Making the Most of Maintenance
We're thrilled to bring you another inspiring episode of The Weight Loss Collab Podcast, where we explore diverse journeys towards achieving healthier and more fulfilling lives. In this episode titled "BBB-POD-2," we have the privilege of speaking with Robert, who shares his incredible weight loss story and life transformation five years post-sleeve surgery.
Here’s what to expect in this episode:
- Stages of Weight Loss: Dr. Dovec and Hannah Schuyler introduce us to a new series that breaks down the stages of weight loss. Robert shares his personal experiences navigating these stages and the ups and downs along the way.
- Initial Challenges & Motivation: Robert opens up about his early struggles with weight, tipping the scale at 440 pounds, and battling numerous health issues. Discover how a chance encounter led him to consider bariatric surgery as a viable option for change.
- The Power of a Decision: Learn about Robert's decisive moment and the research marathon that led him to commit to the surgery. His determination is nothing short of inspiring, losing 56 pounds even before the operation.
- Life After Surgery: Robert shares the remarkable changes post-sleeve, from losing the constant hunger to experiencing a newfound freedom and confidence in numerous aspects of his life.
- Non-Scale Victories: One of the most powerful parts of Robert’s story is how his quality of life has improved beyond the numbers on the scale. From no longer needing seatbelt extenders on planes to starting his own successful business, Robert's journey is about more than weight; it's about reclaiming his life.
- Advice and Encouragement: If you’re on the fence about weight loss surgery, Robert’s story might just be the push you need. He’s living proof that the procedure can lead to a transformative new chapter of health and confidence.
🔊 Tune in and discover how breaking down personal walls can lead to unexpected and fulfilling paths.
We’re excited for you to hear Robert’s story and hope it inspires you to take steps towards your own health journey. If you're feeling inspired or have gone through a similar transformation, we’d love to hear from you! Tag us @WeightLossCollab on Instagram and share your story with our community.
For those ready to take the plunge, and if you're considering bariatric surgery, visit bodybybariatrics.com or text us at 407-543-0971 to start your journey today.
Be sure to follow us on Instagram - @theweightlosscollab, @drdovec, @hannahschuyler.rd, @bodybybariatrics
Stay healthy and inspired,
The Weight Loss Collab Team
P.S. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform! Your support means the world to us.
Transcript
She's a doctor. Hi, I'm Dr. Dovec and she's a dietitian. Hey,
Speaker:I'm Hannah Schuyler and together we are the weight loss
Speaker:collab. Oh, we did it. We did it.
Speaker:Well, we have a very fun series that we are starting
Speaker:today, and it is on the stages of
Speaker:weight loss. This is a jury. Yes. And there are quite a
Speaker:few stages. And today, our first guest on this
Speaker:series is Robert, and he is
Speaker:now five years
Speaker:post sleep. So we're going to be talking a little bit
Speaker:about his initial weight loss period, the transition
Speaker:to maintenance, how he stays motivated, if he's had
Speaker:any slips or bumps in the road along the way. Spoiler. I'm sure he has.
Speaker:And just a lot about who you are, your physique
Speaker:and just really your journey. Yeah. And, and I
Speaker:think it's so cool to see it at this stage because obviously with a lot
Speaker:of our patients, we're still so new and everything. And you obviously
Speaker:have patients that are 10, 12 years out. I'm like, we don't have
Speaker:them yet. So it's really exciting for. I'm like excited to get to talk to.
Speaker:It's like five years out because I hardly ever get to do that. So. Yes.
Speaker:So let's, let's, let's rewind back
Speaker:to, I don't know how long ago, maybe six, seven, eight years
Speaker:ago. Like, when did you tell us a little bit about your just growing up,
Speaker:when you started to have some issues with your weight and just how you decided
Speaker:to go into weight loss surgery? Yeah, so kind of my, my journey, I guess,
Speaker:our history. So I was always like the big kid who grew up big,
Speaker:you know, always the biggest one in the class and you know, part of my
Speaker:stature. So I'm six, five, so I always kind of stood out.
Speaker:But I was always, you know, like, you know, the big kid. Right. And so
Speaker:that kind of progressed into early adulthood and
Speaker:then kind of like, you know, early 20s. Then it kind of just went
Speaker:out of control, honestly. And so, you know, part of it
Speaker:is, I think, just the life aspects of it and his kind
Speaker:of, you know, responsibilities at work and not being as active as you are when
Speaker:you're younger. But it really, it progressed through
Speaker:my early adult life and I got to kind of my highest of about
Speaker:440 pounds. And you know, it was one of those things where
Speaker:cbapnia and know, early stage or you're pre
Speaker:diabetic, you know, fatty liver disease, but just, you know, the
Speaker:general, like, you feel horrible, you're just you know, it's hard to
Speaker:move. It's just, you know, your energy levels are so low. And in
Speaker:my career I travel a lot, right. So I fly a lot. And having to
Speaker:get on those planes and ask for the seat belt extenders every single time,
Speaker:not being able to sit into a middle seat. And when you're like on the
Speaker:the plane, you're like all squished over to one side because you don't want to
Speaker:like, you know, push the person next to you out of the way mentally. It
Speaker:was just really kind of draining. And I remember I was at, I
Speaker:was at this work conference one day and I'm just chatting with the guy and
Speaker:just general conversation and out of nowhere he's like, you know,
Speaker:I've lost X amount of weight. I'm like, oh, school, How'd you do that? He's
Speaker:like, I did the old fashioned way. Like, okay, well what does that mean?
Speaker:That's your bypass. I'm like, okay. And like
Speaker:literally we've probably spent the next 45 minutes to an hour just kind of chatting.
Speaker:And he was same kind of height, same kind of weight, you know,
Speaker:preoperatively. And it was just kind of interesting to learn,
Speaker:you know, kind of what his journey was like and how much his
Speaker:self confidence had improved and how much just his, his general, you know, well being
Speaker:and life had improved post operatively. And I remember as soon as we got done
Speaker:talking, I go back up to the hotel room and literally state of like 2:00
Speaker:in the morning researching like all these different things about, you know, gastric bypass, all
Speaker:these different options and just weight loss surgery in general. And I'm like, okay,
Speaker:I'm going to do this. And so I was living in Detroit, Michigan at the
Speaker:time and kind of reached out to different programs and kind of got into the,
Speaker:you know, the channel that way. And it was like a six
Speaker:month, you know, preoperative process of meeting with the dietitians
Speaker:and everything. Again, this was years ago, so things changed a bit. But you know,
Speaker:it was, it was kind of a journey there. And I went from,
Speaker:you know, the 440 to 386 was the morning of
Speaker:surgery. And then not long after surgery, Covid
Speaker:happened. And so, you know, that kind of changed things a bit,
Speaker:honestly, I think for the good because restaurants were closed. Yeah, really couldn't do a
Speaker:whole lot but stayed home and work and work out.
