My name is Pat Burns. I am 61 years old and have been a life-long compulsive overeater.

I have been a Weight Watchers member for a year and a half. My starting weight was 353 pounds. For the first year, I lost consistently, and was feeling pretty good about me because I was down by 85 pounds and finally seemed to have things under control. Then about 4 or 5 months back my weight started yoyo-ing….up a pound….down a pound. The last 10 pounds I lost were the hardest.

Over the last several months I lost my mother, went through some highly stressful job changes, and had a bad flare in my fibromyalgia. That just sort of pushed me over the edge. I’ve been eating to deal with the loss of my mom. I’ve been eating to deal with job stress. I’ve been eating to soothe the pain. Last Tuesday at my Weight Watchers weigh-in, I gained, again….now having regained the last 10 pounds I lost, that I fought so hard for. The WW leader is a lovely woman, but she is offering me solutions that aren’t really solutions for me.

I was going through the WW message boards, hoping to connect with someone in the same position as me, and saw a post recommending your IOWL podcasts. I downloaded all the episodes on iTunes and listened to the first 3 today. I feel so strongly that you and your program are what I need that it’s hard to put into words.

I am in Florida and my sister is in New York, but we have our own little support group, as she is going through exactly what I am right now. I plan to tell her about you and the program and podcasts, in the hopes that it can help both of us.

I’ve been in such despair lately that I’m crying at the thought of having hope again, that my life and weight can be normal.

Toward the end of the 3rd episode, you asked what our dream was. I will retire in the next year or two, and my dream is that I can be happy and healthy enough to have a fantastic retirement, and enjoy every minute of it. Now THAT makes me smile!

Again, thanks so much for being there.

Pat Burns

Tallahassee, FL