Success Stories

A. Lee Battershell, CPA

"Year 2006 was the beginning of a bad time. On June 20, 2006, Ilost my beloved brother to Leukemia. On July 25, 2006, I lost my husband to cancer. He was the love of my life for 46 years and I miss him. On August 30, 2006, a truck ran a red light and hit me paralyzing me on the left side. I used a walker for six months. After discarding the walker I often needed a cane because my leg bones were not properly aligned and my muscles had atrophied. In August 2007 I had a detached retina and in December 2007 I fell causing my left knee to dislocate and causing me to limp even more. I was not sure if my continuing leg pains and eye problems were the result of the accident or medication—I was taking Lipitor. I quit taking Lipitor and my cholesterol shot up to 257. Basically, I was falling apart."

"I decided that 2008 would be my turn-around year. I wanted to improve my health so I could continue with my dream job, helping nonprofits and churches with accounting and tax problems. I tried various diets, enrolled in the gym, and realized varying degrees of success, but nothing outstanding. In early August I learned my heart was enlarging and wasn't strong enough to pump the liquid out of my legs — my legs were swelling. Finally, in late August I checked myself into the NEWSTART® Lifestyle Program at Weimar and began my journey to health and a better life. The attention from the wonderful NEWSTART® staff, the classes, the nutrition, the hydrotherapy, and the exercise are what this body and mind needed. My cholesterol fell to 212 after only 19 days and it's still falling — without medication. As of December 2008, I lost 30 pounds and I'm still losing. My legs are getting stronger and I’m able to walk four miles at a time. Next month I get to see how much more my cholesterol has fallen and next month I will join a walking club. My doctor at NEWSTART® has committed to monitoring my progress each quarter so I plan to be a four-day guest of Weimar each quarter."

"Thank you God for Weimar and the dedicated people in the NEWSTART® Lifestyle Program."

Mary Rollans

"A cruise aboard ship couldn't be better than my experience here at NEWSTART®. I feel so good after just one week! The food is marvelous and guilt free and the hydrotherapy and massage has been so relaxing. I sleep at night and awaken with more energy and I'm gaining strength. We have made new friends and have enjoyed hiking and going on picnics with them. The care we receive is genuine because the staff care about us and even pray for us. The most exciting thing is how my husband David's blood pressure and cholesterol has dropped to normal without medication!"

David Rollans

"My experience here NEWSTART® has been a wonderful blessing. I came just in time because when I came my heart wasn't getting enough blood. Now I praise God I'm not having the same amount of angina that I had before. My blood pressure has dropped over fifteen points and I have been taken off my cholesterol medication. I've lost three pounds and I feel wonderful. Now when I sleep I wake up rested. I haven't felt this good in years. I can't praise the Lord enough!"

Lily-Mae Jolly

Since becoming a Seventh-day Adventist six years ago in Jamaica, I became aware of the health message that the church has. From watching the program "Wonderfully Made", on 3ABN , I found out about the NEWSTART® Lifestyle Program at Weimar Institute.

I have suffered with hypertension for the past thirty-two years and was very excited to know that I could live a lifestyle that could reverse or improve my condition. I imagined how I would feel not having to take my medication and with my high blood pressure under control just from eating the right kind of food and exercise.

My dream eventually became a reality in October of this year when I registered for the NEWSTART® Lifestyle Program. From the moment I entered the facility I felt confident that this was an answer to prayer. I started learning the importance of exercise, proper nutrition, fresh air and rest. I am also being taught how to prepare these meals so that I will be able to do this by myself at home. I feel pampered with the hydrotherapy, massages and personal attention, visits to the doctors and the interest displayed in my recovery to good health.

After only 11 days at NEWSTART my blood pressure was already lower - and without medication! I have gotten to like the food which was totally new to me and I have been surprised, because the food, which is the key to all these illnesses, coupled with the benefits of exercise has totally turned my life around. I am still working on getting the blood pressure to normal levels after 32 years of medication.

