Deidre's story

On April 22, 2010 I skeptically joined a Thrive! class at work, not sure of what they could tell me that I hadn’t heard a thousand times. I have been overweight for most of my life, and participated in almost every diet plan imaginable. I had reached the point of giving up, and had completely lost myself in the process. I was going through the motions and barely surviving life.

The hardest thing about Thrive! was being forced to think about my “Why?”. I am a single parent of 2 beautiful teenage children who I realized had never really seen me happy. What kind of example was I for them? When they are adults, what are they going to remember about my life? What do I plan to do with myself when they move on? When I answered those questions truthfully, it was not something I could continue to live with.

Every week, Danny (my Thrive! Instructor) would share the knowledge of this program in class and I began to realize this was going to work. It became a question of when I reached my goal vs. if I reached my goal. My personal slogan became “knowledge is power."

After completing two consecutive level one classes, I attended a Thrive! Island. I was able to meet Travis and see firsthand his love for life, people and this program. It was one of the most inspiring weeks of my life and one of the most painful ones as well. (I would love to elaborate on that, but what happens on the Island, stays on the Island.)

Since starting the program, I have lost a total of 100 lbs so far, and gained a whole new sense of who I am. My kids are amazed, and tell me regularly how proud they are of me. I have complete strangers stopping me in the halls at work to tell me how good I’m looking (it’s strange to even type that I’m looking good). I have joined a Run for God class at church and have been training for a 5K road race.

That race is 2 days after my 40th birthday. I have never run before, but THANKS to Thrive! and the grace of God, today I can. The picture you see here is from the Dalton St. Patrick’s Day 2-mile race. To this point, it is my longest distance and I’m proud to have finished the race. I will continue to Thrive! for the rest of my life. It feels so much better to Thrive! than to merely survive!

-Deidre Wilson

Sara's story

I should have been on top of the world. Sure, I still had to complete my dissertation, but I was only 28 and would soon have a Ph.D. in a male-dominated discipline where most doctoral students are in their 40s. I had made so many sacrifices to do this. I quit a good job and sacrificed 4 years of respectable income, retirement contributions, and medical benefits to work for peanuts as a graduate assistant to make this happen.

I left all my family and friends behind in Georgia and moved to Ohio. I was on my own and had to contend with months of lake-effect snow, but it was all worth it. I rarely had time to visit friends or have fun; school had to come first. The end was finally in sight.

I would soon have my life back, a tenure-track position at a university, time and money to travel and spend more time with family and friends. Why wasn’t I on top of the world then? The truth was that my career was on track, but physically I was not. I have always been overweight and more than a decade of “ok days” added 10 or 15 pounds a year until I was a total of 337 pounds.

Thankfully, I had never had any major health issues related to my weight except for having to go on blood pressure medicine at the age of 27. But, I wasn’t able to live life to the fullest. I lived 650 miles from hone and, in a good year, would only be able to fly home 3 or 4 times a year. While I was always excited to be back with my family, there was a part of the trip I always dreaded.

Hopefully, I would be in the first boarding zone on my flight home so that I could get settled in my seat. It was pretty likely that I would need a seat belt extender for the flight and preferred to ask the flight attendant before everyone was on the plane. How long could I continue like this before I was forced to buy a second ticket or I couldn’t even fly?

When I was home, I enjoyed visiting with my friends and family, but I couldn’t really keep up with them. I was embarrassed by the fact that I could not run around with my little cousins. They really love me and enjoy spending time with me, but I could only play quiet games with them. No Frisbee or bike riding for me!

I entered the job market last year. It was a tough market due to the economy and uncertainty related to state budgets. It was rather telling that I only got on-campus interviews with the schools that I had initial phone interviews with. I never had on-campus interviews with the schools that I had initial interviews with at a conference in Reno, NV. I know that part of the problem is that I wasn’t comfortable in my own skin. How could I be comfortable in the interview when I was ashamed by my appearance and was constantly worried about the button on my suit coming undone? I could provide more examples, but the stories are all the same.

I started Thrive! on May 11, 2010 and I’ve already reclaimed a good portion of my life back! I have lost 102 pounds and 92 inches! I flew to my annual meeting in October and was able to fasten the seat belt (with room to spare) and comfortably put the lap tray down. Even better, my initial interviews went significantly better. I was so much more comfortable and was able to engage in conversations without worrying about my clothes.

