My name is Dallas Little and I live in Seattle Washington. I am 34 and I am a Sous chef. I first heard about Positive Changes on the radio. I was feeling stressed and run down all the time, weighing 430 1bs was taking a toll on me. I was embarrassed; being this big people always looked at me. Having to go on a plane and having to get the seat belt extension was very embarrassing for me. I was the heaviest I have ever been in my life and that is when I came to Positive Changes. When I had my first visit with Positive Changes I set a goal to lose 100 lbs in the first year, and the next 100 lbs in the second year. This is something my evaluator and I decided I could accomplish. I have lost 195 1bs in 7 months. It's only taken me 7 months to accomplish what I thought would take two years!! !!! My pant size has gone from a size 54 to a size 34, even my shoe size has gone from a 13 to a 12 and now the 12's are loose.
I have been overweight ever since about after high school and I never have tried any traditional weight loss methods. I would try to cut back and eat less and try to exercise but the motivation was never there and I wouldn't last more then a couple of days. I would give up and say, "forget about it".
Coming to Positive Changes made it very easy. It's like I am not doing anything. Obviously I am doing things, like going to the gym and making better choices, but the ability to make these changes have been effortless. It's my lifestyle now. It's like a switch has been turned on where I have lost l95lbs and still losing. It's been very easy and completely effortless.
After my very first session the first thing I did was go straight to the water. I wanted water like never before. I had started going to the gym about 2 weeks before I started, but it made going to the gym much easier. Before coming to Positive Changes it had been more of an effort to get myself to go to the gym, it was like a chore. After my first session my motivation to go to the gym became effortless. I also started eating vegetables and I never ate vegetables before I started my program. I started eating asparagus and spinach which I would have never touched before. I even began to feel differently after I started even though I was still very large, I began to carry myself differently. I felt different emotionally and I could feel the weight coming off I felt a complete 180, it gave me the confidence to keep doing what I was doing. I knew I was on the right path.
My weight loss has been very consistent. My evaluator told me the average person loses between 1-3 pounds a week and I was easily losing lO-l5 lbs a week for the first 3 or 4 months and now towards the end of my weight loss it has been the 1-3 lbs a week. I noticed a change in my behavior right away. Some of the biggest changes that I have noticed from the beginning are that I am able to leave food on my plate, and not have to eat everything that I am given. I am a Sous chef and I am around food all the time and before I would snack all day long and still take my lunch break and eat even more. It was never ending. My eating was out of control and now I am in control. I don't snack anymore and on the odd occasion that I do because of my erratic work schedule I will choose a healthy snack likes nuts, fruit or a protein bar. Before hypnosis I would have grabbed a candy bar, cookies or cake. My cravings are also gone. I no longer crave certain types of foods like I did in the past. I used to eat a lot of deep fried foods, like chicken strips, fish and chips, but I no longer eat those types of foods, they have no appeal to me any more. Every once and awhile my wife and I will go out to a pub and she will get the fish and chips, but I will get the blackened salmon. I look at those foods and see how greasy they are and go, "Yuck! They don't look good to me anymore." I used to drink soda all day long as many as 6-10 per day and now I don't drink any. I also used to drink a lot of coffee and now I don't drink that anymore. Once in awhile, I will have a Chai tea, but water is what I drink all the time now. I don't miss those things and I don't feel deprived at all!
With Hypnosis I eat what ever I want, I don't feel restricted but I want the healthier foods now. My wife and I have a standing Friday night date night and we will go out for dinner where I will eat less of what I would have in the past and I don't eat the same things all the time. I will have some steak or pasta but its much less and it will be the pasta with fresh Salmon instead of the heavy creamed pasta dishes.
I saw my doctor after the first 3 months because I had already lost about 1OO lbs at that point. He didn't recognize me at first! I get a lot of that now! People look at me and go, "Dallas, is that you?", then they see my neck and my tattoo's and go, "oh yeah that's you." I was concerned because I had lost the weight so fast and so easy I wanted to make sure I was healthy. I told my doctor what I was doing and he gave me a thorough check up and my blood pressure was good and he said I was doing great and to keep doing what I was doing! I now have lost another 100 pounds since that visit. Losing the weight has even helped with my asthma. I used to get my inhaler refilled once a month, and it's been over 4 months since I have had to refill it. I used to avoid certain foods because they would cause severe stomach problems that I would go through a big bottle of antacids every week. I was concerned I had acid reflux. I have not had to buy a bottle of antacids in 7 months!
