I've been obese most of my life. I was large as a child and during late adolescence, I kept getting bigger and bigger. At 19 years of age, I decided that 'enough was enough'. I lost 65 pounds over the course of a Summer - from 203 to 136 lbs. I was doing very hard physical labour at a cheese factory. At the same time, I practiced strict portion control. I managed to keep my weight down to around 150 - give or take 10 pounds - for nine years. I was careful to eat mostly healthy choices and I engaged in copious amounts of aerobic exercise almost daily.
I'm not quite sure what got me derailed. Several years of intense stress and career instability. A job as hotel night auditor where I had amazing late night snacks from the hotel kitchen. The purchase of a car and family responsibilities meant much less need for physical exercise to get around town. Carelessness.
I started working at Hastings County the same month Val was born, and I had crept up to 165 lbs. I went on the Weight Watchers program and lost 20 pounds over 6 months. After a few months off Weight Watchers, the weight slowly kept creeping back on until one day in the Summer of 1996 I had reached an all time high of 240 pounds. I had a weight loss competition with a couple buddies at work and lost 35 pounds over a 12 month period of careful eating and a daily gym routine. I kept up at the gym, and stayed at about 210 lbs. for 5 years. In 2000 a change in job assignments meant that I had to give up the most-days gym routine and I didn't replace this with other exercise. By 2006 I was back up to 235 lbs., and I decided to get back to the daily gym workouts and started seeing a dietician. Over the next 16 months I lost 30 pounds, and kept it off for the next 5 years. The year 2010 brought another job change (and I was getting sick of the gym), so I stopped the gym routine (again). The weight crept back on again 'till by 2013 I was back up to 229 lbs.
I'm sorry for the lengthy history, but it serves to show the struggles I've had over the years. I have had some successes, but even after having dropped pounds each time, I have always struggled with being far heavier than I wanted to be - and still at a health risk.
For the past 25 years, the doctor has gently mentioned that my triglyceride and blood sugar levels were creeping towards 'pre-diabetes' levels. The lifestyle choices and various weight loss programs have not worked well. I felt like it was time to take drastic action, but I didn't know what to do.
In the last couple of years, when I've looked in the mirror and not been happy with what I saw, or when I've been out of breath climbing a few stairs, or been uncomfortably squished in an airplane seat (built for seriously skinny people!) - I've realized that I needed to do something. I've seen many people around me try the Bernstein weight loss program, and it has been exciting to see them drop 50 or 60 pounds, or more - but I really hesitated to sign up, because most of them seemed to gain the weight back within a year or so.
Back in the Fall of 2013, an acquaintance of ours lost a dramatic amount of weight. My beloved wife got talking to them and found out that they had had stomach surgery. We arranged to meet with this person and spouse to find out more about their experience. After a lot of talking and thinking about it, this seemed like a weight loss solution that might really work. I talked to my GP and got a referral.
December 15, 2013 I decided to use a small 8 inch plate consistently.
After what seemed like a long wait, I got into the group orientation session for the surgery program at Hotel Dieu in Kingston. It seemed pretty radical, but it did seem like something I was willing to commit to - very, very small meals for the rest of my life. Finally, I went for my personal assessment - on pins and needles. I was told that I was refused for the program because I was too 'skinny' and my health concerns were too minor. It was pretty disappointing.
The good news was that I did qualify for the non-surgical (Optifast) program. Yeah. Well, it's been a long wait, but finally it's May 2015 and it has begun! Well actually, it would be more accurate to say, "it continues"... using the small plate system, I lost 22 pounds in 17 months.
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