It was all about me getting my dream job. And I did get my dream job! I accepted a position as an assistant professor of finance at a small private college in Virginia. I know that being comfortable, confident, and truly happy were keys in helping me get this job. I’ll be closer to friends and family and right there in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

I have reclaimed my life! I still have about 80 more pounds that I need to lose. Now that I have the dream job in a highly desirable location, I have to get into shape so that I can start biking, kayaking, hiking, and camping (things I have not been able to do since high school and missed so much). If you had told me this time last year, that I would be able to engage in these activities by fall of 2011, I would have said that you were insane!

There is nothing better than being in charge of my own destiny and being able to enjoy every minute of it!

-Sara Bennett

Scooter's story

My Thrive! journey started about 2 years ago when my mother-in-law and her sister started going once a week to a weight loss program called Thrive! Honestly, I was taken aback by their “new” eating habits. I could tell they were involved in something that was really working.

Fast forward a year and a half. Due to the stress of life, bills, parenthood, work, etc. my wife and I had put on more than a few pounds since our wedding in 2003. Life had become discouraging for both of us, and it seemed that food was the only thing that brought any satisfaction. Weight gain was the result.

The doctor had raised my blood pressure medicine and had threatened putting me on cholesterol medicine after viewing my blood work. I was in my early 30s and had been on blood pressure medicine for almost 10 years. In hindsight, I can see that these were my “Painful Why’s”, but it wasn’t until I got tired of hearing my wife complain about her weight that I took any initiative.

For my wife’s 29th birthday on December 4, 2010, I gave her a 3-month Thrive! membership. I was also excited to learn how exactly Thrive! worked; however. I wasn't sure if I would really commit. I wasn’t excessively overweight and I enjoyed how I was eating. I remember mentioning to a work friend on the way back from a daily visit to Taco Bell that I was going to “do Thrive! with my wife when I was with her.”

We began Thrive! on the second week of January 2011. Since then I have totally fallen in love with the Thrive! lifestyle. After only 4 weeks on the program, my doctor cut my blood pressure medicine completely. Even he cannot believe the change. My blood pressure is down, my weight is down, my cholesterol is great, and I’m in the process of getting a new wardrobe.

As of now, I have lost a total of 50 pounds and have gone from a tight 36 waist to a loose size 32. I’m happier and feel better than I can ever remember, I love it when people say, “have you lost weight?” These are my “Pleasurable Why’s”.

Thank you so much Thrive!

-Scooter Allison

Dee Ann's story

About one year ago I was facing the possibility of contracting Type ll Diabetes, a miserable fate that obesity brings. Having tried every diet that I could think of during my adult life and never achieving permanent success, my doctor had asked me to consider gastric by-pass counseling. That was the last straw! Though I had very little motivation and discipline to change on my own, the very thought of having to go through such an invasive procedure was really my wake up call. I know that I was created for greater things and meant to have a rich and full life of service making a difference in other’s lives. This is nearly impossible to do when you are 150 lbs. overweight.

Several of my friends in Rome, GA had tried the Thrive! program and had great success. Many of them encouraged me to try it as well. I finally thought I would give it a try. Why not? However, I was thinking all the time that it would be yet another failure. With Travis and Allen as my instructors, I gained the motivation, tools and discipline I needed to succeed.

I have never completed a program that was as easy to follow with such support as I have received with Thrive! The entire Thrive! team cares about each person and really wants to change lives one person at a time. I am on a journey. I have not reached my final goal yet, but I’m over halfway there. I have had some setbacks during this year’s journey, but I just keep on keeping on.

Travis always says, “The pain of daily self-discipline weighs ounces, but the pain of regret weighs tons!” That is so true! I have to ask myself often, “DO I really want to Blow-It today?” and “Is it worth it?” Remembering the bullet proof shield, getting client care support and planning my Blow-It Days helps me stay in control.

Travis once said, “If you come to the end of your life and as you reflect back you remember that most of your joy came from food, you have had a sad life (paraphrased).” I do not want to be that person! SO, I’ll continue on my journey happily persevering, one day at a time because I’m a Thriver for life!

-Dee Ann Rittenhouse