Gene lost 52 pounds - actually more - depending on what day you take his
weight. He started at a hundred and eighty two so his BMI was about 27 at
that point. Now it's about 20. That's one of the remarkable things about
Gene's experience. Another is - as you listen in this interview you see he's at
least is focused on his insulin resistance as he was on the weight. In
fact, he sees the insulin resistance as the key to the weight loss - the diet that
he used -and maybe even the weight gain. Gene's a very smart guy. He understands a
lot of subtleties that most people don't pick up in this issue (middle age weight gain due to IR). But let Gene
tell you his story.
It's good to have an opportunity to talk to you. We've
been friends for several years now. I am a patient of PrevMed. It was March
the 2nd of 2017 I had triple bypass surgery. Prior to
that .. (I guess I don't I don't know what my weight was on the day of the surgery)
but leading up to that I probably weighed around 180 to 183. That was
for me - for a person my size with my frame - was way too heavy.
So yes, I have lost a little over 50 pounds 52/ 53 and I weigh 128 pounds now.
But that did not happen overnight. I'm coming up on, I guess, in three
weeks or so - it'll be the two-year
anniversary of that heart surgery. Right after that you & I connected - I connected
with you as a patient . I just decided, "I'm getting to get serious
about this. I'm going to do what I need to do." - not only make the
changes (because I think that was the key - that the medicine helps but it's really
a lifestyle thing for me) -so making those changes - it was really fundamental - not
only to losing the weight, but to getting those values on the blood work and
everything else in line. I think I didn't understand, Ford, I think the
thing that I would - the "Ah Ha" moment - it may have been when I was
coming to your office for a consultation or we were going to talk. You
mentioned (before we started ) that I was
insulin resistant. I'd heard that before, but it sounded so benign. It
sounded like - okay, big deal - it doesn't sound like
you have cancer or you have diabetes or you have you know some awful malady. It's
insulin resistance, right? And I thought, "Well, that's just maybe
that little bit of time you have out there before you become a type-2
diabetic - I don't know that it's all that bad." Until I decided
to learn more about what that meant. Then I
realized that this long-term period of being insulin resistant - of not
being judicious about what I was eating primarily and how much I was moving and
how I was moving - resulted in a lot of years of just these these cumulative
insults to the inside of my arteries. Yes, it was a wake-up call. Then I
learned more about what resistance is and and and what we can do about it.
So I made a lot of changes. In fact, just recently I went in for an annual
physical. This was really an eye-opener in the sense that I requested that
test that we run ( the OGTT) . The
oral glucose tolerance test that two-hour uptake measure - because that
was the - I believe Ford - you'll have to correct me if I'm wrong but I think that
was maybe the diagnostic test. (Ford, " Yes.") that precipitated your comments to me about
the problem I have. My physician (who's a fine fella but
I I don't think really plugged into what you're talking about) this
- I mean I think there's a normalcy bias. The normalcy is,
"you're getting older and so what "
and "yeah that happens when you age" - and your approach to it was a lot
different. His calculus involved looking at my A1c levels. If they
were fine, then I'm fine - and there would be no need for metformin
or some of the other things that are a part of managing an insulin
resistant - what happens flip into that - and how you dial it
back. So for the life of me I could not get him to order the test!
I'd tried to even - I said, "look. I'm the customer, right?" And you know - not so
much... Anyhow for me that was a real wake-up
call. That was the information that precipitated my desire to really make
some changes - not some temporary ones but some long-term ones. So
I've been at this weight I am now - which is about 128 pounds - between 128 / 130. I've
been here a little over a year.
I lost that weight slowly over time. There's
not a lot of magic here. There's just not. Besides the diet
changes and really seeing sugar as the enemy - I mean
sugar in any form - (maybe unless you get it from some
fruit or something) is working against you in a lot of ways - particularly the
way I used to consume it - which is with Dr. Peppers and whatever I felt
like eating. So that (and I think really moved the needle to was
just the exercise . I'm not out there running half marathons.
I walk a lot. I run a little. And I do some resistance work I do some work
with weights. I have a Stairmaster. I get on it very regularly. It's just
some changes I made.
You prescribed a medication called metformin. I take it twice a day. I think
if your - I'm not a medical person but I'm surprised they
don't put it in the drinking water - actually. (I wanted to thank you for) all you've done to help me find
this pathway - to help me understand how serious this all is.
And also help me understand - here's the pathway - here's the way out.
Here's what you can do. And me getting serious about
some of those conversations we've had - & making some lifestyle
changes. Ford , "you could not have thanked me any better than you have with
the changes you've made." Gene, " thank you" Thank You , Gene.