New Insights
Diane Banwart
My name is Diane and I have lost 140 pounds off my 5’9” frame. Before surgery I was 300 pounds. I am 57 and have been married for 33 years. We have a beautiful daughter and a loving son-in-law. I am also very fortunate to have my mother who is 88 and in great physical and psychological condition. She still spends time on her Health Rider!
Anyway, I have fought weight all my life. It really started to bother me in 4th grade when I weighed 104 lbs. and by 6th grade I was 143 lbs. I hated physical activity and dreaded gym class. It was a battle all through school keeping my head up high when I heard the stinging remarks of my fatness from the other kids. I managed to make it through high school where the kids weren’t so blatantly mean with remarks. But at 190 lbs. you did not go to proms. You did not go to parties, at least not in my neighborhood. No, you would go home, eat, watch TV, eat and then go to bed.
I knew I always wanted to be a teacher. I remember so well, that last day of my last required gym class in college. I thought, I never have to exercise again! (Little did I know!)
After college, the weight piled on. I went up and down for years. I tried so many diets and pills. In the seventies the trend was drinking this cherry flavored protein that came from cows’ hides or something like that. It tasted like it too. I passed out. Sometimes I think I’m lucky that I’m still alive after that one!
By my forties I had high blood pressure, pre-diabetes, acid reflux, shortness of breath and arthritis in my knees. I could barely sit for very long in teachers’ meetings because my knees ached so badly. I loved my teaching career, but by age 55, and after 32 years of watching those little faces light up when my students understood a new concept, I still knew it was time to retire and begin a new life. And boy did I!
For at least 2 years before retiring, I pondered weight loss surgery. I read. I asked questions. I read some more. I chose the Duodenal Switch with a surgeon in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. My husband supported me with much patience and love.
The surgery took place on November 5, 2002. I did fine and when I got home, my sisters, (I have 3 great ones) helped me through the first few days. I followed all the rules, grew stronger every day and the weight began to come off. By spring 2003, I was walking all the way around the block with my husband and our beagle Abbey. It may sound trite, but before surgery I could not make it halfway. I would have to cut through the back yards to get home, huffing and puffing while they continued on. Still exercise resistant, I had not made regularly scheduled times for cardio and weight resistance workouts. Finally, I joined Curves. I did it because I was supposed to. It still wasn’t in my heart.
Then one day at one of our bi-monthly meetings, the surgeon came to talk to all of us about exercise. I had heard these lectures before, but this one really stuck! It is the first time I realized that you can be thin and very unhealthy! We need to build muscle and lose the fat. It helps make for permanent weight loss. The cardio burns calories and raises metabolism even when we rest! There are so many more pluses - better bone density, heart health, depression lifts – the list goes on and on. He was so emphatic as he spoke.
It sounds silly, but my face lit up like my students’ used too. It clicked! It made sense to me. A surgeon can only do so much. Yes, the surgery works but it is just a tool. We, the patients are responsible for our own health. It is our life long choices and habits that determine our quality of life and our ability to help others. Had I not had the surgery and lost all this weight, I am not sure I would have ever come to this conclusion. I am no longer pre-diabetic. I take minimal blood pressure medicine. I have no more pain in my knees and no acid reflux problem.
Now I exercise with purpose. I compete against myself to keep doing better and more. When you lose this much weight, to me, there is something spiritual about it. I quote Melody T. McCloud, M.D., and co-author of Blessed Health as written in the February 2004 issue of Family Circle, “Honor your body, nurture yourself, nourish your inner being first.”
I am healthier. I am stronger. Life is sweet. If it ever isn’t sweet, I can handle that too.