The Ripple Effect

It's amazing to see how much things change for individuals on this program.  We often start our of sheer desperation to do "something" and may feel that this is our last resort, after we've tried just about everything else.  That was certainly true for me - I saw this as my last option to try before pursuing weight loss surgery.  No one was more surprised than I to find out that this program actually worked (did it ever!!), and even more surprising was the transition from being in such need myself to being able to reach out and help someone else.  I've seen the same thing happen over and over again with others.  It's such a wonderful thing to be able to pay it forward!

Yesterday I had the opportunity to talk with a friend who is now able to pay it forward in a way she couldn't have imagined.  This friend is almost at her goal, having lost over 70 pounds since last March, and she looks and feels amazing.  What she couldn't have imagined at the beginning of her journey was the way her weight loss would now enable her to help someone else.

My friend's older sister has struggled with kidney disease for over 30 years.  Her kidneys functioned at a very low level, but the level was just high enough so that she didn't need dialysis.  All of that changed last summer when her sister got sick and the illness resulted in a kidney infection that further damaged her kidneys, to the point that her sister now needs a kidney transplant.  Because my friend lost weight and got healthy herself, she is now in a position to be able to donate one of her kidneys to her sister.

When my friend started her weight loss journey last March, she had no idea that her sister would need a kidney within a few months.  All she knew was that she wanted to lose weight and get healthy.  She is thrilled to know that her decision last March has not only changed her life, but is giving her the opportunity to save her sister's life.  Had my friend not gone on our program, she would now be helplessly watching her sister's struggle, unable to do anything because she would not have qualified as a kidney donor.

We never know how our own journey will impact someone else.  Most of us won't have such a direct, life-saving impact on another life, but we will impact others - I guarantee it.  My own weight loss journey resulted in my husband losing 50 pounds, my son losing 60, my son-in-law losing 65, my dad losing 30, my mom losing 40, one of my best friends losing 70 (which then inspired her son and daughter-in-law, then her daughter-in-law's mother . . . ), then other friends of mine and their friends and family members; the ripple effect continues to this day.  People have gotten off of medications, my mom is almost completely off her insulin, friends who were couch potatoes are now running marathons - it's such a wonderful thing!

As we approach Christmas and are surrounded by so many high calorie/low nutrition foods, it may be tempting to think that the choices we may don't really matter.  We couldn't be more mistaken.  The choices we make DO matter, not only for us, but for the people we know and love.  Choose wisely :-)