Speaker:But I was able to really kind of lock the diet down and really maintain
Speaker:a very active lifestyle. And I got down to about 250ish was
Speaker:kind of my low. And after, you know, five years, I'm about up to about
Speaker:270 is kind of where I've maintained. Um,
Speaker:but even before surgery, like, I'd looked at, you know, medications and this was, you
Speaker:know, Saxenda, right. Like, trying. Trying the injectables and, you know, trying, you know,
Speaker:the orals and things like that, and I could not get, you know, below
Speaker:380. Like, it did not matter, like, what I did. My body just physically would
Speaker:not get below 380. So I would kind of live in that, you know, stage
Speaker:and that range of 380 to 400. And
Speaker:it was like, you know, just, I'm tired of all the yo yoing, the vacuum
Speaker:and forth and like this. I need to do something real
Speaker:or I won't have this problem in 10 years or 20 years. I won't be
Speaker:here. Right. And so made that decision. And, you know, I. I
Speaker:tell folks, you know, when I talk about bariatric surgery, like, it's not something I'm
Speaker:ashamed of. I'm. I'm very happy I made that decision. I would be like, you
Speaker:know, if you told me that I needed to hop on the table right now
Speaker:and have a revision, be like, what's good. Right. Because it is one of those
Speaker:things where my life has improved so much for the better.
Speaker:Right. So, so dramatically postoperatively that I can't really imagine
Speaker:life preoperatively. And if I had to do it all over again, I would do
Speaker:it all over again in a second. Has been way worse. Everything that I went
Speaker:through to have that procedure done. Yeah. Wow. Wow.
Speaker:I mean, what a story. And especially what's really
Speaker:remarkable about your story is that you lost
Speaker:56 pounds in the pre op period. So
Speaker:it's just, it's interesting me for me to try to put myself into your
Speaker:position that this random stranger, it sounds like or something, maybe
Speaker:they know, well, had this sound bite, this chance
Speaker:interaction, this, you know, person just telling you this random thing
Speaker:made you like, that was it. That was like your turning point. That was
Speaker:when a flip was. The switch was flipped, that you just felt like,
Speaker:I, I have to do this. So. And I mean, you obviously
Speaker:went from, wow, I didn't really think about that to I'm going to do
Speaker:this. Not only that, I'm so all in. I'm so committed. I lost this ton
Speaker:of weight beforehand. Like how, like, tell me more about that whole
Speaker:process. Yeah, I think it was kind of, you know, relatively
Speaker:shortly after some of the Medication like the orals and the injectables. Right. And
Speaker:not really having a lot of success there. Yes, there was some success, but it
Speaker:was that plateaued. It was part
Speaker:was just hearing someone else's story. Right. And I will be the first
Speaker:to admit, like I'm 100% a chicken when it comes to surgery and the thought
Speaker:of stuff like that, even though I work in this space and I've worked in
Speaker:healthcare for 20 some odd years, I don't want to be on the table for
Speaker:that. But just kind of hearing that, you know, someone else had went through it
Speaker:and that they had found success and they had found, you know, that kind of
Speaker:improved quality of life and everything and how it was
Speaker:sustainable. Like you go on the medications and once you go off medications and
Speaker:what your body kind of adapts to them, you pitch back up. Right.
Speaker:It seemed more controllable. Right. It seemed like I could have more of an active
Speaker:role in my overall success and long term success by
Speaker:having this procedure than kind of being dependent on using medications for the rest of
Speaker:my life. I think it was almost like this forced compliance to
Speaker:what I know I should have been doing all along, but not doing.
Speaker:I get that. And I do think there is an aspect of that for people
Speaker:that it's like forced compliance. But there is something about surgery that
Speaker:I always tell patients. I'm like, I know you've tried everything. And I know you're
Speaker:like, why is this gonna. Like, I've, I'm already doing the things that you're
Speaker:recommending, but they're not working. And I'm like, you don't have this very
Speaker:powerful tool in place to make those changes happen. Because
Speaker:like you're saying you've already tried diet, you've tried exercise,
Speaker:you've tried medications, you've done all these things and they just all together don't
Speaker:work. And then, yeah, you put the habits. No, some of it, of course, is
Speaker:more restrictive with a, you know, after a surgery. Some of it you can be
Speaker:even more to an extreme than you were. I'm like, it's your will
Speaker:against the world right now when you haven't had anything. And it's like,
Speaker:but there is something that's not just, oh, I can do that, I can be
Speaker:better. It's like, no, you actually needed this tool as well to make it
Speaker:work. I think so is definitely like this kind of double whammy of just bad
Speaker:food choices. Right. But then also
Speaker:the amount that I was able to eat pre operative. Yes. Right. And that would
Speaker:come from years of conditioning and everything like that. Right. Like, it got that way
Speaker:for a reason. And, you know, so I'm a numbers person, analytical, and I'm
Speaker:a quantifier. So to quantify it, like, no lie, I could
Speaker:have like two chipotle burritos and that would be dinner. And
Speaker:when you go back and you look at like how many carbs and calories or
Speaker:anything like that that are in high or something like that, that's food for one
Speaker:person obviously, to eat in one sitting. And now five years post
Speaker:operatively, like maybe half. Ish. I'm good.
Speaker:Like, yeah. You know, to go. So to go from two whole to one
Speaker:half. Right. Is a. A big change in just obviously the amount of volume that
Speaker:I could hold. It was like, yes, I know. I should eat two chipotle burritos
Speaker:per dinner. That's a little kind of overkill to being able to eat just half
Speaker:of one. That is that like, that's about right. Right. Yeah. And the.
Speaker:The procedure is what allowed that to happen. Right. And
Speaker:you know, it's like, it's not like my life has gotten any worse. Complete opposite.
Speaker:Yeah. So much better. And the. The surgery was
Speaker:the tool to be able to help make portion control reality. The
Speaker:reality. Exactly, exactly. That's what I mean. It's like, yeah, you could try
Speaker:to portion control before, but you're. You're not gonna. You're gonna feel hungry all
Speaker:the time. Like, it just isn't. It's just ease of flow. You know, I've got
Speaker:a good friend who said that. Cause it'd been like a few years between times
Speaker:we saw each other. No one saw me. It's like, oh, you know what happened?
Speaker:I was a big train. And he said it very well. He said
Speaker:that he either is empty or he's
Speaker:overstopped. There's no like in between. There's not like that.
Speaker:That mental trigger or the physical trigger that says, okay, I'm satisfied. And
Speaker:so, you know, overeating was a. Is a real challenge. Right. And so it was
Speaker:a real challenge for him and myself. And surgery helped kind of level the playing
Speaker:field. Yeah. Slept and that's what was low.
Speaker:Yes. The. The hormone changes. So. Yeah.
Speaker:So, yes, you had. You decided to have this sleeve. And I'm
Speaker:curious why you picked the sleeve. Yeah. So,
Speaker:you know, it was five years ago, so I was trying to go back and
Speaker:remember, you know, why the sleeve over. Over bypass. And it
Speaker:had good care team, everything like that when I had the procedure performed.
Speaker:And I think it was I know the numbers were better with,
Speaker:with the bypass. Right. So I would have had more weight loss on average than
Speaker:with the sleep. I think for me it was kind of the conversation about less
Speaker:restrictive post operatively and five years
Speaker:later, don't really remember. I think
Speaker:that this space has obviously grown and as data has grown
Speaker:there's more that is towards bypass than sleeve. So
Speaker:I do it all over again. I would have bypass oversleep, but at the end
Speaker:of the day it is what it is. Um, but yeah, I think that's kind
Speaker:of the general conversation, so we were. Talking like loosely
Speaker:beforehand about who does well with the bypass, who does well with the
Speaker:sleeve. I actually think a sleeve and someone like you and what
Speaker:you just described is actually very good because. And
Speaker:this is typically more of a more male district way of eating
Speaker:versus a female. So like just patterns of how people eat. So women, we talk
Speaker:about this a lot. Women, we will eat a bite here and there.
