thing – I have never, ever sustained a manageable good weight for me for more than six months. The beauty of the Inlighten program is there is no deprivation. You get to eat anything you want but there is a focus on adequate amounts of fiber to keep you feeling full. At every meal and snack you need a carbohydrate—which is just another word for fiber, and a protein. I never knew that fiber was effective at retarding appetite and to make you feel full."
"I can hardly believe how far I’ve come. I once weighed in at 315.5 lbs. and am now 195 lbs. I don’t feel deprived, but I do feel full of energy that was always there, but just waiting to be released." James of Atlanta
"I recommend this program to anyone who wants a full to overflowing life but doesn’t believe it can happen. With InlightenTM, you not only get the education and tools, but during the training you begin to see and feel this dream becoming a reality." Lynn of Marietta
"In November of 2006 I weight 486 lbs. I had developed many medical conditions, some leading to surgeries and complications. I had to do something. In the first year I lost 124 lbs. I know you’ve heard this a million times, but if "I" can do this, you can too!" Andy of Canton
