Chocolate User
“I’ve gotten to know new parts of me that were buried under food and eating for a very long time. I didn’t know who I was in there. Now I like who I am and I’ve learned to make better choices about what to eat and how to handle my feelings and stress without food. I don’t use chocolate or sweets anymore, to make myself feel better. I feel a kind of peace and confidence I never had before.”

Telephone Participant
“This program really did help me design a healthy new routine for my self. I liked that there was no set schedule I had to follow and no dieting. We worked together on what would be best for me and in the end I had a whole new relationship with eating. I loved doing the program on the phone too. It fit better with my crazy schedule. I was able to blend my meetings in with my family's schedule and never needed a sitter for the kids. My new eating routine works well with the way we like to eat as a family and do things together, still it’s healthy. It’s amazing to feel so comfortable about eating now - I think I can do this for the rest of my life. But if I ever start slipping I will be back to nip it in the bud right away!”

Lap Banders
“My Self Design is a good aftercare program for lap band patients. I think we may need a little more help and patience than other WLS types. I’m glad I had the opportunity to participate and I believe my weight loss is better and more secure because of it.”

Victim of Family Sabatoge
“I didn't realize at first how important my family's involvement in my post-op process would be - it was very powerful for me. But I needed a little help to figure out how to talk to them seriously about some of the things I knew I had to change. My Dad and I get along much better now. It wasn’t that hard in the end but I don’t think I’d have done it well without my coach’s encouragement. My Self Design gave me the push I needed to organize lots of things in my life that needed to change.”

Diet Hater
“I didn’t realize how difficult it would be to balance being a gastric bypass patient with just being me. My Self Design’s program helped me see that being me doesn’t mean eating constantly and it doesn’t mean being on a diet. Somewhere in the middle I found what it means to be normal and comfortable with food for the first time in my life.”

Worry Wort
“My last homework assignment asked me to think back to right after my surgery. I remembered how frightened I was about things, especially the long recovery path ahead. I worried most about how I would change the parts of me that my surgeon didn’t fix. My Self Design's program helped me make those changes that were specific to me and I really needed my own person to talk to.”