Friend of Julie: Hero Joseph

Today's Hero story is from Joseph, whose life has changed after seven weeks of following Julie's program. Joseph was excited to tell his story and to become a blog contributor.

Left: Before (2011) | Right: A few weeks ago

365 pounds. I couldn't believe it.

I was at the doctor because I was in the middle of the worst bout of Asthma I had experienced in about five years. The inhaler wasn't going to cut it. I needed some Prednisone and I needed it NOW.

As always, they put me on the scale.

I HATE that part.

This time, though, I was about to hate it a whole lot more than normal.

I have always been overweight, but I spent years justifying my poor eating habits by telling myself that I may not be losing but I'm also not gaining.

Then I turned 40 and it was like someone flipped a switch inside me.

My grandmother had died only a couple months earlier and, like with every other problem in my life, I turned to food the way some people turn to alcohol or drugs.

I had a moderately successful weight loss about a year before but when I gained back every pound I told myself that it wouldn't get any worse.

I continued to grieve and I continued to eat. Within six months I had gained another 50 pounds.

I could not believe what had happened to me or that I had allowed it to happen.

Something had to change and it had to change now.

The problem is I had no direction and had no clue what that "something" was going to be.

Then someone on Facebook told me about a hypnotist in West Springfield who helps people lose weight.

It would be nearly another year before I acted on that information.

During that year, my body started shutting down.

I developed arthritis in my left ankle and could barely walk. I still wear a brace.

I couldn't perform simple housework without extreme pain in my ankle and back. I could not stand to cook a meal.

I couldn't get off my couch without a struggle.

To stand up from any sitting position I needed something to hang onto.

If I was on my knees I was staying there unless someone helped me up.

I couldn't drive for more than 10 minutes without pain.

I couldn't walk more than a quarter mile.

I was always tired and routinely fell asleep at the wheel.

In February 2013 I finally decided I'd had enough.

I was dying. It was obvious. If I still had six months I would have been VERY surprised.

I finally made the call to Julie and got on the waiting list.

In the meantime I tried to get motivated. I tried to cut down on carbs and eat better, but when the call came in that there was a spot for me, I was eating lunch in the parking lot at Subway.

I wanted to live but I just couldn't stand being in this body anymore.

I was depressed and angry and I just wanted to find someplace to hole up until it was time to start my hypnotherapy.

When the day came I approached it with mixed feelings.

Could this really work? Did I have the strength of will to accept the suggestions and act on them?

I was NOT prepared to be put on a restrictive diet.

I was naive enough to think that Julie would just hypnotize me into not wanting carbs and that would be that.

After my first session I came home and collapsed.

I could NEVER see myself following this diet.

The emotions that manifested that night were identical to going through a breakup, and I was.

I was ending a years-long abusive relationship that was literally killing me and it HURT.

Lots of people in abusive relationships miss their abusers when they break things off with them. They want them back knowing full well what would happen.

Then something amazing happened.

I made it through the first night.

I didn't eat any bread or pasta or anything else that would normally be on the menu.

Then I woke up the second day and I made my breakfast. Again, I kept the diet, and I kept it all day.

Then I woke up on day three. I was alert. I didn't hurt. I didn't feel sick. I didn't have any reflux.

That night I noticed that I was able to get off the couch with minimal difficulty.

I kept the diet the whole first week. I let nothing sweet touch my tongue. I ate no nuts. I didn't get on the scale.

I was doing this. It was working.

By the end of week one I was working in my garden and it occurred to me that I had stood up from a kneel with no aid.

I thought I'd imagined it… so I tried it again, consciously this time.

And I did it again.

I kept the diet the entire second week and had my second session in between.

My wife and I went out for dinner for our 20th anniversary.

I kept the diet.

By the time I had my last session with Julie I had not once deviated from the diet even under circumstances where at any other time in my life I would have caved.

But I kept it 100 percent.

But now the cord was being cut. How would I deal with that?

There would be no more "recharging the battery." Now it was up to me.

During week five my wife and I went away for a long weekend at a resort in the Poconos. I kept the diet in the midst of buffet dinners with pasta and bread and sweets of every description. I even made the kitchen fix me some steamed vegetables with my breakfast.

Later in the week our son joined us and we spent a few more days in Pennsylvania. I kept the diet in the middle of an amusement park where I spent the day smelling caramel corn and funnel cakes and watched people downing soda by the quart and inhaling soft serve, cheeseburgers, candy apples and everything in between.

I'm now in week #7 and today I tried on the shirt I wore to my grandmother's funeral. It was too big. I tried on another shirt I bought last year after I gained all the weight and… well, I'll let you have a look at the picture.

July 7, 2013 (week 7)

Now, I know that we're not supposed to get on the scale but there's no rule against estimating.

The shirt I wore to my grandmother's funeral at 315 pounds was too big on me. Logically that means I've lost anywhere between 50 and 70 pounds in SEVEN WEEKS.

I can now mow my entire lawn, front and back yards, without taking a single break and with NO back pain.

I can stand up from almost any sitting position unaided.

I can cook and do housework without losing my breath and without back pain.

The best part? This is just the beginning. I have a lot of weight to lose and I see it as an adventure now. I can't wait until the "after" picture below is the new "before" picture.

It'll happen…

Read more Hero stories... or share your story - send me an email by clicking on my name (Theresa) on the bottom of the list of contributors in the left column of any page.