NEWSTART® is really a new start for me for the rest of my life and with the help of God, I plan to continue this lifestyle. My life is completely changed and TO GOD BE THE GLORY.

Wesley & Jean Higgins

Coming to the NEWSTART® Lifestyle Program at Weimar has been a wonderful experience and we feel fortunate to have participated in it.

I had a few health issues for which I hoped the doctors would be able to find an answer. First was the limited ability to use my arms - I had a difficult time raising them above a 45 degree angle or extending them for more than a few seconds, before they would become extremely painful. For the past 8-10 years, I have undergone x-rays, injections, NSAID's, physical therapy and none have worked. The hydrotherapy and massage treatments here at NEWSTART® greatly improved my shoulder range of motion and eliminated most of my arm pain.

Also, I first arrived at NEWSTART® I could only walk abut 1/2 mile. Weimar Institute has several miles of walking trails and walking is strongly encouraged each day. This has improved the circulation in my legs and I can now walk 5 miles a day in divided intervals.

My eyesight was also a challenge. For the past 2+ years I have experienced blurred vision when reading. My medical provider has checked my vision several times and has told me that my eyesight was fine for my age and I just needed to change my glasses. New glasses never solved the problem. When my eyes were checked at NEWSTART®, all I could see with my right eye was the big "E". Dr Ing examined my eyes very thoroughly and discovered what the problem was and what to do about it. I am so grateful.

Jean has experienced left leg edema for the past four years and the doctor has always told her that she would just have to live with it. After receiving the massage and hydrotherapy treatments, walking the minimum of 3 miles a day and changing to a vegan diet, she has improved to where she does not have the pain and the edema has decreased substantially.

The dedication of the doctors and the rest of the staff is absolutely outstanding. The care we have received has been individualized to each ones needs and has been provided by very dedicated professional staff members. With the knowledge that we have gained during this 18-day program, especially regarding nutrition and exercise, we will be able to live a healthier lifestyle.

Samuel and Marlene Moffett

We were so thrilled with the miniature five day NEWSTART® Program that we attended back in the United Kingdom, that we decided to travel 6000 miles from Northern Ireland to participate in the 18-day NEWSTART® Lifestyle Program at Weimar Institute in California.

The first time we attended the NEWSTART® Lifestyle Program it was all that we had understood it to be and had hoped for. We will be eternally grateful for the dedication of all the staff in caring for the guests. As a result of their care and the lifestyle changes we both benefited considerably. After attending the NEWSTART® Lifestyle Program Marlene went on to lose 30 lbs in weight, she reduced her blood pressure and considerably increased her mobility.

Having enjoyed this wonderful program we came again for a second time again just for the experience. We would without reservation recommend the NEWSTART® Lifestyle Program.

John Tolar, Los Angeles, CA.

John Tolar chose to attend the NEWSTART® Lifestyle Center when his diabetes and obesity started seriously affecting his ability to help others in his ministry with the Salvation Army. "I really thought I'd be hungry on the program," John remarks. "But even from the first day I wasn't hungry. I've never needed snacks, it's really remarkable."

In just 18 days on the NEWSTART® program, John lost 21 pounds and was able to decrease his insulin intake by over 25%. His journey to better health continues now that he is home and putting into practice the health principles that he has learned at Weimar Institute. Commenting on his experience in NEWSTART®, John says, "The education has been just fantastic, the lectures, the doctors, the information they share with you is really remarkable, the cooking school gave us hope of being able to do it when we got home."

Between March and September, John lost 133.7 pounds, has completely discontinued insulin and has walked 556 miles. He continues to prove that lifestyle change is possible for everyone!

