Meredith’s Story: ‘My Life Has Improved Drastically’

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As a nurse at Miami Valley Hospital’s Bariatric Surgery Center, Meredith Schieltz has seen her share of people lose weight following surgery. In 2017 she decided it was time for her to lose weight, too. But her approach would be different.

Overweight “my entire life,” Meredith, 34, remembers lying when she first got her driver’s license. “I was already over 200 pounds, but couldn’t admit it.” Struggling with weight was a family affair. “My mom was very heavy. I watched her fight with it for as long as I can remember.”

In 2010 Meredith says she “felt God tugging at my heart, telling me I needed to get healthy.” She lost 50 pounds by exercising, but didn’t change her eating habits. “Then my mom died, life happened, and I gained it back.”

Seven years later, at 285 pounds, Meredith was diagnosed with sleep apnea and prediabetes. She again felt God reminding her that her health needed to improve. “So I cut soda, drank more water, and walked more.” Although she saw progress, “I needed help and direction,” she says. So she enrolled in Premier Weight Loss Solutions’ non-surgical weight loss program aimed at improving overall health through one-on-one diet and exercise counseling, support, and education.

Intimidated at first, Meredith remembers “the meal plans seemed really strict, but the staff was so supportive and promised it would get easier.” She vowed to give it her all, and by the end of the first week had lost 10 pounds.

In the months that followed Meredith learned:

To meticulously count carbs
She can’t turn to food when times get hard. Jigsaw puzzles, exercise, and music are her healthy alternatives.
Not to be fooled by deceptive food labels. “It was really eye-opening to me. Many foods advertised as low carb are not!”
Some people didn’t really want her to lose weight. “They enjoyed bulldozing me and don’t like the new, more confident Meredith. I had to give up some friendships.”
It’s OK to treat yourself — in moderation! — and not completely deprive yourself. “I get a little scoop of hot dessert in the cafeteria every day at lunch.”

Now 122 pounds lighter and still losing, Meredith wants others to know that a permanent lifestyle change is possible. “My life has improved drastically. I want others to know that if they’re committed, theirs can improve too. I can’t go back to eating like I was before, but this is so much better. It’s really exciting.”

Speaker 1:	Growing up. I was always a little bit bigger than my siblings but I don't remember it being like such a struggle until I was like maybe like pre-teen. I started on the bariatric surgery unit back in 2008. I still work there part-time as bedside nurse talking to patients and knowing their stories and how much stuff that they had done to try and lose the weight. I knew in myself that I had never tried. I had never tried to give anything a hundred percent. God really laid it on my heart again to start really changing because I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes and sleep apnea. After I really decided to try and be like, "okay God I'm listening to you. Whatever you want me to do, like I'll do this." Shortly after that they opened the medical weight loss program from your weight loss solutions. They give you diet guidelines to follow. Meal plans and you can like do meal replacement shakes.
Speaker 1:	But then they also encourage you to start exercising more and then they help you set behavior and diet goals. Then you see them every month so it's like you know you're going to get weighed every month and you're like, it's that accountability thing. All the dietitians have been really awesome. I can email them with questions and they'll get back to me.
Speaker 1:	So at my heaviest I was 285 pounds and I have lost 115 pounds now. I feel amazing now. I couldn't go up and down stairs hardly at all. Now I take them all the time. One of the last couple 5K's that I walked, I did run almost like the first quarter mile, which felt good because I didn't think I could ever run because my knees were so bad. I just feel so much better now.
Speaker 1:	I think people just need to know that it's possible to do this. If they set their mind to it, they can do it. If they're really serious about it and they really follow it the way that it's presented, it works.