Speaker:We're pickers, we're nibblers, we're snackers, we're, we are just
Speaker:constantly grazing. It sounds like you, you'll go to Chipotle,
Speaker:you'll order two burritos and you'll house them down. And even
Speaker:then you're like, I mean I might, I'm not really satisfied. But that's
Speaker:good with the sleeve because it is much more restrictive. Like
Speaker:you just physically cannot do that now like you said, you can eat like a,
Speaker:a quarter of what you were eating at that time. And so I think men,
Speaker:men do better with the sleeve. And then also like Hannah
Speaker:just said about the hunger hormones. And, and I'm curious subjectively if you felt this
Speaker:way. So there's ghrelin and ghrelin is the hunger hormone
Speaker:that tells you kind of the eat and that sort of thing. And when you
Speaker:remove the portion of the stomach that makes that, that's like in the fundus, the
Speaker:largest port of the portion of the stomach at the top. When that's
Speaker:gone, you will have like, oh, I gotta
Speaker:remind myself to eat. And you did say that the other day, five years out.
Speaker:So how is that subjectively after this lifetime of never being
Speaker:satisfied, which is leptin to going into this state. So
Speaker:it was, you know, very funny postoperatively once, yeah, I would return back to normal
Speaker:diet. I hadn't set reminders on my phone to eat right. And sometimes I would
Speaker:forget. I would go all day and be like, let's, it's 8 o'clock at night.
Speaker:Haven't I eat all day even five years later, if I
Speaker:get distracted during the day, if I'm busy, you know, work or life or whatever
Speaker:the case may be, I will literally forget to have lunch or whatever.
Speaker:Might have something at, you know, 7:00am and then I may not eat again until
Speaker:8:00pm I don't notice it. Right. It's not like, you know, this is like just
Speaker:gnawing my back in my. Oh, I gotta eat, I'm hungry. Like this. It's just
Speaker:like, oh wait, yeah, I, I probably should eat something. Probably should eat something. Yeah.
Speaker:What was their guideline for you for how much protein you should eat in a
Speaker:day? Yeah. Oh, heights, your height. Yeah, yeah, I think it was,
Speaker:I wanna say maybe like one gram of protein per kilogram of body weight
Speaker:or two. One to two something. Yeah, yeah. It's interesting cuz I. So
Speaker:I, we've tried to think about this before but like I always ask people how
Speaker:tall they are and then I give the protein recommendations off of that because I'm
Speaker:looking at like what would your lean body mass be? And like, because that's what
Speaker:we want to feed. If we fed you at, you know, 386 pounds,
Speaker:we're going to get a much higher number and it might be excess and blah
Speaker:blah, blah. So that's why I'm like, I'm like six, six. Okay, well then this
Speaker:is just my mental math of quick and dirty. But I'm like, he's like, gotta
Speaker:be at least 120 to 140 grams of protein a day. So like
Speaker:I had to guess. Yeah, a ton of protein shanks. Yeah. And so it's like,
Speaker:I mean literally it. When Amazon pulls up and drops them off. It's pretty interesting.
Speaker:Yeah. Wow, you're still doing this still? Yeah. 100. Okay. Yeah. If,
Speaker:if we were back at my house, I have them all stacked up
Speaker:and so I will probably drink, let's say like three or four pound drinks
Speaker:a day on a. And just to be able to get the protein numbers. Yeah.
Speaker:Because even when I sit down, coming to your point earlier, when I sit down
Speaker:and eat like it's still not, they're not big meals, not big portions. Right, right.
Speaker:The protein drinks definitely help. I will literally bring three a day. Like when I
Speaker:go into the office and that's, that's what I will keep. Yeah. Anytime I talk
Speaker:to a. It's always, it's always men usually that are, you know, six, four, six,
Speaker:five, six, six. I'm like, you're gonna have to at least do one shake a
Speaker:day. Like there's just. It's just not realistic. And most people, I don't tell them,
Speaker:like, it's optional. It's something you can use if you need to, like, if you
Speaker:want to have it for breakfast or whatever. Like, I let people make that decision.
Speaker:But with anybody that's over a certain. I'm like, so sorry, you're gonna need a
Speaker:protein shake every single day. And that's now just how it is. Yeah. There's no
Speaker:way I could eat enough, you know. Yeah. Actual meat. You would also just be
Speaker:like, eating constantly. I was with that. I'm curious,
Speaker:like, what is a typical day? Like five years post sleeve. Yeah. So
Speaker:if I went home, that's the, you know, best case scenario because I'm not traveling.
Speaker:But if I'm at home, usually it'll be a protein shake first thing in the
Speaker:morning. And then I'll. I'll work out. Okay. And I might get something like, you
Speaker:know, a little pack of bell beas or whatever, quick carbs in the morning type
Speaker:thing. And then that's what's at like 7 and then 10, it's gonna be
Speaker:like three eggs type thing. Um, and then I'll do
Speaker:like another protein shake. And then maybe around, like one or two is gonna
Speaker:be lunch. And so I will typically try to do the meal prep. Last
Speaker:week it was chicken shawarma with cucumbers and tomatoes. Right. And that was my.
Speaker:My thing. Right. And it was. It was 8 ounces of chicken and just like,
Speaker:you know, quarter cup of veggies. Sometimes I'll have put rice in
Speaker:there. Usually I try not to eat a whole lot of rice from there or
Speaker:starches, but sometimes it just depends on how I feel.
Speaker:And then maybe like around six is dinner. And then another protein shake
Speaker:late in the evening. Maybe like another shake kind of sprinkled in there
Speaker:somewhere. Wow. And what do you do to work out? So I
Speaker:lift usually five days a week. Wow. And then
Speaker:usually walk 45 minutes three days a week. Ish.
Speaker:So it depends too. Like, if I'm in the office, then I'll try to do
Speaker:more in the morning. If I'm like, you know, out visiting facilities like I do
Speaker:for work, then usually I've been kind of getting your stuff done that way. Wow,
Speaker:that's awesome. That is. No, it's so great that you. So were
Speaker:you really active before surgery or not or just not? Well, so when I was
Speaker:in high school and so younger adult, I played like something football
Speaker:or by acl. And that was kind of like, you know. Yeah. End of it.
Speaker:Right. You know, like when I was kind of trying to lose
Speaker:weight, like in that, let's say 400, 440ish range, higher end.
Speaker:I mean the reality is you go out and you try to go like for
Speaker:like a 5, 10 minute walk and it's just, you know, your knees hurt, ankles
Speaker:hurt, you just, it's the reality of carrying all that excess body weight.
Speaker:And I think since post op, I've done maybe, I don't know, 10,
Speaker:5Ks. I've got another one coming up here pretty soon. Just wow, something to go
Speaker:do. Just go do. Yeah. Have fun. Um, and I'm not a runner, right.
Speaker:So but it's just something to go do and it's something that I can now
Speaker:do. That's awesome. Or voin. Like I couldn't have physically just not been able to
Speaker:do it. Yeah. And that's something I talk to patients about too, of like that
Speaker:pre op. You know, they're like, oh, I, I'm not exercising, like.
