The Bariatric Center

When we were done with the rest of the physical , the doctor asked the nurse to set me up with an appointment at the bariatric center. The center staff asked which program being referred and the nurse had no answer. The doctor had gone on to see other patients, of course, so we couldn't ask her. I finally asked the nurse for the bariatric center's number and had her verify with them that it was OK I call directly.

When I called the next day I learned that this particular center offers three things:

1) Nutritionist services.

2) Medically supervised weight loss.

3) Gastric bypass surgery.

The person on the phone said that there was an introductory meeting coming up in a day or two. So, the significant other and I found ourselves sitting through the HMR sales pitch. The nutritionist giving it was friendly enough but she was basically recruiting for a group of people to run through option number two. Either she didn't know much about options one and three or she feigned ignorance.

I had to ask pointed questions of the nutritionist to get her to enumerate the costs. Then some direct questions to break break the costs down further to startup and periodic. She told us that insurance usually covers the nutritionist, doctor/nurse practitioner, and lab tests. She was also honest in saying that insurance almost never covers the required food and/or shakes. Let me tell you, this is not a cheap thing to do.

So, after that meeting the SO and I had a serious conversation about the HMR program. When the conversation started, I was leaning toward doing the program. Somewhere along the line I realized that this program would teach me to lose and maintain weight but in a way that left me basically dependent on their shakes and food. I remembered mention of a "transition phase" but that was all that was said. At that point, I realized that I needed to find another way because I want to lose weight living in the real world. The quest for a weight loss solution continued...

Exercise is not the answer.

It has been roundly obvious for some time that I could stand to shed a great deal of weight. So, we shopped around and finally found a treadmill that can handle my girth. It sucks but, unless traveling or hurt, you can reliably find me chugging away Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. My progress over the months has been clearly reflected in the increasingly steep inclines and faster speeds required to maintain 75% of max heart rate. But I kept gingerly stepping on the scale every now and again hoping to see 349 instead of ERR. I'm getting faster and stronger. I'm feeling good. I must be losing weight too!

Partially due to my extreme weight, I have actually remembered to schedule and go to my yearly physical three years in a row. This is undoubtedly my first physical three-peat since the pediatrician years. Of course, the nurse weighed me. What do you think the results were? I posted a double digit year over year gain. In fact, my gain was larger than the year prior when I wasn't exercising! What a disappointment. I asked the doctor about my unexpectedly increased weight. She brought up watching what I eat. I discounted it as impossible. She suggested walking seven days a week. I replied honestly that my joints could not handle that. She did get me to agree to add one additional day on the treadmill per fortnight. Then, she shocked me by referring me to the local bariatric center. What a kick in the testis. I have a reasonably accurate body image and I know I'm morbidly obese, but to refer me to the place that does gastric bypass?! My blood work is good, the Red Cross nurses regularly compliment me on my blood pressure, I put miles on the treadmill each and every week. Are you kidding me? I was just referred to a bariatric center?! I thought exercise was the answer!

My time on the treadmill burns about 1200 calories a week. I now understand we are only talking about one pound every three weeks. It is clear to me now that when folks talk about weight loss depending on "diet and exercise" what they mean to say is "almost all diet and a little bit exercise." I still get on the treadmill three days a week but now do it because it is good for me, not for the slight weight loss addition.

This first post describes the event that made me feel that my situation required urgent attention. I considered a few new options and found a solution that seems to be working for me. So far I am over 10% of the way toward my goal weight in only five weeks. Thanks for reading the first entry of a journal to document what will hopefully become a 200 pound journey. This was the first lesson learned along the way, I can't wait to see how many more there are.