Weight Management - A Personal Journey

Why do we need to talk about weight? Weight and weight management is a personal journey for most individuals. I can understand this- I would sooner tell you my age (now 57 years old) than tell you how much I weigh. I am not an obese person, but weight is a private issue for me like it is for my patients. I work hard daily to maintain my weight in the healthy weight range for my height. I have tried so many different diet strategies, from best shark tank products for weight loss to ketogenic diets however I found out more recently it is all about balance. I am a bariatric program coordinator. I have coordinated the Walk from Obesity event for 3 years, trying to help others in my community understand the scope of the problem of obesity in our area. I have done the event because I am passionate about improving the care for people who struggle with obesity. Why am I passionate about caring for patients who struggle with obesity? I have been a bariatric program coordinator nurse only since 2007; a relative “newbie” to the bariatric profession compared to the years of experience many other practitioners in this field have had. In the past 7 years I have learned a great deal about the problem of obesity and treatments available in our nation.

Obesity is a measured by body mass index; a formula of your height to weight. It is genetically based, behaviorally and environmentally influenced, chronic and progressive disease of fat storage that is linked to numerous medical complications. (ASMBS.org, 2014). Obesity can decrease your quality of life and shorten your lifespan. Worrisome is the fact that obesity rates are higher than 30% in 13 states in our nation. (CDC.gov). Just as worrisome is the 17% incidence of obesity in children of our nation who are the future of our nation.

I have had personal experience with obesity shortening someone’s life. I come from a family with a history of obesity as adults. My mother, her parents and her 5 siblings were all obese as adults. My mother struggled with obesity and obesity related medical conditions such as atrial fibrillation, obstructive sleep apnea and disabling arthritis for the last 30 years of her life. Her primary care physician once said to her “if you would just lose weight you would not be in my office so often”- but did not offer her any other advise or referrals for weight management. She died in 2005, before I entered this specialty. My father struggled to maintain a healthy weight after the age of 40. He died in 2000 of metastatic cancer. I married a man whose family struggled with obesity. My brother-in-law died in 2010 due to metastatic esophageal cancer. He was 54 years old. In one of my last visits to him prior to his death, he told me that when his doctor diagnosed his condition, the physician said “if you weren’t so fat we might have caught it sooner”. My brother-in-law was a man who was obese as an adult, who tried unsuccessfully many times to lose weight and keep it off. But he was not someone who ignored his symptoms, and did see his physician regularly. The top 10 weight loss diets explained to us by his physician were all natural, they were all about making small changes in your daily diet to have a higher chance of keeping it off. Diets such as the Keto diet and the VLCD diets are proven to have successful and long term results, so as a family we are taking action on this and starting to see a change.

Obesity increases risk of disease including several types of cancers. Many individuals who struggle with weight avoid routine health care out of embarrassment or fear of bias from healthcare professionals. Bariatric programs are staffed with professionals like me, who are passionate about caring for individuals who want to improve their health and quality of life through weight management- and we welcome patients who are just as passionate as we are. Are you interested in improving your health through weight management? See information on the following websites:

I would give (and have given) the same information to my family members who struggle with obesity. There is help available in your area. To find a qualified program see www.mbsaqip.org.