Speaker:And they're like, that's the thing that's holding me back. I'm like, it's really not
Speaker:like, it's not the thing. Like exercise is obviously important. It's great, we want you
Speaker:to do it. But like if you physically can't in your body do
Speaker:it, or it's very painful or it could cause an injury or it could cause
Speaker:other. Like don't stress about it because the diet is going to be the thing
Speaker:that drives the weight loss, even post op. And
Speaker:exercise will come. Like you'll get there. You can't out exercise bad
Speaker:habits. Right, exactly right. You just can't. And so yeah,
Speaker:yes, it is so much easier once you lose the weight which you begin, you
Speaker:know, like for me it was maybe like a month post operative. Right. Kind of
Speaker:get restrictions, clearing. So and then it was just like, oh, well, this is so
Speaker:much easier. Right. I can actually do the inflammation that I think goes away
Speaker:with surgery. Like we have people that say I wake up from surgery if I
Speaker:hit, hands aren't feel as swollen or my feet don't hurt and it's like, yeah,
Speaker:there's, there's other things going on. And so I'm like, still don't. If you're
Speaker:doing it great and you feel comfortable and you're doing it great, but like don't
Speaker:stress about it. You know, it'll come, it'll come. Yeah. But like you said like
Speaker:this, it's a journey, right. It's a process and so you don't have to Be
Speaker:like, you know, day one, post operatively out running a marathon. Like, no. Yes. Let
Speaker:your body heal, but also get used to your new way of life. So
Speaker:it is a journey. And we talked a little bit in the beginning about.
Speaker:Sounds like for most of your adult life up until this moment,
Speaker:you're constantly trying to lose weight or thinking about your weight or thinking about
Speaker:how it kind of bothered you or kind of almost all that. And then all
Speaker:of a sudden that changes and you go into that first
Speaker:year or so of the honeymoon phase. How was those early
Speaker:days? Oh, man. The honeymoon phase is like for anybody who's
Speaker:big been, you know, a big person for most of life. The honeymoon phase is
Speaker:the best year of your life. Right. Because it. You could just like wake
Speaker:up and hop on the scale and you've lost £10 on the night before. Right.
Speaker:Like for me, yes.
Speaker:First of all, if he dies, yeah, it became more real. But like,
Speaker:literally I would lose, you know, a couple pounds every day type thing. And then
Speaker:I had some days where it might be a little bit less, a little bit
Speaker:more. But, you know, it's almost like you get this just
Speaker:fountain of youth type thing going on, like, where you feel so much more energetic.
Speaker:It just. Everything just feels better. Confidence begins to skyrocket.
Speaker:Like, you know, when, when I walk into a room, I don't feel like people
Speaker:are looking at me because of my size. I stand out anyway just because. From
Speaker:the height anyway. Right. But I don't feel like you go like, oh, wow. Like
Speaker:you. It's real. Right. Whether you know it's intentional or not, or
Speaker:whether, you know the intent is pure or not, you still get looked at when
Speaker:you're, you know, 440 pounds. And
Speaker:so, you know, being able to, you know, kind of live more of like a
Speaker:normal life, but also just be more energetic and just happier. And just like that
Speaker:honeymoon phase is on the way. Awesome. And then, you know, there's
Speaker:obviously like, well, my clothes don't fit. So now I get to go like regular
Speaker:stores. Like, I used to have to go to the, you know, the large stores
Speaker:closed. Like, every aspect of your life just feels different
Speaker:once you kind of enter maybe like 30 days into that, that, that honeymoon
Speaker:phase. Yeah. And how long did it take you to get down to that lowest
Speaker:250 weight? Oh, that might have been 12 to 15 months
Speaker:was up. That seems to be where the sweet spot is, is
Speaker:like a year to 18 months is when
Speaker:you've kind of achieved your new set point. Your body's
Speaker:constantly like, is this it? Is he done or. No, he, we're gonna let him
Speaker:go to sleep and wake up ten pounds later. Like. And then it's a very,
Speaker:it's, it's a step wise. It's like you're kind of stuck one or two pounds
Speaker:and then you kind of like, you know, and so on. It's on a linear.
Speaker:People always think of that and like I didn't lose anything yet. And it's
Speaker:like, but you lost ten pounds last week. It's you, you've got to give yourself
Speaker:grace and all of that. So you did it. You come to this
Speaker:amazing weight for your height. You're at this healthy BMI and
Speaker:you're maintaining it. Tell us about when you realize like,
Speaker:okay, I think that this is where I'm kind of settling out and
Speaker:now I'm kind of going into this more maintenance type of a picture.
Speaker:Yep. So I, I totally nerded out and recorded my, you
Speaker:know, stats every single day for like 500 and some odd days put into like
Speaker:sale and I. Have charts and grass that this does. Not surprise me in the
Speaker:slightest speed. To how we know each other here in November. So we kind of
Speaker:just dove right into your journey. But it's held the backstory but what. You'Re saying,
Speaker:there's the steps and so kind of like, okay, is this it? Did I plateau?
Speaker:No, a little bit more. A little bit more. Kind of when I got like
Speaker:250 it was like, okay, I, I'm, I'm starting to not look
Speaker:healthy. Right. Like I just kind of look sick and people are like, are you
Speaker:okay? Type questions. And so really that's
Speaker:where more of a conscious effort in making sure I was getting enough protein and
Speaker:lifting more and to be able to kind of put a little bit more weight
Speaker:back on. But
Speaker:yeah, it was kind of like, I don't know when this is going
Speaker:to stop or where this is going to go, but I'm just gonna take it
Speaker:day by day and see where it leads. Are you happy at your
Speaker:270? So honestly right now? No. Right. So
Speaker:with traveling and kind of this slipping some bad habits back into
Speaker:life that I haven't had for five years, I want to get back closer to
Speaker:the 250, but to me it's more like the total comp. I don't to be
Speaker:a strong two 270 and then only 250. Okay. So
Speaker:no, I, I, I think that's good. Do you, do you
Speaker:know the, the acronym nsv? Nsv?
Speaker:No. Oh, okay, so NSV in
Speaker:the weight loss lingo means non skill victory.
Speaker:Okay. So it's anything that has nothing to do with the number
Speaker:270, 253, 440, whatever, that
Speaker:now your life is better because you had weight loss
Speaker:surgery or you've made these lifestyle changes. So you talked
Speaker:about, you know, you travel a lot and actually you're here right
Speaker:now because the universe, God, somebody
Speaker:out there connected us like and
Speaker:it, it's been amazing. So what you do, you
Speaker:used to work for ASC management companies and then you started your own business and
Speaker:that was when? Two years ago. So I would
Speaker:consider that. I mean, two years ago
Speaker:you're kind of like at the prime of this journey too. Do you feel like
Speaker:that is an nsv that is a non scale victory in that you decided
Speaker:to kind of take this leap because you had more confidence?
Speaker:100%, yeah. I mean it's everything.
Speaker:I don't know, like motivation goes up, you just feel better, you feel more confident,
Speaker:you, you are less self conscious, you spend less time looking internally and more
Speaker:time looking externally. Oh right. And so I think that's a good
Speaker:example. I used to hate public speaking and I'm still not a big fan of
Speaker:it, honestly. And I
Speaker:will do these healthcare shows, national conferences and things like that. I think
Speaker:like one time, long time ago and I just felt so self conscious being on
Speaker:stage. Right. And now I speak usually two to three times a
Speaker:year. We're talking about doing it the conference here in Florida pretty
Speaker:soon. But you know, when I'm on stage, I don't feel like people are looking
Speaker:at me, just kind of like judging and I don't feel so self conscious. I'm
Speaker:like, I'm here to present on the topic that I'm here to present on, right.
