Well, last night was the New Patient Information Seminar for weight loss surgery at Newton Wellesley Hospital. This seminar is required for anyone that has a consultation appointment already scheduled, and you MUST attend this seminar before they allow you to come to your consultation appointment. Talk about overwhelming!!! The good thing about this seminar, is that it was presented by the doctor with whom I have my appointment already scheduled...Dr. Sheila Partridge.
Now earlier in the day, I had made a trip to see my primary care doctor to get the paperwork filled out for their part of my info packet. And of course, as part of the appointment, my nurse practitioner (Cathy Obin at Blue Hills Medical.....she is AMAZING!!!) had me step on the dreaded scale so that she could document my starting point with this whole journey. Needless to say, I was not happy with what I saw....starting weight is 242lbs....a BMI of 45. Now, I knew that I was overweight....and I have tried many diets. At one point my doctor had me on prescription "Meridia", which I did well on and lost about 20-25lbs, but unfortunately I hit a plateau....and at that point it was getting too expensive to pay for, seeing that insurance didn't cover it. So after coming off the Meridia, I gained all those pounds back :-( Then about a year after that, I started doing "LA Weight Loss" at their center in Brockton. I followed this program to a T....and I lost about 20-25 pounds, hit a plateau.....and yet again, it was getting too costly to pay for the food and supplements. So yet again, I gained the weight back...and then some!
It is very unfortunate that some of the good weight loss programs are so expensive, and not cost effective for people to be able to access. Yeah, I know....you should be able to diet and exercise on your own. Well folks, I tried that too. For about 6 months, I was watching what I ate.....had lots of veggies and protein, and kept my carb intake very low. I was walking about 1.2 miles a day as well. And guess what....I lost about 20-25lbs on my own in the first 2 months....but got stuck there yet again.
Now one thing that was stated at the seminar last night, is that even with diet and exercise, some people metabolically are not able to lose the weight. This is something that I had always thought in my mind, but hearing the doctor say it out loud made me feel so much better. Growing up, I was always the real skinny one. My mom used to tease me and say I looked anorexic.....but it wasn't the case. And believe me, if you saw what I consumed for food everyday, you would wonder where it all went. But as I have grown older, my body and metabolism have changed. And now, for the first time in a long time, I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. I want to go into this process with my eyes wide open.
Until next time.....
