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Interview with Pernille:
It’s a Saturday afternoon and we have come to visit Pernille.
Pernille is 33 years old and has had a weight problem since she was
20. After living a year in USA, she adopted American eating habits –
burgers, chips and cola – and she gradually put on weight. She then
enrolled in TWC – and lost 46 kilos in 11 months!
Pernille proudly tells about her new life as she calls it, and about
all the sad and awful experiences she had before she seriously
decided to lose weight. ”The world looks quite different from a size
34 than from a size 48'', she smiles.
Before
“I always felt too big”, she says honestly, “and my self-confidence
was almost non-existent. All my favourite clothes had become too
small, and I had to buy still larger and larger sizes. Forget about
fashionable clothes!”
“At home, things weren’t too much fun either. My husband and I began
arguing and fighting more than usual – often over the most
meaningless things. I had a whole lot of bad habits and it was as if
I was totally drained of all energy.”
But if you have gone around for 10 years and felt bad about your
overweight, why didn’t you done something about it earlier?
“Well of course I did”, she replies. “There are no recipes and diets
I haven’t tried – they just never helped. It was as if something or
other was in the way, so I always had to give them up. And often the
result was that I weighed more than when I started.”
When did you decide to try TWC?
“That was in January, 2000. At that time I weighed almost 110 kilos
and a family member was kind enough to send me a videotape of our
family Christmas dinner. When I saw myself on the video, I was
speechless! Was I really that big?
I was really shocked and soon after I began the programme with TWC.”
After
“The kilos practically dropped off me”, laughs Pernille. It was
incredible. Already after one month I could throw out some of the
long dresses – and the rest followed soon after.”
In which way has your every day changed?
 “I
believe that I’ve become another person. The bad habits are gone and
I feel better about myself. It feels as if a great burden has been
lifted from my shoulders. I am no longer ashamed of myself – and I
have regained my old energy.”
How have you experienced the difference between TWC’s diet
replacement programme and the other diets you have tried?
“There are two big differences. First of all, you don’t have to
starve yourself – instead you change your eating habits. And the
recipes are completely different. The food actually tastes really
good and you are allowed to eat as much as you like so you are
satiated. Actually I eat more now – also dessert.
The other important difference is that you are together with others.
When you attend the weekly meeting with the others, you are not only
accountable to yourself – and that makes a big difference.”
Do you have any good advice to those who wish to lose weight?
“Your motivation should be in order. If people knew how much better
they’d feel afterwards, I am quite sure that that fact in itself
would be motivation enough for most people. It is not only eating
habits that change for the better, but also all the other bad
habits.
It’s not only about losing weight – it’s just as much about getting
your old energy back and improving your quality of life.
It is never easy giving up what you like here and now. But the
reward is fantastic! It is also very important to attend the weekly
meetings. My friend dropped out after a month. She thought she could
do it on her own. But that didn’t work out so well. It is very
difficult to go on a diet alone at home, without help.”
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