“As a child, I loved food, and I just ate and ate and ate. So, I’ve been up and down over the years. I did lose weight – 70 pounds – once in the ’80s on a program which was basically calorie restriction. But I gained it all back and more. I went from the 210 that I had been, that had been my highest, up to 240 over the years. So, what I’ve learned with this program is how to live a lifestyle that I believe I can live for the rest of my life.

I’ve tried diets that limit the types of foods, either high protein or low carbohydrate, those kinds of diets. And I’ve tried a lot of exercise, too, but this was the first time that I’ve tried weightlifting, resistance training. And that really seemed to help with the metabolism and really burn the fat off, which hadn’t been so easy in the past. It’s interesting that once you start exercising, you feel so different inside your body. When you tone your arms and your legs, you feel so healthy. It’s so energizing.

When I lost the weight before in the ’80s, I lost 70 pounds. I was able to lose it very quickly, 10 pounds a month. Basically, it was calorie-restricted diet, 950 calories a day, which is not very much, and a lot of aerobics. So, it came off fast, but then I had various things happening in my life and the weight just crept back on again.

I hadn’t really learned a new lifestyle – but with the Food Lovers program, you do. You learn how to go on vacation. You learn how to deal with the stress of your job. You learn how to avoid temptation or things that are going to sabotage you. You develop a different relationship with your inner voice, and that inner voice is not sabotaging you anymore. Food is nutrition to fuel your body. It’s not something that you use for an emotional reaction to something because you’re happy or you’re sad. And that was an important thing that I had to learn.

It teaches you the basics of nutrition. And so, I understand the portion of fat and healthy fats, the portion of carbohydrate and the, and, and the protein, and how to combine those, uh, for healthy meals and to make the substitutions, so that the meals are actually enjoyable.

When I started the program, I was about a size 26 for most of my clothing. It was really hard to find anything stylish, so that was frustrating. Now I can walk into any store as a size eight, and it’s just fantastic.

It’s fun to shop for clothes! I can go in any store and I can pick anything off the rack. And in some cases, they don’t even have a size eight, which is wonderful. I have so many choices. It’s just fantastic. It feels like I’m another person. And in fact, people say, ‘Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t recognize you. It’s you, Nancy?’ Because I do look like a totally different person and I feel inside a different person, which is even more important. I feel attractive. I feel beautiful.”