Second Chances

I was in good health prior to that accident, so my body had a lot of protein to break down to keep me alive. However, after 2 weeks in the intensive care unit, I was down to a skeletal frame. I'd suffered collapsed lungs, a cervical spinal cord injury, a broken arm and shoulder, a severed artery in my leg, and a dislocated left knee (all the ligaments in my left knee were torn, too).

After 11 surgeries and 6 months of total hospital time, I was able to recover—but with permanent injuries. I will always have paralysis of my left hand, and arthritis in my shoulder and knee. Despite that, I was able to go back to the academy and finish school. I was very weak initially, so I had trouble keeping weight on, but after about a year, I got stronger. After 2 years, my weight problems came back (and then some)—only this time, I couldn't run 13 miles to combat my overeating, since exercise was out of the question because of my fragile knees. Worse, I knew that the more weight I added, the sooner I'd need a knee replacement.

However, my post-college life was very stressful. I got married, and in 2004, I gave birth to my son, Avi (around whom my life revolves). So I had a grueling schedule as an intern (being on call every 4th night) and was away from my baby and then-husband a lot. Between the pregnancy and my injuries, it was almost impossible to keep my weight down; in fact, it was the worst it had ever been, which only heightened my feelings of being ugly or undesirable. Dealing with a physical handicap and a lot of scars, it was especially difficult to be obese on top of that. And the greatest insult: after my son had turned one, I found out my husband was having an affair and my marriage fell apart. Although there were many fundamental problems, some part of me emotionally was thinking, "If I were slim, would this have ended this way?"

I desperately needed control in my life. So in January 2005, I'd started searching websites for gastric-bypass surgery information. I knew that I would meet surgical criteria, because of my BMI and medical problems. I was asking around the hospital "screening" who I'd get to do it, and looking online about information on recovery times when I found the NutriSystem website. I was serious and probably would have made an appointment with a surgeon within a week had I not discovered NutriSystem. Starting NutriSystem was probably the most stable thing in my life last year.

I was halfway through my internship year of residency training, a busy doctor and new single mom, so I had no time to plan meals and worry about some complex diet plan. I needed a weight loss program that was safe, effective, and affordable. Plus, with my life falling apart, I was not going to deprive myself of one of the only remaining satisfactions I enjoyed—food!

The convenience of the NutriSystem program was vital to my weight loss. I could take my meals anywhere without any complicated storage or preparation. In fact, the program is so convenient that, even though I'm past my goal, I still eat the food because it's a time-saver. Having your meals delivered to your door is priceless. Now I have more time to read my professional journals, play with my son and relax, because I'm not cooking all the time. Most doctors end up eating junk food because they are always running around, or are in a lecture. But with NutriSystem, I can take my time eating because of the short prep time. This means I actually taste and enjoy my food, and I don't waste half my meal time waiting in line at the cafeteria to get food.

Plus, the program's affordable even for a single mom, and it saves me time because I don't have to do much grocery shopping. I love that there are no more hours in the grocery store searching for healthy choices while running past the ice cream isle (wondering later how that double fudge ice cream ended up in my freezer).

Not to mention, I hate dieting. It's always felt like I was punishing myself: results were few and far between, and I was always starving. I was not willing to go back on that type of a "diet." I'd suffered enough already in my life. But with NutriSystem, I was never hungry—at most, I was anticipating my next meal. I always had the comfort of knowing I could eat in the next few hours. NutriSystem just took all the guesswork out of eating a healthy diet. Even my co-workers were always commenting about how good my meals looked. I hardly consider it a diet—it's more like having a personal chef!

The most challenging part of losing my weight was being the only one who believed that I could do it without strenuous exercise. My friends and family were supportive, but no one really expected me to lose as much as I did. It was hard to encourage myself because at 5'9", people always offered excuses as support, allowing me to pack on the pounds. "Oh you look fine," they would say, or "You wear it well." There was no way I was wearing those 200 pounds well! When I look in the mirror now, I'm proud of the job I (and NutriSystem) did. I still get people telling me how amazed they are at my transformation, and unlike with yo-yo dieting, I'm not ashamed to tell them—I'm keeping the weight off.

I also heard a lot of skeptical remarks when I got started about the food tasting bad. People weren't used to me turning down sweets, or were surprised that I brought my NutriSystem food everywhere (even on vacation). But now that they see the results and have tasted the food, they know why I stuck with it and are so proud of me. In fact, I have friends who went through with bypass surgery, and they tell me about their problems and that they can't even get to their goal, so they wish they had tried NutriSystem instead.

Actually, the biggest compliment to me is when others join up after seeing my success—even strangers. For example, I visited my aunt in Georgia soon after starting the program. Of course, I packed my NutriSystem food for the week (and brought some for her to try out). I took some of the food items with me on carry-on, but there was a bit of commotion when my bag went through security. A few of the security guards were looking at them and I could tell they were dying to ask me why I had so much food in there. I started talking about NutriSystem, and by the end of the process, two of the ladies said they were going to sign up!

My perspective on life has changed dramatically now that I've lost weight. I feel like a great burden has been lifted now that I know how to safely control my weight. The anguish and deprived feelings that I used to feel while dieting are gone. My mood is better and I feel like everything is more fun because I'm healthy enough to enjoy it. Also, I've noticed my tendency to emotionally eat (when I'm stressed or upset) is gone because I feel good about myself independent of the scale. It's easier to find your true self-worth when it's not buried under layers of baggy clothes. See, when I was young, I was unhappy with my self-image, but I used a lot of unhealthy ways to control my weight, such as diet pills, starvation, and sitting in the sauna. Outside, I looked "normal," but I was never proud of what it took to maintain that image. Now, I see that I was a beautiful person no matter how much I weighed, but now my outside reflects how I always felt inside.

NutriSystem is about more than just food. Reading the testimonials and talking to my NutriSystem counselor really helped me see that it's a lifestyle. It deals with the whole body metamorphosis, not just the pounds. This is why it's easy to maintain weight loss with this program. I love NutriSystem so much that even though I passed my goal weight, I keep on the plan because I don't want to give up the lifestyle. Now people look at me with astonishment. They're always asking what my secret is.

The best part is that my life no longer revolves around food. I feel great, I have energy, and now it's safe for me to exercise without risking my health. These results from NutriSystem set it apart from any other weight loss program. The NutriSystem difference is in its name—a system of helping people live more nutritious lives in both the body and the mind. So even though I've lost 53 pounds* and 3 jeans sizes on this program, the most valuable gift is the self-confidence I have gained.

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