T.M., 58 yrs of age

Clinical Results August 18, 2003

Diabetes mellitus, type 2
Neuropathy for 1.5 years
BP 150/78
381.4 pounds
Rx metformin 500 mg bid, furosemide 40mg, losartan 50 mg

Clinical Results 18 days later

365.2 pounds
BP 116/72
Lost 16.2 pounds

May 11, 2004

270 pounds
normal blood pressure and blood sugar
no longer on any medications
Lost 111.4 pounds

Clinical Results July 2004

BP 110/68 CHL/HDL - 2.06
CHL - 140 mg/dL PSA - 0.4
TRG - 56 mg/dL HgbA1C 5.5%
HDL - 68 mg/dL
LDL - 61 mg/dL

Clinical Results Jan 23, 2005

240 pounds
normal blood pressure and blood sugar
no longer on any medications.
Lost 141.4 pounds

Denny Purkey

Denny Purkey, a guest who attended the 18-day NEWSTART® Lifestyle Program, tells of his experience at Weimar Institute and how it not only improved his health but also gave him a new start on life.

There are only a few great moments in a person's lifetime. In January I attended the eighteen-day NEWSTART® Lifestyle Program at Weimar, California.

At age 69, 5'4" tall, 225 pounds, and in a health tailspin downward, I am now "lifestyle healthy". Both my cholesterol and triglycerides were over 350, now they are both 136. My blood sugar reading without medication averages 92.

My results for the past 6 months since attending the program are:

• I am off nine of fourteen medications.
• I am off high blood pressure, diabetes, gout, cholesterol, and triglycerides medications.
• I have lost 65 pounds (from 225 to 160).
• I walk between six to thirteen miles a day.
• The neuropathy I once had in my feet and shoulders is completely gone.
• I FEEL GOOD!

The NEWSTART® Lifestyle Program gave me a total new start in healthy living.

Jack and Lois Trimpey, Lotus, CA

"My wife, Lois, and I attended the 18-day NEWSTART® Lifestyle Program as a couple. We were both overweight, felt like slugs, and had alarming blood pressure and cholesterol numbers. I cannot afford overweight, having had two bypass operations. Still, I felt there wasn't enough food in the world to satisfy my hunger. Within four days at Weimar Institute my appetite was completely tamed, and I began to actually taste food for the first time since I was a child."

"I'm over 60 now, we 'wog' (walk and jog) three miles five days a week and have more energy than sometimes we know what to do with. Lois' angina has long disappeared, and I'm not hungry all the time. We both love the simplicity of vegan cooking and we are both amazed at how good food tastes."

"We have lost 60 pounds each, our blood pressure is on the low side of normal, and our cholesterol numbers occasionally get into the 'abnormal-low' column. We can see the restoration of our health as the forgiveness of God for decades of abusing our bodies. NEWSTART® was the best possible use of our money, as purchasing health is much less expensive than purchasing health services."

Cheryl Hunt

"Discouraged is not the word I would use to describe how I felt when I was diagnosed by my rheumatologist with Fibromyalgia. When he pressed on the trigger points on my back and shoulders and asked if they hurt, all I could answer was yes, yes, yes! I told him that I had suffered with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome a few years before and then he told me that Fibromyalgia is a more severe form of this condition. Reflecting back on some very stressful circumstances in which I found myself a short time before I came down with all the symptoms of Fibromyalgia, validated in my mind the powerful role stress plays in our overall health."

"Being told that Fibromyalgia would be with me the rest of my life and would change the way I like to live was very upsetting to me. I enjoyed kayaking, swimming and hiking so I chose not to give in to the thought that these activities would only be a part of my past."

"A short time later, I came to work at the Customer Service Department at Weimar Institute. I was told I needed to go through the 18-day NEWSTART® program so that I could intelligently share it with other people. I was excited about the latest cutting edge information on health, which I would learn from the doctors. Experiencing first hand the vitalizing effects of hydrotherapy and massage, as well as meeting new people who were coming to invest in their health, was something I was looking forward to."

