“I told Nancy, as I’m telling you, the only way this happened was from the training and teachings of Nancy Lum. With the support of my family, my wonderful wife making sure I was toeing the line, and the knowledge Nancy had taught me, I will be able to do things I would have never thought possible.”
I have been overweight my entire life, 50 + years. I have tried this diet and that diet, this trend and that trend, and I always end up heavier than ever. During a meeting at work I like to lean back in my chair with my hands over my stomach, a reflexive hiding action. I noticed over the last couple of years, my hands would rise higher and higher, meeting after meeting until they were about 6 inches higher than my chest. One day I was over by shipping and receiving and noticed their large digital freight scale, with some trepidation I stepped on the scale to see a whopping 340 pounds. I realized then and there if I wanted to see my kids have kids, I needed to do something NOW. My wife has great insurance, she looked it up and Bariatric surgery was covered 100% after deductible, which my many diabetic medicines had already met. We looked up the available centers and St. Agnes stuck out as THE place to go. I set up an appointment to go to one of the information lectures and Nancy Lum walked into my life. She spoke knowledgably and Precisely about WHY our bodies were doing what they did, how it organically made decisions without our input and strived to reach a balanced level. Not necessarily a GOOD level, but a level none the less. I joined the program and went to Nancy’s 6 month required diet training thinking “Whatever, I ‘ll just do the bare minimums required and have the surgery”. Nancy explained how we needed to retrain our food needs and take in the amounts and frequencies required to maintain a healthy life. Five meals a day? I can live with that! Then the eye opener, how to read a label. Immediately 95% of all food in the supermarket were off limits. As fat as I was, I am, and still am a VERY picky eater. A member of the sworn “no condiments” club, I loathed all yogurt products, cottage cheese, tuna fish etc… my food choices were dramatically narrowed. Weekend shopping became a treasure hunt finding food that fit the required criteria. I could not have done this without the support of my wife, who would only cook healthy bariatric inclined meals. Thus we set out on the great diet of 2012. Feeding times were something to look forward to. 50 years of eating when and what I wanted were over. Measured portions, limited carbs, high protein were the watch words of the day. Not to say that the occasional mini size candy bar would crawl up my leg and jump into my mouth… At the end of the first month I had lost about 12 pounds. Wow. I guess Nancy does know what she was talking about. The incentive was on, every month we would meet for weigh in
and discuss what foods were working for people, where to get specialty items, checking off items on our “to do” or “to don’t” list for successful weight management. People at work noticed I was slimming down and I had a lot of support. By the end of the 6 month period I had managed to lose 50 some pounds. I lot of people thought I didn’t need the surgery, but I could feel myself “slipping” as my body decided enough of this, lets level off and get back to the usual. Nancy had explained that any diet is effective for 6 months. Then your body has completely recalibrated and decided that this was the correct balance it wanted and reset the intake/output calibrations to maintain that weight. My cousin had had the surgery and she looked great. I heard horror stories from my family doctor about possible side effects, and a personal poll showed that only 50% of Bariatric patients “made it”. With the way Nancy had taught me to eat, I figured I had a great chance of being a success story. At the pre-op surgery class, I spoke with a couple of people who were heavier now than they were 6 months ago… I had no idea how these people thought that surgery was a magic bullet that would make them slim and thin. To be successful at this you HAD to follow what Nancy had taught us… Less than 1 month after surgery I had lost a total of almost 80 pounds. 6 months to lose 50, less than 4 weeks to lose 30 more, I was completely off all diabetic medicines and maintaining a healthy blood sugar level. I was going to be HEALTHY! The follow up with Nancy was great; I had exceeded all expected goals. I told Nancy, as I’m telling you, the only way this happened was from the training and teachings of Nancy Lum. With the support of my family, my wonderful wife making sure I was toeing the line, and the knowledge Nancy had taught me, I will be able to do things I would have never thought possible.
Lou Patient since 10/2011 Gastric Bypass Surgery 5/2012