At 464 pounds, I was morbidly obese and had never been as big as I was in December, 2003.  It was so difficult for me to do simple things like leaving the house or visiting my friends.  How did I let myself get this big?  I had to make a choice.  Did I want to continue living this way, or live a healthier, more energetic life?  I finally made the choice, “Sharisse, if you want to feel better and look better, you have to live a healthier lifestyle”.  I had seen Healthy Inspirations in the mall on many occasions, and my grandmother offered to pay for my program.   The day I walked into Healthy Inspirations, little did I know that it would help me change my life forever. 

The Center 

When I first came to Healthy Inspirations, I knew something good was going to come my way.  Dennis and the Healthy Inspirations staff really motivated me and helped me realize I could lose the weight.  At the time it seemed unattainable, but now I’m a living testimony they were right and boy, am I thankful.

The reason why I feel Healthy Inspirations is such a great program is because of the eating plan.

It was not hard to follow, and for the first time on a “diet”, I felt satisfied.   At first, I was too overweight to even use the exercise equipment, but they had me doing other exercises to like walking in place and lifting small weights.  The relaxation treatments I found helpful to relieve some tense feelings in the body. After just a month or so, I stopped coming in because I was too embarrassed to leave the house.  But I took my eating plan and followed it from that point forward, getting my exercise in by walking around my block daily.

Results 

Dropping the weight really inspired me!  I’ve currently lost 210 pounds and I feel wonderful!  In addition to losing weight, I stopped smoking, which also made me feel so much better.   I’m not quite where I want to be yet, but I’m a lot closer than I was a year ago.  I’m very proud of myself and feel as though I may have saved my life.  People that know me and don’t know me are always telling me how good I look.  And now, when people give me compliments and say kind and things to me, I actually believe them!

My Advice to You 

The most important tip or advice I could give to you is this:  PLEASE continue to exercise and stay on your plan regardless if your weight goes up, down, or stays the same.  I found these two components to be critical.  I also feel that continuing to keep motivating and positive thoughts really helped my self-esteem along with my energy level along the way.  People always say diet and exercise is the key to weight loss.  I say it’s the food choices you make, never forgetting to write down what you eat and exercising.  These three together have really helped me along the way.  Just follow the program and you’ll do great!