1st Place

Cathy Higgins

TOPS® KS 180
lost 112.5 pounds!

SUCCESS STORY

In November of 2009, I underwent Gastric Bypass surgery.   It wasn’t an easy decision and it was an even more difficult process.

Besides death in my family, this has been one of the toughest experiences in my life.  One week after surgery I told my doctor’s assistant that I had made a mistake.  I was hurting so badly and I was angry that I had made this choice.  I just wanted my coca-cola, kit kat candy bars, and donuts back.

I experienced complications; I spent over 100 days taking a nausea medicine after I ate.  In December of 2010 they found that the tube under my stomach was the cause of my being sick.  In January of 2011, I had a second surgery to shorten the tube under my stomach.  This type of weight loss surgery can be dangerous and is not an easy way out.

I went through a lot of grief in 2010.  Having worked in a psychiatric hospitals I was familiar with the stages of grief and had to deal with the food addition and issues from my past that I used food to deal with.

I have fought with my weight most my life.  I joined TOPS the first time with my mother when I was 11.  No matter how you do it, weight loss is hard.  Changing my life style was essential for my health.  I could no longer yo-yo diet and restore my health.  I have lost 170 pounds and postponed my knee replacement surgeries.  I see a weight loss psychologist to insure the longevity of my weight loss.

I want to thank my family and TOPS friends for their support, cards, and words of encouragement.

No matter how difficult it is to lose weight, just Do It!  Do it for your family, but most of all, do it for you!!  Water and a balanced diet are very important.  My next challenge is exercise to firm up my body.  Best wishes to you!

Before                       After

2nd Place

Brenda Morris

TOPS® KS 1089
lost 105.75 pounds!

SUCCESS STORY

It is so cute how little ones can be so honest.  One day there was a little girl looking me up and down as I waited for a prescription to be filled.  In her sweet, innocent manner the little girl looked up to her mother and said, “Mommy, look how fat that lady is.”  I concluded that I must have been the fattest person she had ever seen.

It is true, at my heaviest I weighed a whooping 470 pounds.  I had heard about TOPS through the years and one day at my daughter’s work place, where I just happened to be, a customer asked her if she would be “interested in starting a TOPS group in the evenings” and in a short time, we had one up and running.

I joined TOPS to support my daughter and later I learned that she had joined to support me.

Through my weight loss journey I have lost over 105 pounds and the once shy person is now Co-Leader, Secretary and Treasurer of our TOPS group.

Although I am still not at my goal weight, with the weekly weigh-ins and the support of my TOPS family, I will continue to TAKE OFF POUNDS SENSIBLY!

Before                       After