Jürgen's story

My weight loss journey started, really, with gaining a lot of weight. And partly, I think the problem was that we like to eat good food. And I have a problem with portion control.

I live in London. Very nice little area. It's a little bit like a village there.

Some clothes, I really like to wear them, and I couldn't wear them anymore. Or I saw something in the shop and I say, "I would like to buy that." It just doesn't exist in my size. And you try not to look at yourself from the side. Depressing. That's when I realized something has to happen here.

My doctor was very concerned. He said, "You can't go on like that if you want to be as fit as you are now when you are 70 or 80. Better you change your lifestyle."

I can't tell you how many gyms I joined in my life. Oh yes, I go three times a week or something, and then, "Oh, this week I have no time." At the end, you don't even go. You just pay.

You try different kinds of diets. You stop eating something, and then you lose weight, probably very quickly even. And you are getting cravings all the time. You want to have exactly that, but you're not allowed to eat it. But you are disciplined, and that works for a while. And then you have your goal, you lost like a kilo or two, and you think, "Great." And what happens then is you stop that, and slowly the weight creeps in. And not only that, you can gain more weight. You are heavier than before.

So I learned about Embla through a talk with my GP, and we talked about what you can do. He had heard about it, and he said, "Maybe you should try that."

I think Embla is very good with the support they give. My coach is Nicole. She's always very happy, always smiley, which is very important. So it's always a pleasure to talk to her. I had a meeting with her once a week, and she's very encouraging. She says, "Don't worry about this, don't worry about that. I looked at the pictures that you sent, and your food looks so nice." And that makes you feel very well.

The other thing that was always good is you always have access to your coach, or to the doctor, or to whoever helps you from the company.

I rediscovered that walking, for example, is a very nice thing to do, which I really didn't enjoy before. I rediscovered also, when it comes to food, looking at your plate, at what is really on it. Not just eating because you're hungry, much more consciously [?]. "Yes, that looks very nice. I like it. Next time I do it differently." That you learn through the journey.

Maybe I'm even a more happier person, who knows. Very nice people they have in the company. It's always enjoyable to talk to them. So that helps you to go through the journey, and obviously they help me to reach my goals, to lose weight, and with that to be a healthier person.