Speaker:It's not about me, it's about what I'm here to do or here to speak
Speaker:on. And I would not have gotten on stage at 4:40 and
Speaker:you know, just been able to do that with the kind of confidence that you
Speaker:have to have when you, you kind of get that kind of presentation. Just because
Speaker:it was so much more internally, you know, doubting myself and
Speaker:talking myself out of things like that. And then yeah, totally. I mean
Speaker:everything from like, you know, again being able to go to Kohl's and buy something,
Speaker:right. Only I could buy was like gloves and a scarf. That's how they fit
Speaker:on the Kohl's from somebody my sh. To like, you know, now being able to
Speaker:go to like no mall, no one Goes a place like that and I have
Speaker:to get se Bell extenders, all the stuff I mentioned previously. But yeah, starting the
Speaker:own business, like being able to kind of stick your neck out there and just,
Speaker:you know, see where things can go. Yeah. Once you're able to kind
Speaker:of make such a dramatic change in your lifestyle, other things
Speaker:seem a lot more possible. God, these soundbites,
Speaker:Isaiah, we gotta cut this up in size of this because it's.
Speaker:I love the way that you're phrasing it and how you're. You're saying things that
Speaker:we kind of know we see. But I'm like, I'm watching you and
Speaker:I'm benefiting from you getting healthy, having the
Speaker:surgery, putting yourself out there. And now you start your own company,
Speaker:it boomerangs back around and it comes and it, and it helps us
Speaker:out of. You're here with your own company. Just, it's
Speaker:just a creative, brilliant design of what you're doing and how you offer
Speaker:value to people like ourselves who are starting these surgery
Speaker:centers. And that analytical mind of yours is helping us
Speaker:tremendously with trying to get our inventory straight and understanding the business and the
Speaker:basics of accounting and things. But man, I love that.
Speaker:I just, I really love that you
Speaker:just, I. I would never knew that you were not a confident individual.
Speaker:Oh, no, absolutely not. Like, you could not have paid me enough to get on
Speaker:stage and, and have a kind of conversation. No.
Speaker:Wow. Despite the fact that you were probably an expert in whatever
Speaker:it was, like even five years ago, you were absolutely qualified
Speaker:and could have done that. But like, I'm sure you couldn't
Speaker:personally do it. Like District Wade is almost like, it's like a wall, right? Like,
Speaker:yeah, it's a wall around you that keeps you from being your true self. Right.
Speaker:Living up to what your potential may be. And it's, it's a wall that, you
Speaker:know, I laid brick by brick, you know, over the course of time. And then,
Speaker:you know, once you kind of begin to break down that wall, you
Speaker:begin to break down those barriers, you see what is on the other side. Right.
Speaker:And what is on the other side, you know, it's going to be different for
Speaker:everybody. And that's just kind of how it worked out for me.
Speaker:But you know, post operatively, once you begin to
Speaker:lose weight, your life really changes in so many different ways that it's
Speaker:practically unquantifiable. Just all the little things that happen day in, day out
Speaker:to the big things. And I think for me, the boost of confidence and
Speaker:not self doubt, negative Self talk,
Speaker:really. That voice began to quiet once
Speaker:the weight loss started to happen. I hope it's silence, because
Speaker:your knowledge and your. And I wonder if
Speaker:during that time of awakening that you were kind of hunkered down and just,
Speaker:like, honing your craft almost. And then it was like, all right, world, I'm
Speaker:ready to, like, pay your health. It's.
Speaker:You might. I'm sure you see this with your patients. It's almost like that Phoenix
Speaker:Rising type thing. Like to see people once they go through this procedure and have
Speaker:this procedure done. Just, you know, the confidence,
Speaker:the. Yeah. Some of the pictures on your website. Right. Of patients just. People
Speaker:just look happier. They feel happier. Yeah. And, you know,
Speaker:it's just like you. You kind of stop getting in your own
Speaker:way once you're able to kind of get out of your own head. Right.
Speaker:And just silence those voices. Right. You are your worst critic
Speaker:oftentimes. And so, like, my. Myself was always telling myself
Speaker:that, you know, no, this is not, you
Speaker:know, ideal to be up on stage and having these conversations because people are judging.
Speaker:It's like, whether they're judging or not. You don't know. Right. But
Speaker:now I have no problem getting up on stage and, you know, doing a presentation
Speaker:for an hour about whatever it is I need to talk about. I don't worry
Speaker:if anybody's, you know, considering anything about, you know, my physical appearance, because
Speaker:I'm here talking about this. Yeah. It's also silly when you think of it and
Speaker:say that, but I understand. Like, oh, absolutely. I mean,
Speaker:it's. It's not even just like. It's. It's not just in that moment
Speaker:that you're thinking that either of like, I can't get up on stage. It's all
Speaker:of those moments before that that have circled in your head and cycled and that
Speaker:driven you down into this. Like, I can't do it. So, like. Yeah.
Speaker:It's not just stepping on the stage at that exact moment, like, oh, no, they're
Speaker:gonna look at me. You've been thinking that over and over and over. You. But,
Speaker:yeah, I mean, when you. When I came in the other day and you guys
Speaker:had just gotten here, and I walked in, and I was like, oh, these must
Speaker:be the people. They just came in and I introduced myself, and immediately I was
Speaker:like, I. Would trust him with so many things right now. Because you were just
Speaker:like, yep, like, I asked a question. You're like, yep, got that. Yep. Got that.
Speaker:Yep, yep, yep. Oh, dear God. Yeah. And then there was the physical
Speaker:piece of that too, because we were. We're setting up the surgery center to
Speaker:essentially start operating and all the details, but there's also
Speaker:physical moving around, moving boxes. Oh, he just started
Speaker:punching box boxes. It was the best thing ever. I was like, wait, we need,
Speaker:like, one of those box cutter things? And he's like, nope. Oh,
Speaker:it's like, all right, I love it.
Speaker:Today we got flowers delivered. I'm like, well, it spots
Speaker:for me. We repped the table on that one. You did, but yeah, I mean,
Speaker:it's kind of like you were talking about, right? Like, I. I'm very thankful that
Speaker:we have this opportunity to spend some time working together and things like that. But
Speaker:when I was finding out about the surgery or nature building. Absolutely
Speaker:beautiful facility. But I know how much you're going to do to. To
Speaker:people in this area, your patients, and it's like, you know, how can I not
Speaker:help pay this board for, like, the next generation of bariatric patients? Right. Like, anything
Speaker:I do to help this facility be successful so that more people in this area
Speaker:can benefit in the procedure. Like, oh, yeah, no brainer. How can we help? What
Speaker:can we do? Yeah, I mean, I feel that. I feel that. And I'm like,
Speaker:gosh, there's such great people in this world that are just helpful
Speaker:and all that. So when you talk about bringing around full circle in that
Speaker:regard, the stranger, this person helped you,
Speaker:now you're now on stage. And I'm sure people recognize you from the
Speaker:conferences. Like you said, you're tall and I'm tall. Six foot as well. For
Speaker:a woman, it's always like, oh, there's that tall blonde, like, there she is. You
Speaker:know, so same thing. Like, oh, there's Robert. Oh, but there's something different
Speaker:about you. Oh, you lost all this 200 pounds. So do
Speaker:people notice? Yeah, a hundred percent. So, you know, I would see, you
Speaker:know, six months, especially in that, let's say, let's say
Speaker:year timeframe, where the. You would get some of the comments the first six months
Speaker:when things were kind of happening in that preoperative cycle. Right. But then really,
Speaker:you know, six months post operative again, I'd run into people that'd be like, you
Speaker:know, wow, look like a completely different person. Yeah. And even now, if
Speaker:I go like a couple years out seeing somebody, I give the same comment, I
Speaker:say, that's. That's dropped off over five years. But I mean, it was,
Speaker:it was, you know, almost like a weekly basis. You'd have had people say,
Speaker:you know, like, wow, what happened? Like, what'd you do? Yeah. What's your secret type
Speaker:thing? And it's like, you know, I. Bariatric surgery. Yeah. Right.
