210 W. Lincoln Ave, Anaheim CA 92805 Tel: (714) 535-9800

Danna Bone

At the age of five I began to put on excess weight.  And it seemed that I wouldn’t ever stop getting heavier.  Oh, there were times that I would take pounds off and then within the next six months put it and more back on.  In the past I have lost over 50 pounds only to gain it all back.  I was a diet failure and it made me feel like a failure in other areas of my life.  I have had many embarrassing moments, pants that have split in public, I broke a chair in the doctor’s waiting room and on an airplane I had to ask a man for a seatbelt

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extender, only to have him forget to get me one.Then I was too embarrassed to ask again. I flew home 12 hours with a seatbelt cutting into me. I also would hate to meet my husband’s new co-workers, because I felt like they were saying to themselves, “Poor Stewart”.  Z

When ever I went into a room filled with people I would check to see if I was the biggest woman in the room and I usually was.  Being overweight plagued me; it was always on my mind.  Every night I would senselessly hope and pray that in the morning I would weigh 100 pounds less.

I had spent a lot of money trying losing weight and I decided that I wasn’t going to spend another dime until I knew I would able to lose the weight and keep it off.  So, about three years ago at 291 pounds I went to the doctor and said, “Help”.  He told me that the only way he knew of to lose weight and keep it off is to either have major gastro-bypass surgery or change my diet and begin exercising.  Being basically an anti-exercise girl I decided to check into having the surgery done.  After consulting with other doctors we decided that was not an option for me.  The fear of surgery and the lifestyle change seemed too extreme for me and my family.  Then, two years later when I returned home from a three week vacation in Scotland I found that I had lost 20 pounds.  I was amazed and realized that we had spent every day of the vacation walking a lot and weren’t eating big meals.  This was great and I decided to continue to diet.  After one month of dieting I hadn’t lost any more weight and I knew I had to add exercise to my routine.  I went to my local Curves and committed to go for only one week.  I didn’t want to commit to something that I wouldn’t do.  By the time the week was over, I was hooked!  I was losing weight and feeling better, but I never dreamt that in a little over a year’s time I would have lost over 100 pounds.

Over the last year and a half I have changed my diet, but I never have felt deprived on the Curves program.  Because it is so convenient, making Curves part of my life was easy.  It is like going to church, reading an inspirational book, or learning something new - exercising at Curves is a great addition to my life.

Even though I haven’t reached my ultimate goal, for the first time in my life I know that I can.  At Curves there are several fun contests and games where you can win super prizes, but I feel like a winner every time I look in a mirror, try on new clothes or complete a half hour of exercise.

Kathi Pidgen

On October 8, 2005, I drove my sister to the Curves in the Anaheim Towne Center to research what Curves was all about.  We both ended up joining that morning.  In January 2006 I enrolled in my first session of Curves 6 Week Solution.  I lost nine pounds and was thrilled at the success I had achieved.  Six months later the owner, Mary Mello, persuaded me to start power workouts.  These advanced workouts are much more effective and have made all of the difference in my loss of 34 inches and 32 pounds.  I do these workouts three times a week.  On Saturday mornings, I toss a weight ball with my

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sister; it’s a great workout for the upper arms!  Not only have I lost weight safely and raised my metabolism, I maintained my goal weight for the last two months - which included Christmas and my birthday.   Now that I’m in Phase III, I record my weight on the Maintenance Chart every morning.  It helps me to have this visual picture of how I’m doing.  I even started a binder to help me keep track of my weight loss and I make spreadsheets of the daily food journals that automatically calculate the day’s calorie, protein, fat, and carbohydrate totals.  My binder also has recipes from myCurves.com, daily and weekly menus, and the charts for weight loss and maintenance.  I share the binder with other members during our classes.  This last year, I learned to use two of my favorite resources:  the staff at Curves and my family.  They encouraged, supported, and motivated me to keep going during the tough times.  And my family is very patient when I try new Curves recipes.  One of our members has lost over 100 pounds and we’ve been able to support each other through our weight losses last year.  It feels great to know I inspired others to join the 6 Week Solution program because they watched me go from a size 14 to a size 8.  Now it’s actually fun to step on the scale.  (Being overweight since my teenage years, I never thought I’d say a sentence like that!)

This last year, I learned to use two of my favorite resources:  the staff at Curves and my family.  They encouraged, supported, and motivated me to keep going during the tough times.  And my family is very patient when I try new Curves recipes.  One of our members has lost over 100 pounds and we’ve been able to support each other through our weight losses last year.  It feels great to know I inspired others to join the 6 Week Solution program because they watched me go from a size 14 to a size 8.  Now it’s actually fun to step on the scale.  (Being overweight since my teenage years, I never thought I’d say a sentence like that!)

Thanks to Curves, I didn’t just lose weight; I gained confidence, muscle tone, cardiovascular fitness, friendships, self-esteem, and stamina.  I now have more energy to bike ride and rollerblade with my husband on the weekends.  I also ice skate once a week with a co-worker during lunch.  The best health benefit I’ve received since joining Curves is that my total cholesterol has gone from 215 to 170.  My doctor is delighted that all of my lipid levels and blood pressure have been lowered through diet and exercise.  Today, at age 51, I’m in better shape than I was in my 40s.  The best psychological benefit is that I weigh less today than the day I was married, nearly 29 years ago!