Success Stories

Catholic Deacon Richard of Missouri is used to greeting parishioners before and after mass each Sunday to wish them well. After all, he’s been doing it for a number of years, often seeing the same faces week after week. But, because he rotates through five different Sunday Masses during his monthly schedule, occasionally, he greets members of the congregation who don’t recognize him anymore.

"They ask me where my brother is and often describe a guy who looks just like me, but heavier," the 49-year-old chuckles. "You should see the look on their faces when I tell them that it’s me and that I’ve lost over 100 pounds* since the last time they saw me."

A member of the Isagenix® 100-Pound Club, Richard says he’d struggled with his weight his whole life, even being known as the "big kid" in school. A love for cooking and being able to whip up just about anything in the kitchen as a chef certainly didn’t help Richard throughout the years to lose any weight. At 343 pounds, he not only had to request seatbelt extenders when traveling by airplane, but he had a difficult time going up stairs or even tying his shoes without feeling out of breath.

The moment he knew he had to change came during a routine, annual physical required by the Roman Catholic Church. Stepping up on the scale for the first time in a while, Richard watched the numbers climb and recalled his poor family health history and thought about wanting to see his grandchildren grow up. "I just knew I had to do something right then," reflects Richard. "Ironically, Isagenix showed up three days later. It’s like I always say, ‘when the student is ready, the teacher appears.’"

His favorite adage led the way for him to finally make a commitment to losing weight and trying the products. He adopted a "wait and see" attitude and plowed ahead, starting his Isagenix system. Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait long before he began to notice changes. Even through catering some of the largest Christmas parties of his career, Richard saw his weight begin to taper off.

When he reached a milestone of 100-pounds lost, he could not believe it. As he sat down on the airplane, prepared to ask for a seatbelt extender as usual, Richard buckled his belt and noticed he even had room to spare. It was one of the most exciting moments during his weight-loss journey. Now 114 pounds lighter, 16 pant sizes and 78.5 inches smaller*, Richard is singing the praises of the products that helped him finally change his life. His only challenge now is explaining to the local nuns why they have to remake some of his traditional church garments.

"I told one of the nuns that I lost a whole one of her and she just looked at me and told me that my alb (a traditional robe that ties at the waist) wasn’t going to fit me anymore," laughs Richard. "She just shook her head and said I’d trip over my old one if I kept wearing it."

Richard hopes to share his story with even more people, especially those facing the challenge of losing a significant amount of weight because he knows what it feels like to struggle with everyday tasks. He keeps cards in his pockets that show off his "embarrassing ‘before’" picture and even told his story on the Isagenix "Have It All" DVD as part of the 100-Pound Club segment.

"My goal is to help people get healthy before they need medicine. When I recall all of the changes Isagenix has made in my life, I just think 'thank you, Lord for Isagenix,'" says Richard, choking up. "I don’t ever want to go back to where I was. I never could have dreamed that I would be like this."