My Journey with Nutrition and Obesity

I wasn’t overweight growing up but found myself morbidly obese after moving to the South when my son was 5 yrs old for multiple reasons. I had never fully lost the pregnancy weight and once in the South I gained 35 lbs in the first two years eating fast food, junk food and at buffets and after that it was all downhill from there.

We were outdoor kids growing up but my mother was on an eternal diet and growing up around overweight children and seeing how hard it was for them I became interested in the why but never investigated further at that time. Obesity has always been my passion and I started a hiking club at my first job with the children and their parents and then when I worked on a military installation I teamed up with a LTC Nurse Practitioner and we started a multidisciplinary Pediatric weight loss clinic for two summers. Over time what I did learn is that there is a huge social stigma around obesity and that every diet works if you adhere to it no matter how crazy it sounds so the key is finding the healthiest one that you can be compliant with.

It was as if my body read the 6 pillars of Lifestyle Medicine and did the exact opposite - poor eating habits, no consistent exercise, no sleep restoration, overflowing stress, and inconsistent quality connectedness. The only one that I didn’t do was exposure to risky substances. Since my mid 20s I was a vegetarian (except when I was pregnant and had meat cravings) but at one point became an unhealthy vegan - I ate a lot of processed foods until I reached my max of 219 lbs. Despite the weight I always managed to hike, ski, roller blade, swim and overall keep up with my family and friends but I was officially and had been for quite some time morbidly obese and had to accept the fact that I was putting my life in danger. The fear of losing my independence and endless doctor’s appointments scared me straight. Over the years I became hypertensive and developed Fatty Liver Disease and knew that I needed to do something yesterday.

The first part of my journey took years - predominantly plant based with exceptions on

vacation and minimally at home but different diets - 100% vegan, raw Vegan, junk vegan along with intermittently exercising but not truly adhering to Lifestyle Medicine recommendations which didn’t become an official board-certified specialty until 2017. I went into medicine for multiple reasons one of them being to practice holistic medicine so I was very much aware of what was healthy vs unhealthy. There was no excuse except for all of the ‘food noise’ in my brain and the need for comfort eating secondary to stress that had been with me forever.

I’d lose 15 or 20 lbs here or there, gain some back and then lose it again. I visited a Bariatric Clinic and considered surgery but then whenever they put me on their pre-diet I’d lose weight and thought that I didn’t need surgery. The next exciting stop on the journey was a walk/run Rock ’n’ Roll marathon in San Diego and I got down to 185 lbs but the exercising was intermittent after that.

Years later in 2022 my doctor had samples of Mounjaro which is a GLP-1 and it was life-changing. There was hope and help! Using the medication without the Lifestyle Medicine changes isn’t a panacea. It definitely stops the ‘food noise’ which was a constant chatter in my mind but for sustained results you have to make lifestyle changes. Now that I have started working on ALL areas of my life I know that I will not go back to being morbidly obese ever again and for the first time in almost three decades I have a normal BMI at 66 yrs old.

Everybody is different and that’s the most important thing to remember. Some people need the medications and some don’t, different diets work for different people and everybody has a different relationship with food secondary to our upbringings and our cultures so teaming up with a Lifestyle Medicine specialist can help tailor a program that would work best for you.

Please reach out if you have any questions or want to team up for your Lifestyle changes!