[CHANGES] What Kate Says

[Sandra Ahten]

This is what the "Changes Group" has meant to Kate:


I was 35 pounds overweight and facing the prospect of two lifelong 
prescription medications at the ripe old age of 32.  I've bounced around 
with weight, but in May of 2004 I was again at my highest weight ever: 185 
lbs. When my doctor told me that I might be able to avoid one or both of the 
medications I was taking through weight loss, I finally took it seriously.

I grew up around a mother who was always dieting, and as a young adult I had 
rejected "diets" as part of a feminist stance against our 
female-hating-and-fearing culture.  However, I knew Sandra was a feminist, 
and I also found out that she was leading weight loss groups, and this 
combined information lead me to join a 5-week session of a Changes group.

I have always been a very independent and self-motivated person in many 
areas of my life, but eating remained elusively out of my control.  Sandra's 
leadership provided me with the mental and emotional tools to start valuing 
my long-term health over my short-term feelings of over-satiation.  I began 
to examine what "satisfied" felt like and meant to me.  There was no 
particular prescribed eating plan, and so I found a plan that worked for me 
(Weight Watchers online) and used the Changes group as a boost to get 
started.

It has been 6 months, and I've lost all but a last few pounds of the weight 
I intended to lose.  I’m within a normal weight range for the first time in 
years.  The Changes group helped me to make a commitment to myself and see 
that commitment as part of my political commitments to a better world.  
Sandra's combination of encouragement and accountability helped to jumpstart 
my weight loss program, and I would recommend her leadership to anyone who 
has struggled with weight problems.

KM