Speaker:I. Free, straightforward. And so do you feel like at this point, so people are
Speaker:noticing if maybe somebody who is struggling with their weight, male or females in the
Speaker:audience, do you feel like you ever have a conversation or you ever just
Speaker:dropped a little kind of sound bite, if you will, to
Speaker:somebody like, oh, I had bariatric surgery is similar to how that happened
Speaker:to you? Yeah, Yeah. I mean, so if. When having the lunch with
Speaker:friends, I haven't seen in a while what the case may be, it's like, you
Speaker:know, that's. Yeah. Has done. I do it again in heartbeat. Like,
Speaker:this is the best decision I've made for my health and myself. Oh,
Speaker:absolutely. You know, I would say probably in
Speaker:that first couple years, I would begin to get some questions about, you
Speaker:know, maybe they're considering it kind of on the fence, kind of asking, kind of
Speaker:like how I did the gentleman at the conference that kind of kickstarted this for
Speaker:me. And it's like, yeah, like, once you have this procedure done and you. You
Speaker:see the benefits of it, you are the biggest fan of having it done. Yes.
Speaker:Right. And so it's like, yeah, well, let's ask. What questions do you have? Yeah,
Speaker:how can I. No, no, I. I don't remember anything. Very little pain. Great
Speaker:results would change a thing. Right? Like, you just kind of tell them how your
Speaker:experience was. Everybody's experience is different, but it's like, once
Speaker:you've had this done, you just want to spread the word to everyone else
Speaker:who's considering. Like, don't sit on the fence. Get off the fence and get into
Speaker:this and surround yourself with a great team. Do what your
Speaker:team tells you to do, and then enjoy your new
Speaker:self. Do you know anybody
Speaker:that you have influenced to get surgery? I don't know
Speaker:of anyone specifically that influenced, but yeah, there was conversations.
Speaker:That's the. I was that, like, oh, yeah, right, right. That it came in or.
Speaker:Yeah, you're an influencer. You. In a realist sense, you
Speaker:are. And then in. In that regard, like, you said, like, you just want to,
Speaker:like, scream it from the rooftops, like, get bariatric surgery. Like, you don't
Speaker:have to live like this. I know how you feel. Like, and you just
Speaker:understand that you're living it, you're breathing it. I mean,
Speaker:that's. That's tremendous, you know, and then you want to pay it forward
Speaker:to other people. I mean, I don't know. I Think that
Speaker:there's, there's so much there that is, it's really
Speaker:exceptional and that we can't even pay for a billboard
Speaker:or a, an ad or anything that is as
Speaker:influential or as impactful as you
Speaker:coming even on here and like sharing your story and just saying
Speaker:this. Yeah. So we were kind of talking a little bit earlier and it was
Speaker:like, you know, there's, there's obviously what you can find online from, you
Speaker:know, social media and YouTube and things like that, which are great. Not a whole
Speaker:lot of guys in this space are out talking to other guys.
Speaker:Right. And yeah. Which you know, kind of is what it is. Obviously it's a
Speaker:numbers thing too. But I mean, absolutely. I
Speaker:think hearing from someone else that yes, I did it and I'm so
Speaker:glad that I did was very helpful for me. Right. It was instrumental in saying
Speaker:like, okay, let's let me actually do this. Let me consider this real.
Speaker:And I said, well. And during our 45 minute conversation that night, I
Speaker:was asking him like, you know, all these questions about, you know, how has your
Speaker:diet changed? How have things been for you? And it was just like, no, it's
Speaker:great. Easy fine. Right? Like if it was like, yeah, like okay, I'm. Wait for
Speaker:the catch. Yeah. And there was no catch. There is no catch. There's
Speaker:no catch. Yeah, my friends, there's no catch. People are so freaked out
Speaker:about the food. And I like to eat, I have to eat,
Speaker:I want to eat. And it's like, you will still eat. Yeah. You just
Speaker:described, you know, and also like on that. Exactly.
Speaker:Like just to say that to then to people listening like
Speaker:you won't have that drive like you did before, you know, and
Speaker:you didn't mention it. But a lot of people say that food noise and that's
Speaker:like the big worry. It's like they're so worried about that. Like
Speaker:I'm still going to want to eat two chipotle burritos, but I
Speaker:can't. It's like, no, you just don't even want to anymore. Like it's just a
Speaker:non issue. The food drive goes from kind of this like hyper state that's put,
Speaker:put you in this position in the first place to a more of a normal
Speaker:state. Right, right. Like there's, I think at five years postoperatively,
Speaker:it's different than pre op or you know, shortly thereafter procedure, because there were
Speaker:things I couldn't eat. Like right after the procedure, I remember like I tried eating
Speaker:like it was like tough brisket and that just did not Sit. I was.
Speaker:That was an uncomfortable 30 minutes. But you learn what your. What your limits are.
Speaker:Yeah. And. And then you kind of adjust. But I don't
Speaker:miss sitting down and eating. Like, that was kind of my copious amount. So let's
Speaker:go to food. I can still eat stuff that I like. I just eat it
Speaker:in better portions. Right. And so, you know, I don't feel that,
Speaker:like, sickness from. From overeating that I would feel, you know,
Speaker:preoperatively just because the portion size is normal. And so for anybody who's,
Speaker:like, afraid, like, oh, I'll never be able to, you know, eat a cheeseburger again
Speaker:or whatever, it's like, no, you can. You may not be able to for the
Speaker:first few months, most operatively, as your. As your stomach adjusts and as your. As
Speaker:you heal. But, you know, it's like, you don't have to worry about, like, can't.
Speaker:And when I went through one of my classes early on, I remember, you know,
Speaker:the instructor kind of getting up, but she was a dietitian as well, kind of
Speaker:talking about it. And she, you know, made a comment about, you know, on the
Speaker:food restrictions, and someone's like, well, I can't do that. And just like, they. At
Speaker:that point in time, they pulled the plug. I'm like, you had missed out on.
Speaker:On five years of a much better life because you're afraid that you wouldn't be
Speaker:able to eat the same amount of food. Like, no, it's. It's worth it. It's
Speaker:worth the. The trade off. Yeah. I have a question for you. As a
Speaker:dietitian, are you still taking your vitamins? I take daily
Speaker:vitamins, and then I take probably like, five or six other supplements, just depending on,
Speaker:like, oh, wow. So it depends, like, heart disease runs in our family,
Speaker:and so I take different things with that. Yeah. And it takes inflammation. Okay, good.
Speaker:Yes. Just want to make sure. Bariatric advantage. Auto reorder. Lemon flavor
Speaker:is the best. Lemon flavor of the calcium. Yes. Calcium. Okay.
Speaker:Yeah. Wow. It. Yeah. Yeah. Good to know. It's always surprising.
