Meet Joe.

Joe was given the gift of State of Slim and truly turned his life around. At the beginning of his journey, Joe struggled with every movement and is now active, feeling alive and ready to tackle new activities.

State of Slim success story Joe

What was the problem you were having before you discovered State of Slim?

What a difference a year can make. On July 25, 2016, I weighed in at at 380.6 lbs. And THAT was after I had lost 19 pounds on my own, trying once again to lose weight. I had even stopped drinking on July 10 (my birthday); I had been drinking heavily. So for me to even attempt to go cold turkey underscores just how bad of a spot I was in. This was the biggest I had ever been.

What did your life look like before you started State of Slim?

My wife was worried. I was worried. It was a chore to make it from the front door to the garage. I hated to wake up in the middle of the night, not because it interrupted my sleep, but because it meant I’d have to drag my body from the bedroom to the bathroom. Every little movement was a struggle. I walked with a cane. Breathing had become a struggle.

I remember when we went to Hearst Castle on a day trip. I needed a wheelchair to get around. THAT was a life-changing moment for me.

My wife gave me State of Slim as a birthday gift (one I wasn’t exactly so excited to get). I begrudgingly agreed to fly from California to Colorado to try, once again. I had hope, but I also knew that I had tried and failed to get healthy so many times in the past. At most, I’d be “on a diet” and faithful to it for about two months and then I would fade, usually gaining all I had lost and then some. Plus, unlike other guys who lose quickly, that just has never been the case for me. My metabolism seemed to work against me.

What did the frustration feel like as you tried to solve that problem?

I remember the first day. Could I do it? Why would this be different and stick, when all the other times were the same and had not? Every attempt in the past resulted in weight loss and then weight gain PLUS! One of the first phrases that Dr. Holly said that really resonated with me is “Choose Your Hard.” Being morbidly obese and barely able to walk to my car without major back and knee pain is very hard. Getting healthy is hard. Choose. THAT started something in me.

What was different about your journey with State of Slim?

With State of Slim, I realized I needed a new story of who I was, and who I really am. The program did teach me about eating and about activity, but the thing that made the difference this time was what it taught me about mindset. Mindset and focus on a strong reason why. A new story emerged and I am still motivated. THAT has never before been the case.

Take us to the moment when you realized State of Slim was actually working to solve your problem?

I knew that this time was different when after 16 weeks, my focus was still strong and unwavering. I knew I could and would keep going!

Tells us what life looks like now.

Today, I am a person who gets up every morning at 4:50 am and does writing exercises to strengthen my mind and to further my songwriting skills. I am a person who immediately after, heads to my local YMCA pool and exercises to strengthen my body. My wife even joins me, and during our 40 minutes there, we share our “three things we’re grateful for” and what our intentions are for the day. I then leave for work, and as soon as I get back home, I spend one to two hours studying music and learning to better my guitar playing (instead of eating and watching TV). Music has always been a passion of mine, but had become one that I had all but lost.

If the new you could go back and give one piece of advice to the old you before you started State of Slim what would it be?

If I could go back and give the old me one piece of advice before I started State of Slim, I would say, “Hey, trust me, THIS is the one. THIS is the plan that will give you the life you have always wanted but didn’t believe you deserved or were even capable of having.”

In hindsight, striving for a healthy lifestyle is not as hard as being obese was. I now feel ALIVE. And I feel POSSIBLE. One of the milestones I had been working towards during my State of Slim journey was to lose enough weight to go ziplining in Costa Rica in February 2017. I needed to be under 300 pounds. Just before we left for the airport, I stepped on the scale, and it read 292 pounds! I now proudly can say that ziplining is scary as H***!

I can’t begin to thank Dr Holly, Coach Marsha and the team for what they have opened my eyes to. And this is just the beginning. I used to ski black diamond runs before I put on all this weight. I look forward to getting back to all that. As important as the number on the scale is and the pounds I’ve lost, equally important if not more important is my mindset and belief in myself and what else I can achieve. I couldn’t have done it without this program and my coach.