My stamina is much better then it was before I lost the weight. Just walking up a hill I would tire out and be out of breath and need my inhaler. Now I walk, ride a bike, and I can do it as long as I want to. I could walk all day long if I wanted to and not have to stop. I am on my feet all day at work, and before my feet would hurt real bad at the end of the day and be real sore on the bottom. Now my feet are fine. My wife and I like to camp and hike and before my wife would always have to stop and wait for me now I have to stop and wait for her which is kind of nice!
People that I haven't seen in a couple months or even those I see every few weeks say to me that every time they see me I am smaller and say that I am going to widdle down to nothing pretty Soon! I can't believe they are saying that about me. The weight loss has given me more confidence. When you are as overweight as I was, it is always there, you can't get away from it. It always affects your confidence because you're afraid or worried that it's going to negatively effect what ever situation you are in. My size was the first thing people would see, like 'here comes the fat guy. Now that that is gone there is a glow of confidence that I did it and I'm feeling better and I'm not going back. This is the new me! It has even made a difference in my job; I received a promotion which I think I would not have gotten had I still been overweight. I think they would have been hesitant to give it to me because of the long hours and thinking I wouldn't be able to endure the 14-l5 hour days.
My relationship with my wife is much better; she was always worried I would get diabetes or that I would have a heart attack at a young age. It was always an undercurrent. She was always nice and would never say anything up until the very end where it was 'ok I've got to make some changes because of heath concerns. Now you can see she is happy as can be, and probably, hard to believe, happier then I am about my weight loss and improved health. She has been very supportive throughout this whole process.
My self confidence and self esteem has gotten so much better. My company sent me back to Georgia and for the first time when I got on the plane, I didn't need the extension. It was a very exciting thing for me emotionally, 'it was like 'Wow and I had room to not only wear the belt but had to make it tighter because it was too big! !!!! It felt AWESOME!!!!! I don't think anyone on that plane knew how I felt at that moment. It felt so good!!! I don't think people can really understand unless they have been in that situation. It's really hard to put into words what an incredibly moving, life changing experience this has been for me not to have to use the seatbelt extension. In the past I would have always thought about it before taking a trip. I would get on the plane knowing I would have to ask for the extender and I would be so embarrassed knowing everyone was looking at me. Before I got up to 430 lbs, I used to travel a lot, all over the world, and once I got that big I didn't want to travel anymore. My weight kept me from traveling because it was so embarrassing trying to squeeze myself into the seat and over flowing over into other people's seat. I felt people were thinking to themselves 'why does this guy eat so much that he needs an extension belt. Now I am looking forward to traveling back to Pennsylvania to visit my family next month who haven't seen me in 4 years. It's going to be a big surprise.
One thing that is on my list to do which I couldn't do before was to take swing dance lessons with my wife. I physically wouldn't have been able to do it, nor would I have wanted to. Now it's something I look forward to doing in the near future for our 5th wedding anniversary party that I am planning. I also started taking Yoga a couple of weeks ago which I would have never been able to do before, even if I had wanted to. I couldn't imagine trying to get my legs in those positions at 43O lbs. Since losing the 200lbs I am getting a lot more attention from women, my wife comments on that sometimes so I notice that I get a lot more attention in that area of my life where before it was attention because of my size, not because someone else found me attractive.
My new goals since losing 200 lbs are to get more toned and I'm looking for that 6 pack of abs!!! That's what I'm striving for now! I know it's going to happen. I also am thinking that a part of me wants to get into some rock climbing. It's definitely something I could not have done at 43O lbs.
The cost of my program was absolutely worth it. I probably spent more money on food before I started this program then what my program cost. I think the cost is actually cheap compared to the extension of my life. I am going to live a healthier and longer life now. I don't think you can put a price on that! I am actually spending less money on food, so much so, that I was able to buy a car. The money I am spending now on my car payment is the amount of money I was spending in extra food each month!!!!!
I absolutely believe my weight loss will be permanent and I would recommend this to anyone who wants to lose weight because its non evasive, no risky surgery and you are not stuck buying someone's food for the rest of your life. You are not restricted by what foods you can or can't eat. I eat what I want, which is the beauty of this program. It gives you the sense of having what you want without guilt or feeling restricted. You just naturally go for the healthier foods. I don't feel like I am on a diet, it's a lifestyle change for me!!! The most valuable thing besides the health benefits is that I now have the confidence to succeed in what ever I do. When I see that I can loose 200 lbs in 7 months it makes me believe I can do most anything.
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