We all walk in the door alone seeking a new life. We look for knowledge, healthy eating and a place to exercise. Some of us are still seeking that quick fix that is often advertised on TV.
We are hoping that after a few weeks we will walk out a new person, looking the way we have wanted to look. We realize after being here a short while that there is no quick fix. We have to change our life by confronting major issues and approaching life in a different way.
Here we find a supportive community with resources to help if we enter into the program with an open mind and heart. Others who have the same struggles become close friends which helps us to realize we are not alone. We are not judged on our outward appearance but accepted as unique individuals who have much to contribute to the world.
Some of us have more challenges than others and the road to health seems overwhelming. Progress can seem slow, but it is progress, and we learn to measure our success in various ways, not just what the scale says every morning.
Living on campus provides us with a safe, supportive environment that contributes to our feeling of well-being. Meals are healthy and well planned with a variety of choices to accommodate preferences. The gym and exercise classes are offered at all levels – both the traditional classes as well as new ones, like drumming.
An important component of the program is the interior part — learning about our bodies and our coping skills and where we have made poor choices. Help is given in how to approach various situations that were challenging and how to deal with these in a more positive way. No matter if we have been here a few weeks or much longer, when we leave we go through that door, back into the real world, not alone but with the support of the staff and the many friends we have made here who understand us and are standing beside us. – Diana W.
