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‘MY WEIGHT WAS WEIGHING ME DOWN’ Boone Health Bariatric Services helped Meagan Fansler change her weight and her life.
18
BOONE HEALTH
Spring 2021
eagan started struggling with her weight in college. After getting married and having three kids, she couldn’t keep her weight in a healthy range. She tried weight loss and exercise programs, but was never able to keep the weight off because the programs didn’t set her up for long-term weight loss success. Meagan had thought about bariatric surgery before but didn’t know if she qualified and never looked into it further. Meagan later realized she was in denial about her weight. At 5-foot-2, Meagan’s ideal body weight, according to Body Mass Index, or BMI, should be between 104 and 131 pounds. At her heaviest, Meagan was 265 pounds, putting her BMI at 47. “The higher one’s BMI, the more at risk they are for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and a list of other conditions,” says Jennifer Tveitnes, a registered dietitian with Boone Health Bariatric Services. In 2016, Meagan and her husband divorced. Now a single mom, she was motivated by the need to keep up with the kids. She also realized she needed to be the healthiest parent she could be for them. Now was the time. At Boone Health, the bariatric surgery journey starts with an informational seminar that covers the different surgical procedures available, nutritional needs, activity requirements, and what to expect after surgery. Meagan attended a seminar in September 2017 and signed up for nutrition appointments. At Boone Health, surgery candidates meet with a registered dietitian for seven months before surgery, depending on their insurance company’s requirements. “It was a long process,” Meagan recalls. “But I think that’s one thing that helped make it successful for me. Because my insurance had those requirements, it set me up for success.” Going through this process helped Meagan realize she was an emotional eater. She adds, “I also realized how much our society circles everything around food — if there’s a celebration, you eat. If someone’s sad, you eat. You can never just get together with friends and there’s not food involved. It was really eye-opening.” The dietitian visits helped Meagan set attainable goals and work on meal plans. “It was really good to meet with the dietitian and make those goals ahead of time, just to get in the right mindset of what needed to change in my life prior to surgery. I just tried to make small changes leading up to surgery so that everything wasn’t cold turkey.”