"I remember distinctly as I was getting dressed one morning at the end of the first week, it dawned on me that I had slept the whole night through without waking. Before that point, I would wake up several times a night, having to turn over because of pain in my shoulders and hips. I couldn't remember the last time I had slept so well. I got so excited I told everyone in my group and made it a point to tell my doctor that day at my individual physician appointment. He was thrilled as well and asked if I had experienced any other noticeable improvements."

"Around the same time I noticed the swelling was subsiding in the tissues around my right knee. I also had a greater range of motion. The excellent hydrotherapy and massage treatments enabled my body to flush the toxins out and increase my circulation, which allowed me to increase my exercise time. Soon I was able to walk and enjoy 5 – 7 miles a day with other guests."

"I lost 9 lbs, feeling full the whole time. I experienced increased energy during the day and enjoyed the benefits of a restful sleep at night. It is going on four years now since that program and I am still pain free."

"Today, I still kayak, swim and hike every opportunity I get. To think I was told that if I am hurting, I would need to stop the activity. It is amazing to me how we are expected to accept illness as a way of life—something to adapt to. Going through the program was one of the best things that ever happened to me, and it can be the same for you."

Dr. Gnanamuthu S. Wilson

Stroke and How NEWSTART® May Prevent or Actually Reverse Its Effects

"My doctors said I would never recover... five months later I proved them wrong." —Dr. Gnanamuthu S. Wilson

A major stroke put him in hospital for weeks. He is making a full recovery after 5 months on the NEWSTART® Lifestyle Program at Weimar Institute.

"In April I came to Weimar in a wheelchair with no motor control on the right side of my body. Doctors gave me no hope for recovering from a major stroke. They predicted I would be confined to bed rest and would only be able to get around in a wheelchair or with a quad-cane. Five months later, not only am I walking three-plus miles a day, but my life has made a complete turn-around and it's all because of NEWSTART."

"Head of the Department of Humanities at Strayer University, where I had been an active professor for the last nine years, I was enjoying teaching in the prime of health until a major stroke brought me to a hospital bed. With the focus center located in the brain stem, I lost all motor control on the right side of my body, my right leg becoming paralyzed and right hand weak and unusable."

"After being admitted to Potomac Hospital in Virginia, my doctors predicted I would be in hospital and rehabs for a year. Four days later I was released to the National Rehab Center from where I went from rehab to rehab for the next nine weeks. Each one was the area's best; yet they gave me no hope for recovering. I began suffering from sky-high cholesterol and blood sugar and a blood pressure of 188/115. I had many sleepless nights and lived with an abnormally rapid heartbeat. As I grew sicker by the day, and as doctors tried their best to reverse my condition, I continued to be served fat-filled meats and foods drenched in oil, butter, sugar, and milk."

"Finally I decided to handle this myself. While prayerfully searching the web one day, I came across Weimar Institute of Health and Education, a website that promoted health and healing through the use of natural remedies and a whole-foods diet. It promised a complete overhauling of my eating habits, banning milk, meat, butter, mayonnaise, oil, and sugar, and reverting completely to a plant-based vegetarian diet with plenty of raw foods."

"I entered the 18-day program and with the help of Dr. Clarence Ing and many other friendly staff, my health began to turn around. To date, I have logged 380 miles on the trails and I keep walking! My leg has become strong, my hand has been restored again, and my motor control has come back. My blood pressure now fluctuates from 125/60 to 138/70, my cholesterol has dropped from 207 to 186, and my blood sugar has returned to normal."

"All I can say is, once more, NEWSTART® has achieved its ultimate goal - changing lives - through changing me, a bed-ridden stroke patient, back into a vibrant healthy 73-year old who is excited about life again. It is truly an amazing miracle!"

Dr.Wilson today continues teaching students and challenging their bright enquiring minds.

Marshall Horseman

Coronary Failure and how NEWSTART® may help control or actually reverse it.

