I was thrilled when George Capsis reached out and asked me if I would help our new contributor, John Barrera, lose weight and allow our readers to follow his progress. Both John and I accepted the challenge from our fearless leader, George. I was especially excited because I know that by helping John lose weight and keep it off, I can also help you do the same.
I had the opportunity to meet John this morning. I knew he was serious because he actually showed up! He had a plane to catch in a few hours, a good excuse to cancel an appointment, but he didn’t. That proved he was serious.
One of the first questions I asked John was why he wants to lose weight. He said, “For my health.” John is 56 years of age, has high blood pressure and a condition called by many names, one of which is fatty liver disease. His father died at 58 years young from a heart attack, and his mother died from complications of type 2 diabetes. Genetics put him at risk to follow suit. High blood pressure is related to both heart attacks and type 2 diabetes. He told me he knows that high blood pressure is a silent killer. John also knows that losing weight can help him prevent a heart attack and/or type 2 diabetes.
This is why I specialize in Weight Management. I know for so many just taking off 5–10% of their body weight can change their lives for the good! For example, John weighs 300 pounds, he needs to only lose 15 to 30 pounds to make a big difference in his health. (If you weigh 200 pounds, you need to only lose 10 to 20 pounds to make a difference in your health.) It doesn’t need to be a drastic amount of weight, and for most it’s doable! If you and John want to lose more weight than that and can, that’s fine, let’s try.
John told me he was not heavy until these past few years. He developed a problem in his right foot, had surgery and was no longer active. He has put on about seventy pounds during this time. Hard to believe, but it can happen. During this time he did try to lose weight on a commercial diet, only to gain it back plus twenty more pounds. Sound familiar?
We reviewed John’s eating habits, physical activity, medications and sleep habits. All of these factors can affect his (and your) weight. We came up with a simple dietary plan for John. Simple? Yes! Experts know if you try to make too many changes at one time, it can overwhelm you and cause you to give up. I don’t want to see John or you give up. I want to see John gradually lose, enjoy his life while doing so, and keep it off! Almost everybody can lose weight, it’s the keeping it off that is the issue.
John has agreed to make the dietary changes I recommended:
- Increase the protein and fat in his diet and decrease his carbohydrate intake.
- Keep a record of what he eats, how much, and when.
For you, if you need to lose some weight…start by thinking about why you want to lose weight, choose one to two changes you will make in your life to help you do so.
Next month I’ll go into more details about these simple changes John plans to make, why we chose those and how he progresses.
Until then, let’s wish John success and for you, hang onto your reason, make your one to two changes, and see you in February.
Joy Pape is a West Village Resident, Nurse Practitioner and Diabetes Educator at
Weill Cornell Medical College, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism
Comprehensive Weight Control Center.
646-962-2418
