"God's grace is His strength and ability to accomplish in our lives what we could never do on our own." Joyce Meyer

All my life I have struggled with my weight, even as a young girl I was always “pudgy” and consequently, I was constantly made fun of because of it. I remember a particularly unsettling incident, when I was in sixth grade. My teacher took our class to the gym for the dreaded weight and height measurements. As we lined up in front of the scale I watched in horror as the nurse took the measurements and reported them “loudly” to the teacher who was writing them down at a nearby desk. The boys behind me were already snickering while anxiously waiting to hear my weight. When the nurse called out the number the boys hit the floor in hysterics – I can still hear them laughing to this day. I cried for days and begged my mother to not send me back to school. I vowed that someday I would weigh less than I did in the sixth grade.

I continued struggling with my weight and when I got married was within four pounds of my goal. Unfortunately, my ex-husband wasn’t pleased with me and constantly compared me to others – I always seemed to come up short. I found food to be a wonderful source of comfort and ate my pain, hurt, fear and every other emotion away with its comforting effects. Food became my companion, my lover, and my closest friend. The unfortunate thing was the more I ate, the larger I got and the more abuse I had to endure. I ballooned up to 300 pounds and tried every conceivable diet available. I probably lost and gained a thousand pounds in my lifetime. Every year that went by my life became more sedentary and everyday activities became more of a challenge.

There was so much I needed to do but between working full time and my long, daily commute, there wasn’t much time left. I was so tired after work that doing anything in the evening was out of the question. On the weekends, even the slightest activity was so exhausting that I would sleep for hours in the middle of the day. I was thoroughly disgusted with my life and constantly berated myself for being so weak in this area. I physically felt awful. My legs and ankles were swollen from water retention and my joints were stiff and painful. I was very lethargic and had a difficult time getting motivated to do anything. If I did force myself do to something physical I ached so much at night that I couldn’t sleep. I was taking three or more aspirin a night just to ease the soreness. I found it difficult to bend over to tie my shoes and when climbing stairs I had to stop and rest half way up. Then God spoke to me. He simply said, “If you don’t do something about your weight you will not live much longer.” I cried out to God, “Please help me, I can’t do this myself!”

When I began my weight loss journey with Dr. Kolbaba, I brought my list of health concerns and flatly asked him if he thought he could help me. He told me that after one week on his program I would feel like a new person. I wasn’t convinced but knew I had to do something. After initial tests and examinations, I finally started my detoxification program. It didn’t take a week - within four days I felt like a new person! I have made steady progress over the last ten months losing more than 116 pounds! I went from a size 26 to a size 6 and I’m still losing! I feel absolutely incredible! I can do things today that I could only dream about ten months ago! I feel like a totally different person, full of energy and full of life!

Dr. Kolbaba is a master at health coaching, mixing the right blend of encouragement and challenge. It felt good to have someone believe in me. He would frequently tell me, “You will never weigh that again.” At first I would smile at that simple little statement but as I heard it more and more, I eventually started to believe it myself. Dr. Kolbaba’s often frank approach can be very disconcerting to some, but the Lord knew it was just what I needed. Although I am a very determined woman, I still needed someone to hold me accountable for the results I achieved or those I haven’t yet achieved. For every victory, Dr. K would increase the challenge, especially in the area of exercise and physical activity. When I complained there weren’t enough hours in the day, Dr. Kolbaba would say, “Don’t give me any excuses, Diana, just figure it out!” It may have been exasperating at the time, but today I actually miss it if I don’t fit enough meaningful movement into my schedule.

Next to God, getting and keeping my body healthy had to become the most important thing in my life. Everything evolved around it – family, work, leisure activities, everything! When I came to believe that with my whole heart, then I was ready to make the commitment and not feel sorry for myself any longer. I wasn’t giving something up; I was investing in something better! I’m happier now than I’ve ever been and more connected to all that I value most in my life.