Success Stories

Being in physical pain can make everyday activities seem challenging, just ask Marilyn. When she joined Mount Auburn Club about five years ago, she was suffering from polymyalgia rheumatica, severe arthritis, and limited mobility. Along with those physical ailments, she also had to contend with type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. She knew she had a lot of work ahead of her to improve her health. Rather than be overwhelmed, she decided to set weekly goals. Today, because of her consistent effort and commitment to herself, she is in a much different state of health. Gone are the days when exercise was something Marilyn would engage in sporadically. Rain or shine, Marilyn makes it to MAC three times a week for an Aquacise class. Exercise is marked on her calendar now. This approach has led to consistent exercise, 85-pound weight loss, no more diabetes medication and prednisone, and a

I have always been heavy. I was put on a diet in the first grade. By third grade, however, I was already one hundred pounds. As the years passed, I gained even more weight. By tenth grade, I tipped the scale at two hundred pounds. I would gain and lose weight during the years that followed. In the late 1980’s, I decided to try Weight Watchers again. I began at two hundred eighty pounds and lost one hundred pounds to arrive at a weight of one hundred and eighty pounds. This time I was able to keep the weight off for about three months, but it came back. Soon I was back over two hundred pounds plus again. I hit my highest weight in the year 2000. I was devastated. I weighed three hundred thirty-seven pounds. I worked in an office and part of my job required me to stand

Picture on the left, over 500 lbs.! I have always had a misinterpreted relationship with obesity, being overweight, and the connection to food and mood.  Of course, that led to depleted self-esteem and positivity issues throughout life. Fast forward to 2012.  I call this my “newbie year.” My youngest was born, and this is the year that my maximum weight was reached. In time for a physical at doctor’s office, I had consciously worked on losing; losing 40 pounds of well over 500 pounds, feeling accomplished.  The doctor walks in the room and acknowledges the loss, but delivers the impact blow, “If you want to see your kids all graduate, you need to step on the accelerator!” Accepting the challenge. I started home exercise programs, bought the shakes, joined the various groups, even bought what claimed to be the “magic pill” for success in weight loss and transformation. Some of

I was a new Christian (two years old) when I received a catalog in the mail with an article about First Place 4 Health. I thought it was simply a weight-loss program, but if it was from God, then it couldn’t be bad. This time I had God helping me to lose weight. There were no groups in my area at that time, so I thought that if I wanted First Place 4 Health in my church, I would have to start a group. I looked online to get more information and really liked the program. As more time went by, I felt eager to get started and was looking forward to helping others, plus finally losing weight myself. I started First Place 4 Health in January 2008. At that time, I weighed in at 183, my highest weight, which consisted of pounds gained after being on so many different

My story really isn’t about me it’s about God’s transformation in my life through the First Place for Health program. When people see me, they automatically think I have been in shape and exercised all my life, but that is so far from the truth. The truth is that I and loved to eat and was a couch potato. I knew every number on the fast food menus and had such a sweet tooth dessert was part of each meal. I was so out of shape and overweight that my arms used to flap every time I moved them. My eating and non-exercise habits lead me to years of yo-yo dieting. I tried so many diets: the high carb diet, weight watcher, and the low carb diet. All these diets worked I would lose 20lbs and but then I would go back to my old eating habits and gain it

I’ve struggled with weight my whole life. At birth, I weighed 9 lbs. 9 ounces. I was the largest baby with a full head of curly brown hair in the delivery unit, and my dad said that everybody wanted to see me. When I got older, people would tell my mom “Oh, it’s just baby fat…she’ll lose it someday.” But by the time I hit 13 years old, my mom stopped believing that lie and actually had me join my first “real” diet…Weight Watchers. So, Weight Watchers was my first official “diet” and I’ve probably quit and re-joined WW about 10 other times throughout my lifetime, not to mention being on every diet known to man, only to lose weight, gain it all back, and then gain some more. I even looked into gastric bypass surgery in 1999, only to be told I was not a candidate. I had Crohn’s

I began my First Place 4 Health journey in 2012. Our church offered a Christ-centered weight loss program as a small group. I thought it was just what I needed. I had tried to lose weight for years. I started my weight loss journey at the age of 12, when I was 103 lbs. A well-meaning family member told me I was putting on some weight. I had tried so many different diets: low fat, no sugar, one food, specific foods on specific days, and low calories. I even tried some diet aids, one of which was like a caramel that you were supposed to eat and then drink a warm glass of water. I ate the whole box. No matter what the diet, the results were similar–no loss at all or a loss followed by a gain. When the Ridge offered a weight-loss program that was faith-based, I signed

“I give God all the glory because without His help, I could never have done it.” Before First Place 4 Health, I had health problems. My mother had adult-onset diabetes, and I did not want to go through what she did. I was over the 40 mark and knew I had to do something. FP4H had formed in my church, and I didn’t join in the beginning. I thought I could lose the weight on my own; however, I had lost weight twice before and it all came back.  I began to see the change in the women’s lives that were in FP4H and decided this was something I wanted to try. After being in the class for almost half a session, I wanted to help—I have been a co-leader since then.  I do the nutrition part. My walk with God is so much closer. I’m now at goal weight.

I have lost 70 pounds and I feel great. I no longer get winded going up stairs; my blood pressure is now in a normal range; my cholesterol is fifty points lower, and my resting heart rate has dropped 12 beats per minute. I am in better shape now than I have been in twenty-five years. It began on a Saturday in April 2005. I was in the kitchen and noticed the church paper was open to the First Place section. My wife had been trying to get me to lose weight for some time, so I jokingly said that if she wanted to join First Place I would join with her. The next day we were at a First Place orientation meeting and signing up to start the next session. I weighed 285 pounds but was in good health, so I did not see the need to lose weight.

My name is Tammy Mutter and I’m 41 years old. I’m writing you from inside prison in Gatesville, Texas, at the Lane Murray Unit. Here’s my story for the glory of God. I grew up an overweight child; I still remember the feelings of rejection and never fitting in with the rest of the kids.  The fear of rejection and not fitting in followed me into adulthood.  I was in a hurry to grow up; I guess it was to escape the sexual abuse from the male members of my family.  So at the age of 12, I was on my own and making my own choices.  I made a lot of foolish choices and ended up with a horrible addiction to crack-cocaine.  Being on drugs was the only time my body was small and it was only temporary because when I wasn’t using drugs, I always gained the weight