"I am in my 60's, an administrator of Pueblo Norte Healthcare Center, a 120 bed nursing facility in Scottsdale, Arizona. I have a wonderful wife, Rose, and two sons. The big moving van had just arrived to unload our furniture and belongings into our new home in North Scottsdale. It was a warm, sunny day and I was ready for a day with the task ahead. All of a sudden I felt very weak, and out of breath. I felt a sharp pain in my throat and neck, and I could barely walk. Rose said I was looking gray, and that we were heading straight to the doctor's office. The doctor was an endocrinologist and was treating me for a thyroid deficiency. From my appearance and symptoms, he did an EKG and I heard him whisper to my wife, 'He's going into coronary failure.' He immediately called for an ambulance."

"A few frustrating events made the next few minutes more colorful. As I went through the tight fit of the doctor's examination room door, my thumbs were bent backwards by the doorjamb. The stretcher was too long for the elevator, so I was taken down the fire escape at a 45-degree angle on the stretcher. I bounced so far down the stretcher I almost fell off. In the back of the ambulance, the attendant got the IV tubes tangled up, and when he turned, the IV tubes were pulled out of my arm and the fluids splattered down on my face."

"Finally, at the hospital Coronary Intensive Care Unit, I was given emergency services, including a heart catherization which revealed nine coronary artery blockages of 95%, with an order that I be prepared for bypass surgery that day."

"Being a healthcare administrator, I was visited by the Director of Nurses at Pueblo Norte facility. Her husband had faced a similar emergency a few years earlier, and he had gone to Weimar Institute with good success. I called Weimar to find out if I could come, the dates which were available and what the costs would be. I knew Dr. Milton Crane, the Medical Director at the time, so I had confidence in my decision to go. My cardiologist predicted, 'You'll never survive the trip to Weimar.'"

"After 8 days in the CCU, my wife drove me to Weimar, which was a two-day drive from Scottsdale. All I had to do was walk from the car past the flagpole to the NEWSTART® Lodge. I had to stop and sit down two or three times before I got there. We were made comfortable and were provided with a fine room. The entire setting at Weimar was perfect for me: the cool mountain air, the tall pine trees, the lawns, and friendly staff."

"I was off to a good start except the meals. At first the food seemed bland since I had been used to more stimulating food. I soon learned that my previous diet was the source of my clogged arteries. After a few more days, I found my taste buds were becoming more sensitive to the delicate and delicious flavors of the simple, healthy foods."

"After only two or three days, my body responded to this new way of living. My energy increased, and I could walk about a half mile. After a week I could walk over a mile a day with no shortness of breath, weakness or cardiac symptoms. My whole body was feeling one hundred percent better, and my spirit and outlook for the future was renewed."

"The entire NEWSTART® program was exactly what I needed. And to think that I almost submitted to the dangers of bypass surgery and would never have known the lifetime benefits I learned at Weimar. The valuable educational lectures from dedicated physicians helped me understand how my body works."

"The cooking school demonstrations, where we actually prepared foods in a new, healthy, nutritious and tasty way, were very practical. The benefits of sunlight, water, rest, and trust in God, made me realize the importance of such basic truths."

"After four weeks, I was vigorously walking about 4 to 5 miles a day without distress. I continued to make periodic visits with my cardiologist. He could see that I had survived the trip, and was 'happily shocked' to see my great improvement without bypass surgery."

"After about 18 months, he did a thallium treadmill test, which revealed 'clean arteries'. And now, 8 1/2 years later, I have good health, and go to work every day without chest pains."

Beverly Colby, Chico, CA

High Blood Pressure and how NEWSTART® may help control it.

"I was the beginning of a great big basketcase. I had acquired high blood pressure and had just been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I could feel myself going down the tubes. Thank goodness I knew about Weimar."

After 18 days, Beverly's blood pressure had come down to the normal range without medication, she lost five pounds, but the greatest benefit came the last day of the program when her physician said, "You came here with diabetes. You're leaving here without it."