My Name is Viola Doll and I am a former tub of lard. Before Thin&Healthy I was falling apart. I had asthma and I was unable to walk any distance without my hips back and knees bothering me. I have a family history of diabetes and had gestational diabetes with my youngest son, so I was on track to develop type-2 diabetes. Sex was impossible I felt like I was suffocating, I was embarrassed to ride an airplane because I had to ask for a seat belt extension, Do you know how embarrassing it is to be marched to the front of a small plane because only the extra long seat belt will fit? How about having to ask someone to get things from higher shelves because your belly got in the way? Or go into a store with lots of pretty clothes only to find that your options were limited to maybe two or three selections if they had anything at all? I was miserable.

Then it got worse when I lost my job. I was depressed. So when the opportunity to relocate with my former company was presented to me I jumped at the chance. Little did I know, at the time, how much my life would change from that one seemingly simple decision.

I began my work and the settling in process began... I got to know the staff at my new job and feel more comfortable. Then one day something struck me, the manager was losing weight--a lot of weight in very little time!!! How was she doing it?

She had joined Thin and Healthy and had lost 16 lbs in just a few short weeks. I thought, “Could it work for me?” I decided to go for it. I was on my way to a healthier me. But did I really believe I would get to 150 pounds? That was about 1/2 of the almost 300 pounds I weighed in with? To tell the truth I didn't think it was possible. I had been on several plans before and always lost 25 to 35 pounds, but then became bored and quit after 2 months. Thin and Healthy was different. I wasn't eating skimpy bite size portions, but real amounts of good healthy food.

The weight started rolling off. I resisted exercise at first due to the health problems but after I lost 25 pounds, I bought a stationary bike secondhand and took baby steps on it starting with just a few minutes a day. Then the weight started coming off faster. In about 6 months I had lost 50 pounds. Wow real success without being hungry!!

Coming in to see the staff twice a week was something I looked forward to. The good news the scale held for me helped too. Better yet was my incredible joy at being able to do things. Like walking to sightsee in France, crossing my legs, and my personal favorite, wearing sexy high heels-which I had not been able to do for better than 20 years!!!! It was amazing buying my first sexy formal dress and finding out I had beautiful shoulders. It was great going to a convention with my husband and finding out his friends were flirting with me-Me!! That had NEVER happened to me, not ever!!!! And I rediscovered my relationship with my husband. He has a hard time now keeping up with all my energy and things VASTLY improved behind closed doors (haha).

What made the difference in this plan? I had to EAT! I had to MOVE and I had SUPPORT to do it. I felt valued!! Somebody cared what I was doing. The open door meant there was always a friend to discuss factors with. With the support I have lost just under 150 pounds and over 162 inches. This has helped me get into a size 14 instead of those horrible 30-32.