My youngest son is at that age where he’s recently graduated from the pediatrician and has begun going to the family doctor. Conversations have switched, accordingly, from team sports to “sex, drugs, and rock and roll talks,” as the doctor calls them. No longer do we have the nice nurse come in for shots, but we’re handed a lab slip and told to high-tail it over to the lab.
While at the lab waiting for the dreaded “blood draw,” a woman in the waiting room struck up a conversation with me. My kids were confused. They were pretty sure I didn’t know her (and I didn’t), but she was speaking filter-free about the health journey she was on. This came up because she was drinking a small bottle of water and she said, “Man. I can’t even drink half of this. My stomach’s about this big right now,” and she held up her hand making a circle with her thumb and forefinger.
Turns out, four days ago she had a gastric bypass down at UC Davis. She was supposed to stay down there, but had decided that didn’t work for her so she’d come home. She talked about how painful the surgery was, how she’d had to take multiple pain meds and give herself so much morphine on the self-regulated drip that she couldn’t breathe at one point. She told us how she had staples all over her stomach and wasn’t supposed to drive, but couldn’t stand the dependency factor on her friend, so chose to anyway despite the risks. I couldn’t help but feel how this was not the easy way out that some people think it may be.
“How long will it take you to take off—“
“The weight?”
“Yah.”
“They said about 9 months for 85 pounds.”
She said she’d tried everything. When I asked her if she’d tried Take Shape for Life, she said no, that was the one thing she hadn’t tried. Now I know everybody’s different, but if it took me 6 months to lose 80 pounds without pills, surgeries, morphine, etc., isn’t that at least worth a try?
I feel sad when I talk to people in this situation. I feel like I just missed an opportunity to help them down a completely different path filled with hope and empowerment, vs. a lifetime of side effects. TSFL doesn’t use money on advertising so it’s a program that depends on word of mouth. It’s a fantastic program and I’ve personally helped over 70 people drop around 3,500 pounds collectively over the last 4 years. That’s just me, and there are many other health coaches out there like me. Not everybody sticks with it, but all those that do, consistently lose each week, and incorporate all types of healthy habits that will keep them mentally and physically healthy throughout their lives as they continue to apply them.
Please, if you know anybody that is considering gastric bypass, send them to me or another health coach you know, and at least let them try this program. The permanent repercussions from the surgery are just not worth at least giving the program a shot. What do they have to lose besides weight?
jamieweilwrites 
Oh my, as I read this I immediately went into “nurse” mode and wondered what was that woman thinking going against so much of the post surgery plan of care. That aside, people want a quick fix and aren’t willing to try other options that require discipline, time and life style changes. Then I ask myself, are they going to be able to change their patterns after surgery, if not they will be back where they started.
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And so that’s the thing. It’s neither quick, nor easy. It’s filled with recovery issues for the rest of their lives. Yikes. But, yeah, the patterns. 85% of people gain their weight back under any circumstances. Sigh. It’s a process.
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Thank you for sharing this important info Jamie! I didn’t realize you had another site about this healthy program and I’m so excited to check it out. Anything that helps us focus on developing new, good, healthy habits is up my alley. 🙂 I really respond best to a gentle approach, and I thank you for presenting your healthy attitudes and life habits in such a welcoming manner. Bless your heart! Hugs, Gina
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It’s a process for all of us, isn’t it? I tend to be way more interested in all things spiritual and leave my body temple to fend for itself. Health coaching helps me balance that out because, like Ralph Waldo says, “One of the greatest compensations on this earth is that we can’t truly serve someone else without serving ourselves.” Sending you love beams, Gina!
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I am 34 years old and at the age of 17 I started to have various hormone issues, hot flashes, heavy periods, etc. A doctor told my mother that I had the hormones of woman going through menopause. I started a course of birth control pills to address those issues. At this point I saw that my weight wasn’t fluctuating anymore, it remained consistent. I was happy to finally see that my eating healthy was paying off. My weight remained the same through the age of 25 as long as I kept my birth control regimen. At 25 years old I got married and decided I wanted to start a family. I got off the birth control pill thinking i would let my system flush out the pill within 6 months to a year. 3 months after I got off the hormones I went from weight 195lbs to weighing 250lbs and climbing. I am a tall girl so I carried my weight nice and even but at 250lbs there was nothing even about it. I began to think maybe it was just the weight one gains when you’re happily married. I was wrong, PCOS was the cause of my rapid weight gain. I tried and tried so hard, healthy meals, small portions, lots and lots of exercise but nothing, no weight loss but in fact the complete opposite I was gaining more and more until i finally got up to 310lbs. I finally decided to see a specialist in PCOS and he explained why I was gaining weight so rapidly. My pancreas was over producing insulin, so my body thought it was starving therefore it was storing as much fat as it could. After much research I decided to get the Gastric Bypass surgery. As I furthered my research into the surgeries I decided to go with the Gastric Sleeve. For me it was just a better choice. I researched a good hospital for this and found myself at Cedar Sinai Medical Center. I had regular insurance nothing special. I attended one of their seminars and became informed of all the requirements one has to meet to have the actual surgery. It’s was definitely not an easy process. After numerous evaluations with a Psychiatrist, Internist, Nutritionist and Surgeon, I was told I was psychologically ready to go through with this surgery. On December 9, 2011, I had the Gastric Sleeve done. I was in the hospital attached to monitors and morphine for the pain for 3 days, I wasn’t able to eat anything but clear liquid or their special protein shakes. I think once I left the hospital that was the hardest part because I wanted to eat even though I wasn’t hungry, it was the feeling of chewing something satisfying that i was missing. By week 5 I was eating solids again. I was always a healthy eater so it wasn’t hard for me to eat the veggies and protein i needed. Now with the help of the nutritionist, the doctor in combination with a healthy lifestyle i have maintained my weight. I have 3 boys and even with my last pregnancy consistency is key to keeping the weight off. It’s been 6 years and I maintain my weight loss of 120 lbs total. Surgery might not be the solution for everyone but for me it was a wonderful tool that helped me lose what I couldn’t lose despite my healthy eating and exercise. The surgery alone with healthy eating and exercise has been the key for me, but I agree that you have to be diligent and work hard because having the surgery takes hard work, it isn’t easy, despite what people may think. It’s people that think that way that don’t end up succeeding.
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