Success Stories

Recently Debbie Reynolds came to the Pritikin Longevity Center and wanted to share her experience with everyone who is thinking about coming to Pritikin.

What a duo! Fil, 72, runs 5Ks and wins gold medals. Dan, 75, was told by his doctors 27 years ago that he needed coronary bypass surgery. He never had that surgery. He went to Pritikin instead.

It’s been nearly a year and a half since I first went to Pritikin. I’ve lost so much weight that my friends and family now call me "Half Nelson." I’ve dropped 65 pounds, from 250 to 185. My waist size has fallen from 44 to 34 inches. My blood pressure is completely normal.

“I was so concerned that by going to Pritikin, I was going to miss out on life. Oh my goodness, what I’ve found is that I now have a whole new life.

"I waited 30 years to go to Pritikin. I missed out on all the improvements I would have made if I had gone to Pritikin earlier. My advice to anyone who has never gone to Pritikin is: Learn from my mistakes. Don’t miss out on all the benefits you can achieve today. Go Now!"

"After going to the Pritikin Center, my weight is down 30 pounds and my cholesterol is down 25%. I am sending my friends to Pritikin. I am a true believer."

We often hear stories about girls in college who put on weight – the "Freshman 15" or the "Freshman 40." "It can happen to guys too," says Pete O’Neill, 21, who gained more than 50 pounds during his freshman fall semester in 2006 at Digital Media Arts College in Boca Raton, Florida. "All that pizza, junk food, and drinking took its toll."

Nearly a year ago, Jennifer Garman, a mother of two daughters ages 14 and 23, had reached a point "where I could not stop the weight gain." She’d hit 243 pounds and a size 24, the largest she’d ever been. And it scared her. The simple act of carrying her four-month-old grandchild up one flight of stairs left her breathless.

About 18 months ago, near the end of her 7th grade year, Brianna perked up one evening at the family dining room table. Her father was talking about his upcoming trip to the Pritikin Longevity Center in Florida, his third retreat at the healthy-living resort, and mentionedn the swimming pools and tennis courts there.

Mary Stephenson is the first to give her husband, Nelson, credit for "taking control of his life" and losing 65 pounds, dropping his waist size from 44 to 34, and launching a whole new lifestyle brimming with Pritikin energy. Nelson, however, asserts that it has been Mary’s abiding love and support that has fueled his success. "Yes, it’s a joint effort," laughs Mary, "and the rewards definitely make it all worthwhile."

In 1976, Hal was anything but healthy. His arteries were so clogged that he couldn’t walk around the block near his home without suffering chest-squeezing angina pain. His doctors told him he needed double coronary bypass surgery immediately, or he could try "this new diet-and-exercise program" being taught up in Santa Barbara by a man named Nathan Pritikin. Hal chose the latter. He’s never needed bypass surgery or angioplasty. And he’s never suffered a heart attack. In fact, last year cardiac testing showed that his coronary arteries had no blockages. None.

"To achieve my maximum level of fitness Pritikin is the perfect nutrition and lifestyle plan." In this photo, Amy was competing at the 2009 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, in June. She won! She is the USA 10,000 Meter Champ. Says Amy: "This has been the year I have always dreamed of. I am healthy and having fun and testing my limits."

"It's my job to evaluate innumerable health organizations and claims and to sift through endless exaggerations from public relations firms. I do this in order to make the best recommendations to our 39 million readers who are intensely interested in health issues, particularly weight loss, diabetes prevention, heart health, and healthy, active aging. The Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa is one of those rare creatures: A program that not only lives up to its claims, it exceeds them.

"There’s just one word I’d use to describe my Executive Health Exam at Pritikin - perfect! Everyone - my doctors, the chefs, the educators, the concierge staff - were so kind and professional. They exceeded my expectations! I’m looking forward to coming back, and bringing my parents with me."

"We had a wonderful experience and really enjoyed the healthy and supportive environment. It was the perfect respite for my wife and I. We'll be back for a tune up. It was a perfect combination of health, wellness and relaxation."

Recently, despite the gray in my beard and what hair I have left, a lot of people have told me they never would have guessed I was in my 50s. Obviously, what’s most important is how I myself feel, but it’s always nice to get a little outside reinforcement.

Leon Perlsweig always knew his DNA wasn’t the best. His earliest memories were of his dear mother passing out in the street, “which scared the hell out of me. I was just a little kid.”

