{"id":1145,"date":"2014-01-22T18:22:26","date_gmt":"2014-01-22T18:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/amihungry.com\/?post_type=personal_stories&p=1145"},"modified":"2020-04-10T15:42:21","modified_gmt":"2020-04-10T22:42:21","slug":"deanna-a-journey-of-self-discovery","status":"publish","type":"personal_stories","link":"https:\/\/amihungry.com\/personal_stories\/deanna-a-journey-of-self-discovery\/","title":{"rendered":"Deanna’s Story: A Journey of Self-Discovery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deanna had been overweight since childhood. Back then, if you didn’t look like Twiggy, you were too heavy. \"Deanna2009(2)\"<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Dieting Since High School<\/h4>\n

She remembers dieting in high school-drinking liquid diet drinks and eating carrot sticks<\/a>. She married early and had three babies in a row. “I gained a lot of weight during those years,” Deanna says.<\/span><\/p>\n

In her 30’s, Deanna joined Weight Watchers and lost 100 pounds. When they moved to another city, she couldn’t find a new support group and gradually regained the weight she’d lost<\/a>. She cycled through various diets before discovering TOPS\u00ae for support in 1998. She continued to try different diets, including living on 600 calorie a day. She knew such severe restriction wasn’t sustainable so she went back to an exchange system<\/div>\n

Awareness and Finding a Voice<\/h4>\n

\"Deanna1110\"<\/a>Then five years ago she lost her husband, leading her to seek help from a life coach. “I gained a new awareness of myself and finally began to resolve issues of past abuse. I realized that I would beat myself up because someone else was going to anyway.” Along her journey of self-discovery and self-care<\/a>, she remarried. She happily says that her second husband “taught me that I had a voice.”<\/p>\n

With her growing confidence, she decided to use her new found voice to help others along their journey too so she became a TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) Retreat Director. Then last spring, TOPS sent Deanna and the two other retreat directors through\u00a0Am I Hungry?\u00ae Facilitator Training<\/a>\u00a0to help them better address their retreat participants’ emotional triggers for eating.<\/p>\n

The facilitator training curriculum includes participation in the Am I Hungry?\u00ae Mindful Eating Workshop.<\/a> Despite all of her experience with weight management,\u00a0Am I Hungry\u00ae?<\/a>\u00a0provided Deanna with the next big step in her journey toward taking charge of her life.<\/p>\n

Mindful Eating Feels Very Natural<\/h4>\n

Unlike past dieting, mindful eating has felt very natural to Deanna. “Five to six months after I took the course, I realized that the process had become part of my life and the pounds began to fall off-thirty so far.” However, she is not focused on the weight loss because the freedom and awareness have their own rewards:<\/span><\/p>\n