Speaker:That's what we always say. Get sample pack. Because you never know which one you
Speaker:would like. Yeah, Always get sample. I felt like strawberry or Ningo Strawberries, My favorite.
Speaker:Not lemon. Lemon. Yes, that. And the reason I ask is because a
Speaker:lot of people especially, I feel like with the sleeve, they have this conception that,
Speaker:like, the vitamins are for the first year and then they're done. And I'm like,
Speaker:no. It's either any procedure. It's a Lifetime commitment
Speaker:to taking the multi and the calcium. Now the other stuff is obviously
Speaker:personalized. And all of that, but I think. You know, if anybody's is kind of
Speaker:concerned about that, it's like, okay, you know, you, you made this investment in your
Speaker:health. You want to continue to pour into that investment. Absolutely. You're going to go
Speaker:to the gym, you're going to the meal prep, you're going to do all the
Speaker:things, you're going to drink your water, drink your protein shakes, your vitamins.
Speaker:Yeah. And you know what? Also you're probably off of medications
Speaker:or something like it's like you replace one to one. Like swap
Speaker:out a blood pressure vent for item like, you know, I would much rather
Speaker:personally be taking a multivitamin that of blood
Speaker:pressure magnesium or whatever. At the end of medication is to. Salt and just settlements.
Speaker:Yeah. That's use. Right, Right. Is that a post operative treatment? Yeah. Right.
Speaker:Good, good job. No,
Speaker:that is great. You do need to do a sleeve and bypass and
Speaker:DS or whatever your procedure was. You got to make sure that you do that
Speaker:if you get your blood work done and check to make sure that everything is
Speaker:all good. What's here come at first. Yeah, they know schools, things like that. You're
Speaker:supposed to. Fantastic. Yeah, I mean like you know the, the oligarch
Speaker:pre diabetic fatty liver diseases is not a thing.
Speaker:So. No, I mean it's, it's all the, the health markers have obviously
Speaker:improved. You know, blood pressure's down, pulse rates down. Like
Speaker:all the stuff that you care about for your DC health and wellness is improved.
Speaker:Yeah, that's awesome. I mean, can't beat it. Obsessed. I love
Speaker:it. So taking you kind of back to the workup for
Speaker:this and how you finally decided, all right, I'm ready. You
Speaker:went down that rabbit hole till 2am we actually get a lot of
Speaker:patients especially on the weekends, like in the middle of the night. That's when they
Speaker:sign up, when they text us, when they text us. We'll get that first initial
Speaker:submission of your electronics form there. It's
Speaker:like, okay, Robert's interested. What's going on and
Speaker:that is a vulnerable moment and that is a big deal to be
Speaker:like, okay, a I think I'm going to do this. I'm going from kind
Speaker:of contemplating to actually I kind of take an action on it. And when
Speaker:you go there, do you like, how do you decide on the
Speaker:program that you want or like how did you decide to take that first step?
Speaker:Because it's so overwhelming. Yeah, I mean it's
Speaker:so for me, I've worked in healthcare my whole career, right. So being able
Speaker:to walk in and see, okay, do you have your stuff together program established?
Speaker:But who's going to be cutting on me, right? Who's going to be my care
Speaker:team? Who's going to be taking care of me and helping me along this journey?
Speaker:Who do I trust? Right. And so you want to be able to walk in
Speaker:and just kind of like feel like, yes, I feel very competent in this staff,
Speaker:that they're going to provide the best care that they can provide. And
Speaker:like I said, I looked at three different programs and the one that I picked,
Speaker:I felt the best at the end, the best program, the best materials and things
Speaker:like that. And I imagine something is true with your patients once you
Speaker:begin to make that contact and they're like, okay, but you kind of get that
Speaker:reassurance and that comfort as a patient, right? You
Speaker:want your. You want to know that your care team is in your corner, right?
Speaker:And then you call me whenever you have any questions, we're here for you. Things
Speaker:like that. You're going to slip, you're going to fall. We will help you up.
Speaker:So that was a big selling point, obviously, just making sure that and just, you
Speaker:know, reputation in the market and. Things like that, that you make a spreadsheet about.
Speaker:The three programs, I think you wind up most love your
Speaker:spreadsheets. I can't wait to drink your big one about us, you know. But
Speaker:then I don't know if you realize a lot of the insurance
Speaker:companies have actually gotten, I would consider more progressive in
Speaker:that they no longer require the six months
Speaker:of supervised weight loss, having to do these consecutive visits,
Speaker:even, you know, with a dietitian or your primary care somebody.
Speaker:So now it's basically left the program's
Speaker:discretion what they want to do. And we are of the thoughts
Speaker:that if you don't have any time requirement from your insurance company,
Speaker:I'm not going to put one on you unnecessarily. So if you're ready and you've
Speaker:made up your mind and you've done your research and you're educated and you're really
Speaker:prepared for this. Let's go. If you're ready, I'm ready. How do you
Speaker:feel about that, having to have done the six months? Same way, like I said,
Speaker:the six months was almost like I made the decision, right, I'm ready to do
Speaker:this. Okay, good. And it was just kind of like dragging on and it was
Speaker:like, not anything bad about the care team. Care team was Great. Yeah. But as
Speaker:the patient, I'm like, okay, let me go and do this before I chicken out.
Speaker:Right. Or for the kiss maybe. And so, you know, if it was one of
Speaker:those deals where I could submit something, you know, to you on a Monday, and
Speaker:then you're like, hey, we can get you in next Thursday as a patient, Yes,
Speaker:I would much rather go on that route than have to go the six month
Speaker:route. Okay, good. Because I know that you, again, were tremendously
Speaker:outlier, I guess, successful in losing
Speaker:over 50 pounds. That is not normal. We don't expect that from our
Speaker:patients. We do hope that they are absorbing the
Speaker:information and starting to try to make some changes. And maybe getting rid of the
Speaker:sodas or whatever your kryptonite is. It just really starting to think of it. The
Speaker:mindset piece is so integral to this. But
Speaker:if you don't lose weight, that's not a deal breaker for, for anybody. And that's
Speaker:okay. But you crush that, right? You crush that part. Yeah. But you
Speaker:know, it was like I said it was the mindset piece, right? So you have
Speaker:to adapt. And it's like, okay, what are my triggers again? It's the kickflight you
Speaker:said. But then it was just like, please, like we just. Can we just
Speaker:speed this up? Okay? We just did this. I don't need. Was there ever a
Speaker:point that you felt like you may stop it during that six months?
Speaker:No, I. I mean, yeah, it was like, I wish the six
Speaker:month just. That it was over, but not that you were like, I'm all right,
Speaker:I. Thought about it too much and now I'm gonna back out. You were in
Speaker:it super obsessive. Like I've learned.
Speaker:I had a feeling, but that's what I feel like some. Happens to some people
Speaker:is they get to month three, month four, and they're like, was sick of this,
Speaker:I'm tired of it. I. I've thought about it and now I've read too many
Speaker:stories. I watched too many things on TikTok or whatever and
Speaker:like, or I've heard a story. Or they miss a month because they miss an
Speaker:appointment. And so now it's just like a whole thing. And it's like,
Speaker:I'm just done. And it is, it's. You made that 2am decision
Speaker:and trust your gut. Trust your gut. Yeah. Really, like you start in September, then
Speaker:what happens? November, December. Right now like you've derailed. Yeah, yeah, Right. So now you
Speaker:feel bad about insurance. Restarts and your deductible resets and the
Speaker:BL just All that stuff too. It's like, oh, I mean, you'll be usually, I
Speaker:would say probably for most of your patients, obesity is a lifelong battle. Like, once
Speaker:you finally get the courage to go through and kind of say, yes,
Speaker:I want to do this, yeah, you're like, you're done. You've, you've thought about this
Speaker:long enough. You're right through it. Yeah, you got it. You're locked in. No doubt
Speaker:about it. We always say I'm obsessed with this. We even did a whole podcast
Speaker:on this. When you are standing on the edge, you're on the edge. You never
Speaker:really feel comfortable to jump. But if you're running to jump and you're just like,
Speaker:I'm tired of looking at it, like, analysis paralysis. Like, let's go.
