As a 47 year old woman who spent most of my adult life struggling with weight, body image and health, Bridgette Kossor was at the end of her rope, trying yet again, to lose weight and feel good. By the end of 2006, she found herself at her heaviest weight, 268 lbs., on medication for high cholesterol and blood pressure, and sleeping with a machine for sleep apnea. Her doctor suggested gastric bypass surgery, which shocked her into taking some kind of real, responsible action to take care of herself. Her friend, Barbara Panno, had told her about Macrobiotics earlier that fall, but she wasn’t ready to consider making this kind of change, until her “light bulb moment”, months later. She could no longer keep doing what she had been doing for years; dieting and exercising with no real connection to the food or herself. She had no idea what Macrobiotics was, but she knew that she needed to find out.

Bridgette met with Denny Waxman in 2007 for her first macrobiotic health consultation. He gave her his recommendations for eating a wide macrobiotic diet and changing her lifestyle to better balance her insides, along with her outer appearance. She enthusiastically jumped into this new way of thinking about her food, cooking and eating; within 6 weeks her cholesterol numbers reduced drastically (LDL was cut in half), and within 4 months she lost 52 pounds without even trying. Her medications were no longer needed since her blood pressure and cholesterol were within normal ranges for the first time in years. She no longer needed a machine to sleep with, since her sleep apnea also disappeared. By the end of her first year of macrobiotic practice, she lost close to 90 lbs. For someone who has spent her whole adult life in a dysfunctional relationship with food and her body, this approach to food, cooking, health and community was not only simple, but invaluable. read article and listen to audio