Andrea's brother was startled by her rising weight and declining health, and invited her to go to the Pritikin Longevity Center, as his guest.“I was so desperate and upset about my diabetes,” recalls Andrea, “that I went.” The results were so superb (she dropped 30 pounds and her medication dosage was cut in half) that her brother once again made her an offer she could not refuse.

"I'm no longer a diabetic! By my third day at Pritikin, I was off all diabetic medications. My cholesterol fell 40 points, too! WOW!"

"When my doctors told me 20 years ago I needed coronary bypass surgery, I told them I had a better solution. I went to Pritikin instead. I'VE NEVER HAD ANOTHER PROBLEM WITH MY HEART. No chest pains. No angioplasty. No bypass surgery. Every six months, I see my cardiologist and take a battery of tests, and every six months he says that my coronary risk profile is right on target."

"Thanks so much for giving me the opportunity to be healthy at 60." In just two weeks his cholesterol fell 38%, from 194 to 121. His triglycerides shot down 56%, from 203 to 89. His LDL bad cholesterol plunged from 101 to 55. “Everything,” smiles Ron, “was in the groovy range.”

Via the Pritikin Program, Leonard Riggio has realized one of his own personal dreams – a vibrant healthy life despite a strong family history of heart disease – “almost every male member of our family has heart disease.”

Within eight months, Sherri shed 60 pounds and dropped from a size 18 to a size 8. Even more importantly, she’s kept the weight off, going on two years now. “For the first time in my life, I’m mindful of what I’m eating. I know how vital it is to plan ahead so that whenever hunger hits, I’m surrounded by the right food. Pritikin empowered me with the tools I needed to change my life.”

Since he stood on the stage of the original Woodstock concert in 1969 and announced, “What we have in mind is breakfast in bed for 400,000!" Wavy Gravy (aka Hugh Romney) has become world-famous as a cosmic cut-up, inspiration for a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, and most importantly, his good works on behalf of the planet and its least fortunate residents.

"I've been on a lot of diets, so I'm well aware of the struggle to lose weight and keep it off. . . but something happened down in Florida at the Pritikin Longevity Center, and now, all the things I used to eat, like fried eggs and bacon, I just don't want anymore. I've developed a taste, a real liking, for fruits and vegetables, and soups and salads. I don't even feel as if I'm on a diet. I'm very happy I went to Pritikin . . . Pritikin is a life-changing experience with lifelong rewards."

After just two days at Pritikin, my blood sugar dropped down to perfectly normal levels. So did my blood pressure. It was amazing! Plus, I felt wonderful.

"I came to Pritikin because my health was like a runaway freight train. I was taking multiple pills for diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. After one week at Pritikin, I was down to one pill for diabetes. By the end of the second week, I wasn't taking any pills! I didn't need them anymore!

"I was very ill. My blood pressure was dangerously high, 220/115, and I was on three blood pressure medications. I was feeling very blue and weak. I even missed the christening of my goddaughter's baby. But by my third day at Pritikin, my blood pressure had shot down so low that I couldn't even believe it. I'm so thrilled! My blood pressure is now normal, and I'm off all my medications. Plus, I have so much energy! I just feel 100% better. I'm proud of Pritikin, and I'm proud of myself."

"I'd been on blood pressure medication since I was 20 years old. Well, after four days at Pritikin, my blood pressure literally plummeted! It's been nine months since I was at Pritikin, and my blood pressure is STILL LOW--116 over 68. I've lost 70 pounds, and my cholesterol is 113! I have a good friend, a physician, who'd been encouraging me for years to come to Pritikin. My only regret is that I didn't take his advice sooner. The lectures at Pritikin are superb, the food is delicious, and the benefits are mind-blowing!"

"Over the years, I've probably tried every program you can think of to lose weight, lower cholesterol, prevent hypertension, and keep blood sugar in check. Without question, Pritikin is the one that works miracles."

“Many aging baby boomers, think nothing of dropping $5,000 on a nice vacation but would never spend that much on health education. What’s wonderful about Pritikin is you get both – a great vacation and a great education. And you return home feeling so good – and with the skills to continue feeling that good. It’s a vacation with a purpose."

In the 1970s, doctors told Tom McMullen, 48 years old, father of six, and sales engineer poised to become company president, to just go home “and live life to its fullest. There’s nothing we can do for you,” his physicians counseled. “Your coronary arteries are severely clogged. You don’t have long to live.”

Joe Young was never chubby in his youth. Far from it. A lover of the outdoors, the lean, wiry civil engineer scaled mountains, hiked the California deserts, volunteered at cheetah conservation preserves in Africa, and, from 1973, was a Sierra Club hike leader.

