My Story - Part 2

Here I am at the end of my first day of my pre-op liquid diet and while I had very little problem with wanting to eat I do have to say that protein shakes are not that great.  I was supposed to drink 5 but only got 4 in and since it is after 8pm I think I am done!  I have to try some of the recipes I have been collecting to try to make them more palatable.

I discovered a website that I want to share because if anyone ever reads this blog I want them to have this info because it is freaking fantastic!  I happened upon it accidentally and I love, love, love it.  It is... www.bariatrictv.com  It is hosted by two women who both had RNY bypass about 6 years ago.  They started the show in 2008 and it is still up and running.  I believe there are 162 episodes available to view.  Each episode is 8-10 minutes long and it is entertaining, informative and motivational.  These two are a hoot!  They became friends through their surgery.  They had the same doctor and same hospital.  Most of the bloopers they just leave in although I did see one episode that was all bloopers.  You go to the show date archives and if you are like me you want to start at the beginning but each show can be viewed and enjoyed separately. You won't be sorry, I promise.

Yesterday I started down the road of my dieting and weight loss history. I left off at a time when we had moved back to the Denver area and I discovered I was just a couple pounds shy of that dreaded 200 pound mark.  I decided I needed to do something about it and so on Jan. 2nd, 1984 I made an appointment at my local Diet Center.

I signed up that day and as I always do, I was the perfect little (okay maybe not so little!) dieter.  I followed the program to a T and at the end of 4 months had lost 60 lbs.  My counselor, Darlene, and I also became best buds through this time frame.  She also  had lost a substantial amount of weight on the program.  The owner of the Diet Center kind of latched on to me and kept telling me I would be perfect to run a center.  These were franchises and of course, she would get a kick-back if I purchased one.  Well, I was psyched!  I was on that high that we feel when we have just lost a lot of weight.  I was young, 34, and I was on top of the world basking in the compliments that come with the weight loss and the new body.  I convinced my hubby that I just had to do this and we took a 2nd mortgage out on our home and purchased our franchise. Before long Darlene and I were on a trip to Rexburg, Idaho for a week of training. 

 

I am the one in the middle in the blue dress and my best bud, Darlene is the beautiful little blonde in the bottom left side.  This is our entire class of franchisees and counselors.

This is me with the founder of Diet Center, Sybil Ferguson.

She as a counselor/employee and I as a counselor/franchisee.  I opened a center in a town about 45 minutes from my home (my territory) and began a very different life, at least for me.  Every day I help other people lose weight and in the beginning I believed so much in the program (I was the one that was programmed!!!) that I was confident I would keep my weight off forever.  Forever!!

For a few years everything was hunky dory but we all know that our problem with food goes so much deeper than any diet program.  It wasn't too long until the pounds began to creep back on and I couldn't get myself in control.  Eventually, I had to hire some gals to run my center because I was too embarrassed to show my face around there and not having to be accountable I gained more and more weight.  I forgot to say that after a couple of years I had purchased a 2nd franchise so I had another location to be responsible for.  I felt like Dolly Parton's character in Steel Magnolias when she opened her 2nd salon and said, "I'm a chain!" but before long it felt like I was wearing a chain and I was miserable and so I ate!  I sold the 2nd center to a local radio celebrity who had lost weight with me and I would only go to my other center to collect income and do payroll on the weekend when no one was around.  I was in a trap I had put myself in and finally we just closed the doors. 

For many years after that I avoided going much of anywhere.  I never went to local fairs or events on the off chance that one of my previous clients or employees might see me.  I became more and more of a recluse as time went on.  I was so ashamed of how I had preached that the program was the answer to long-term success with your weight.  I imagine there were some people who lost their weight and have maintained that loss but if you are here and you are contemplating bariatric surgery or have had it already then you know that no diet, no program is the magic bullet to fix the problem.  There is so much more to this problem of obesity and food addiction than we even know.

I guess that's enough of my gloomy story for now.  Tomorrow is Day 2 of my liquid diet and I am still psyched for my surgery and my future even if I am not psyched for 13+ days of a liquid diet, lol!