I want to introduce you to three of my friends, all of whom found their own way to lose weight and live a healthier life.

• JS has been through lots of weight ups and downs in the 15 years that I’ve known her. She lost the most weight, close to 100 pounds, with a well-known bar-and-shake program, but when its local center went out of business a couple years ago, so did her weight loss. Since November, JS has been working with me on the 400 Calorie Fix and learning a new way of approaching food by eating balanced and satisfying meals with an appropriate number of calories. I don’t know how much weight she has lost, but she keeps buying pants in smaller sizes.
• LW was about 80 pounds heavier when I met him almost 10 years ago. One day he decided to start eating healthier meals and exercising more. We started seeing LW in the gym every morning on the elliptical machine, working at really high intensity for an hour. And the pounds kept melting off. He never looked back.
• MP decided three years ago that the time had come to lose weight. The combination of too much weight, type 2 diabetes, and a bone and joint disease was wreaking havoc on her feet and making even everyday walking extremely difficult. MP stopped eating “white” foods, not necessarily an approach I would recommend but an easy way to wean herself off processed foods and snacks. Within a few short months, MP’s weight loss helped to stabilize her blood sugar. She no longer needed insulin and her type 2 diabetes disappeared. She is looking forward to walking down the aisle at her daughter’s wedding.

[ Photo credit: mab2143 via Flickr]