Twenty-one years ago, Peter Gignac first came to the Pritikin Longevity Center in Santa Monica, California. Within a year, he'd lost 100 pounds, plummeting from 260 to 160. "I went religious," laughs Peter, a commercial real estate investor and owner of furniture stores.

"I've got a great story about my college-age daughter. She came with me to Pritikin in December while on semester break, but she wasn't officially in the program. She went shopping at the mall, watched me eating fruits and vegetables, and at first kept saying, "I want donuts," and "Let's get ice cream." Every night, she rolled her eyes when I told her what I'd learned in the nutrition lectures that day.

"But then, all of a sudden, she starting picking up fruit from the bowls in the lobby, and sampling a vegetable or two, and then, a few days after we returned home, she announced, "Mommy, I don't eat meat anymore."

Susan attended the Pritikin Family Program with her 11-year-old son Fitz. "The program was definitely a 10+ experience for Fitz. This was a child who never touched a vegetable! The Pritikin faculty really knew how to explain healthy living in kid terms. Fitz is no longer eating fruits and vegetables because "mom said so." He's eating them because he wants to."

The true benefit of going to Pritikin is the example my wife and I have been able to set for our two daughters. We want our kids to grow up learning and living the right habits. When my younger daughter was only three years old, she was already saying things like, "Daddy, look, I'm eating fruits and vegetables. I'm going to grow."

"I think all my patients would benefit from a trip to the Pritikin Longevity Center. The Center is not just a diet program; it's a longevity program that provides an eye-opening education on nutrition and health...It was striking to me how much I personally learned at Pritikin about nutrition. I have no doubt whatsoever that if you follow the principles you learn there, you will live longer, you will live better, and you will consider it one of the best investments you have ever made."

"As a heart surgeon, I am convinced that the optimal lifestyle program for avoiding cardiovascular disease is the Pritikin Program. It is the premier plan for reducing risk factors like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, high blood sugar, and excess weight."

"I was so impressed with the Pritikin Longevity Center that I am personally calling physician friends to say that the best thing they could ever do for their patients is refer them to Pritikin. I was thrilled to hear that Pritikin has a program to train medical residents in the fields of nutrition, exercise, and prevention. This is a program, more than any other in the world, that can save millions of lives. With the Pritikin Program, we doctors truly can wipe out heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and obesity."

"When I was 45, I had a stress test and found out that I had coronary artery disease. My cardiologist recommended immediate bypass surgery, but I didn't want surgery. I went to Pritikin instead. That was 12 years ago. I've never needed bypass surgery."

"So, what has the Pritikin Program meant to me? My Pritikin lifestyle has kept me alive! Before Pritikin, my cholesterol was 360. After Pritikin, it was 130, and it's still 130. That speaks pretty loudly."

"Our members are all young and in good health. Pritikin gave us the education to continue on a healthy path. And just in time! I came to Pritikin with poor eating habits. What a difference a few days at Pritikin made! All of us gained knowledge that has changed our lives forever."

"My blood pressure this morning was 114/60. My cholesterol is 120. Not bad for an 80-year-old guy! In my 25 years of going to Pritikin, I've seen many, well, I have to call them miracles. I especially remember a pharmacist from Norfolk, Virginia. He was a diabetic. His doctors had told him that his toes and possibly his feet would need to be amputated. Instead of signing up for surgery, he flew out to Pritikin. At our graduating ceremony at Pritikin, 30 days after he arrived, he took off his shoes and stockings and showed everyone, his eyes full of tears, his big pink, healthy foot. Then he started dancing! And we all danced with him. Now that's a memory."

"Twenty years ago, when I first went to Pritikin, I weighed 206 pounds. I lost 45 pounds - and I NEVER GAINED IT BACK. But more important than my weight loss is what Pritikin has meant to my health. You know all those diseases like hypertension and heart disease that people think they have to spend the rest of their life with? Well, that's baloney. It's just not true. I love being free of all that. I love being healthy."

"I've lost 78 pounds on the Pritikin Program. I've gone from 265 pounds to 187, from a size 44 waist to a size 34. I have this belt that I love, and I've had to put two extra holes in it to keep wearing it - that's a good problem to have! People ask me: Isn't the Pritikin Program rigid and difficult? I reply that I've tried every diet, including the Atkins diet. On Atkins, steak tastes like steak. Bacon tastes like bacon. I craved sugar, but you can't have any fruit on Atkins. With Pritikin, I can have just about everything I desire. I don't ever walk around feeling unsatisfied."