Weight was never an issue for Jen Wildes, 48, until she reached her 30s. A Wisconsin native who currently lives in Pittsboro, North Carolina, Jen started to add pounds after the birth of her second child. During her third pregnancy, she was placed on bed rest for five months, and her weight gain escalated quickly from there.
“At that point in my life, I was an incredibly active person and bed rest was a real struggle for me, so I just started to overeat,” Jen says. “From then on, the weight gain happened fast. I was putting on about 15 pounds per year.”
Jen’s husband then experienced several job changes, taking the family from Wisconsin to Michigan and California, before settling most recently in North Carolina. By early 2022, all of that relocation, along with the responsibilities of caring for her family, also started to take their toll on Jen’s health. A mom to three children, Jen knew she was deprioritizing herself. Instead, she was helping her autistic son navigate the community college system with tutoring and mentoring, while also playing an active role in her daughter’s life of her daughter, a high school sophomore who was a busy athlete. Meanwhile, Jen was also substitute teaching in her local school district, and staying connected with her 20-year-old son, a student at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay.
“I was not committed to myself or my diet, which meant eating whatever I wanted and not exercising,” Jen says. “Like many moms do, I was putting everything else before myself.”
Jen felt she was travelling down a scary path. She was keenly aware that obesity ran in her family. To try to combat her own weight gain, Jen had tried many different weight loss methods over the years, including WeightWatchers® and medical weight loss programs that required her to eat their branded foods, nutrition shakes and protein bars. While she had initial success with these programs, the weight would always come back.
“My problem was the accountability piece—when someone was holding me accountable, I would do great,” Jen explains. “But as soon as I would come off the program, I would go back to my old ways and regain the weight. I needed something that could work long-term and that was sustainable for my every day life.”
A faithful person, Jen often prayed while driving around town. One day, as she was driving and praying for a solution to her struggles with weight, Jen heard a radio ad for True You Weight Loss and felt this might be the answer she was looking for. She knew she didn’t want an invasive surgery or other procedure, so when she read about True You Rx, she was intrigued. Her further research into the program revealed positive reviews.
After calling her insurance company, Jen initially worried the out-of-pocket expense might be too much for her to manage. However, after calling True You and reviewing her options with them, she was surprised to find it was less than she’d spent on any of her previous weight loss programs. To her, it was worth the expense.
“After becoming a True You patient, I was given the flexibility and tools I needed to be successful right away. I was given the education and support I needed from the team, and was prescribed topiramate and phentermine to jumpstart my weight loss. Also, I was thrilled to learn that all my appointments would be virtual, which was so much easier to manage than having to go back and forth to appointments all the time,” Jen says. “I knew the program would fit perfectly into my lifestyle.”
When Jen started True You Rx on February 14, 2022, she weighed 209 pounds. In addition to taking her medication, Jen introduced regular gym workouts into her routine. She started slowly with low-impact workouts and built from there. Five days a week, Jen went to bed at 9:30pm so she could wake up at 5:45am to prepare for her workouts. She would also go the gym on Saturdays.
“Along with medication and the team support, this exercise routine was integral to my weight loss,” Jen says. “I made myself a priority again, and then the scale finally started to move.”
In less than six months, Jen has lost 46 pounds with True You Rx. During her journey, Jen started to feel most motivated when she could tell her clothes were fitting differently. Down from a size 14 to a size 8, Jen was thrilled when she enjoyed a shopping trip with her daughter and finally fit into a pair of lululemon leggings.
“The True You team helped me figure out what I needed to do to keep the weight loss going, and it was like a light bulb finally went on,” Jen says. “I owe so much to True You and what this program has done for me.”
Additionally, Jen relates that being able to eat her own food, track calories the way she wanted to, and mentally monitor her own food intake—instead of being forced to complete a detailed daily journal or enter it into an app, was key to her success. Jen realized the rigidity of other weight loss programs had never matched her needs.
“Having to track calories and other nutrients as if it was a part-time job was not something I was interested in doing ever again because I knew I couldn’t keep it up for the long-term,” Jen explains. “True You said that I should do whatever worked best for me, and if I was having success, to stick with it and keep going. When someone asks me if it has been hard to lose weight with True You, I can honestly say no. For the first time in my life, losing weight has actually been easy and stress-free—and I feel like I can keep it up because it fits my life. Throughout the process, the team has also been extremely encouraging and flexible, especially Kathleen [bariatric dietitian and nutritionist] and Kristen [nurse practitioner], who have been fabulous!”
In addition to achieving better health, Jen’s inspiration for losing weight has always been her family and children.
“I want to be there for my children—I don’t want to be a mom who can’t be active or do things with my kids because I am unhealthy or overweight,” Jen concludes. “Thanks to the True You Weight Loss team, I feel better than I have in a long time. I love this program and what it has done to transform my life and my body.”
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