Speaker:How was the day of surgery when it finally came? Or do you remember your
Speaker:emotions? It was just a relief. All right, good. I'd be finally there and like,
Speaker:okay, checked all the boxes, did all the things right. Like finally after waiting, you
Speaker:know, six months, we're going to be able to get this thing done, I can
Speaker:begin to move into the next chapter. And so it
Speaker:was not, you know, anxious about it. I was
Speaker:just glad to finally had been there. And I can tell you I would feel
Speaker:the same way if it would have been, you know, two weeks versus six months.
Speaker:Right? To finally be at that point because it's like, okay, it's real. Like
Speaker:I'm actually going to do this. I don't know what's six months from now or
Speaker:a year from now or six years now when it look like, but we're going
Speaker:to figure this out. I love it. So good.
Speaker:So my, my biggest question, we talked a little bit about non scale
Speaker:victories. What would you say in this last five years, what has been
Speaker:your favorite nsv?
Speaker:And I, you know, I think I keep kind of going back to the, just
Speaker:the surge in confidence, right? Like it just, it allows you to
Speaker:be your true self, right. Once you're not kind of, you
Speaker:know, held back by your own limitations and you know, the kind of, the
Speaker:position you've put yourself in, it just allows you to really be who
Speaker:you truly are. Right. And I think that, you know, you get so much
Speaker:empowerment from that. Just everything improves, just your general well being, your general
Speaker:happiness, just life in general improves when
Speaker:you are no longer like, you know, so concerned about when's next
Speaker:time you're going to eat or what are people think about me when I'm eating
Speaker:or you know, I can't go out to A restaurant, eat by myself because I'm
Speaker:gonna get judged. Right. You begin to kind of remove all these
Speaker:obstacles from your life. Right. All these dark clouds and the sun really shines through.
Speaker:Right. And so I didn't hit as far as the non scope victories
Speaker:go. There's. Like I said, it's been a ton. Right. Pretty much unquantifiable.
Speaker:But the biggest thing that I've taken away from that was it
Speaker:realistically was a turning point in my life
Speaker:that the chapters post surgical
Speaker:are vastly different. Right. And so much better than they were, you know,
Speaker:researchable.
Speaker:I wasn't even making any sounds. I was like holding my dry pants again because
Speaker:I was like, I need that. I need it. Yeah. It was so good.
Speaker:Yes. I will tell you what, Robert, like, it has been such an
Speaker:honor to meet you and know you and I'm so glad our paths up across
Speaker:this is just the beginning I got to meet you. I mean, I just met
Speaker:him and he's already willing to come here and sit on the pink
Speaker:chairs and to get like
Speaker:kind of vulnerable and like to talk about your feelings and like where you were
Speaker:and where you are and like, oh my gosh, you're the infancy of your business
Speaker:and I can't even. You're going to take over. So. Yeah, honestly, I
Speaker:hope that, you know, my goal in doing this honestly is that there's one person
Speaker:sitting out there who's on the fence who, you know, isn't sure, who didn't
Speaker:have that person who was able to pour into them like I had to that
Speaker:conference, who hears this and it's like, okay, here we go, I'm gonna
Speaker:send an email. I'm going to actually do this and look into it because like
Speaker:I said, I would tell anybody out there listening, you will not regret it if
Speaker:you go down this road. Right. You will, you will not regret the results. You
Speaker:will not regret, you know, anything that, that will come of this. Right.
Speaker:Again, everybody's journey is different, but their life on the other side
Speaker:of, of significant weight loss is so much better than being
Speaker:held captive by all the weight that you're carrying. So, you know, I know this
Speaker:was like a last minute thing that, you know, kind of happened. And I'm great,
Speaker:I'm so grateful that it worked out this way, but I would not hesitate, you
Speaker:know, telling the story, you know, any opportunity that I get. Oh, what a
Speaker:story. So with that being said, we hope that if you're listening,
Speaker:you stumble upon our website, bodylifeberiatrics.com or
Speaker:text us
Speaker:407-54-30971. And
Speaker:you have been in healthcare for many years like you said, and
Speaker:I would love to know, just to put it out there, what would you
Speaker:tell people if they were to have surgery here at the Surgical Institute of Central
Speaker:Florida? I, if I had to have it all done, I'd hop on your table
Speaker:tomorrow. I mean, this is absolutely beautiful facility and I have
Speaker:worked in hundreds, hundreds of surgery centers across the country. It is
Speaker:an absolute beautiful facility. But the staff here are so nice. Right from the minute
Speaker:that we walked in the door, just interacting with you all. It's a great team.
Speaker:You can tell when people care, right? Versus like, I'm just a number,
Speaker:I'm just a patient. Right? I'm, I'm in this, the system. Like, no, like, once
Speaker:you're, you know, within this family, like you were there, part of the family here,
Speaker:and you know, you've, you have got a world class
Speaker:set up here. You're a world class surgeon. So if, you know, it's one of
Speaker:those deals where I needed, you know, you'd be my dietitian, you'd be my surgeon.
Speaker:Like, yeah, done deal. So I can tell you from working with
Speaker:thousands of surgeons and being hundreds of facilities, like, you have it at
Speaker:top notch team and organization here.
Speaker:Oh, awesome. Yeah. We do not cut corners. You are
Speaker:behind the scenes. You listen up the veil, you put things away, you have the
Speaker:supplies, you're helping us get organized. For that, we are so grateful.
Speaker:But thank you for those kind words. And yeah, we hope that you, if
Speaker:you're listening, you do come and you just check it out. Hopefully you have your
Speaker:surgery here or you'll just visit us and you'll get, you know, some sort of
Speaker:piece of this building and all the love that we poured into it
Speaker:and even perfect strangers coming in here
Speaker:liking it too. It's, that's, that's amazing. Yes. Yeah, we
Speaker:appreciate all the work that you have done here, but also for joining us on
Speaker:the podcast today, this was great. Like you said, it's kind of like, just do
Speaker:it. So he's like, I'll do the podcast. We're like, absolutely, let's do
Speaker:it. So that's confidence. That would not have been present. Certainly. Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah. So thank you so much for, for joining us. And of course, if you
Speaker:want to find us, you can get us on Instagram, Instagram @theweightlosscollab,
Speaker:@drdovec, @hannahschuyler.rd
Speaker:@bodybybariatrics. We're all over. So like she said
Speaker:bodybybariatrics.com if you are listening at 2 o'clock in the morning and you
Speaker:want to go ahead and get started, absolutely. Any time of day we'll take it.
Speaker:But get started and enjoy your post
Speaker:operative. Just confidence and success and path forward.
Speaker:Absolutely. Congratulations. Thank you so much. Pleasure to you. All right.
Speaker:See you later. Bye guys. Bye!
