Roads Untraveled

In order to accurately reflect my new outlook and new NSNG lifestyle the blog now has a new name. It represents my path on the roads yet untraveled. Of course there will be race reports and other such triathlon information, but there will also be a discussion of physiology of obesity, bariatric surgery, and of course the low carbohydrate and high fat lifestyle (or No Sugar No Grains for all of us Vinnie's Ladies and Gents).

I want to share the trials, frustrations, milestones, and hopefully success that I will be experiencing through this change in lifestyle. Also, I want to make it a place to find the evidence behind the hype of physiology. One day I hope to trace a link between obesity, hyperinsulinemia and cancer and this will be my journey.

And here is the beginning of that process...

So I guess I should start with my story...

My journey began as an overweight child, teen and eventually young adult. My highest weight was 260 pounds for a 5'5" frame. I was in constant pain from a knee and ankle injury from an SUV rollover in 1998 where I nearly lost my life and left leg. I was suffering from the early stages of metabolic syndrome in my 20s, a disease that would eventually lead to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. I knew this was a dangerous path as combined with my strong family history for coronary artery disease and atherosclerosis, I working my way to a heart attack.

In 2005, I decided with the help of my mother to undergo RNY gastric bypass surgery. I was in the middle of an intensive Internal Medicine residency, working over 100 hours per week (yeah, I guess those work-hour restrictions for doctors were working so well, heh), and feeling miserable. During a 2-week leave I went under and woke up with a new way of life. You not only have to re-learn how to eat having had your GI tract re-routed; but also new mechanisms for coping. I did not realize at that time that no matter how much of your stomach is cut out, learning not too use food as a coping mechanism for stress is the key to long-term weight management.

Strong Like Bull!

So the first year was amazing and the next two a dream. I dropped from a size 18-20 down to a size 6 and 155 pounds by summer of 2006 when I started my Hematology and Medical Oncology Fellowship. I was exercising here and there and fairly sticking to my new diet. I was in a new town/state, new position, new home and all seemed wonderful. Little did I realize there would be new stress as well. Yet again, I turned to food, my constant companion, the one thing in my life that would never leave, never say no. And the weight crept back. Time constraints whittled away at what little exercise I had been doing. Perhaps, the worst part of all was my twisted reasoning for stopping my post-op supplements...well, if I am gaining weight that must been that I am not nutritionally deficient! 

In 2010, less than year into my new career as an academic physician at a major cancer center, new home. Some would say the life but miserable yet again, my weight back to 200 pounds and a size 16. I was always tired, sick to my stomach, and a sadness that pervaded every inch of my heart. I dove into my work, but was having difficulty keeping up with that with the overwhelming feelings of fatigue.  That is when one of my coworkers (soon to be more than that), JC steered me to see weight loss specialist. After balking many times (well, what would another doctor tell me that I already couldn't figure out for myself!) and feeling that my biggest problem was laziness not medically related, I bit the bullet and made the appointment. After one visit and multiple vials of blood later we realized the problem. I had EVERY profound nutritional deficiency a gastric bypass patient could endure. My vitamin D and B12 levels were nonexistent, thyroid was low, and ironically (for a hematologist) I had a severe iron deficiency anemia for which I needed IV iron replacement.

MB RNR Half Marathon 2011

At the same time, I developed a passion for cycling inspired by my nurse and good friend. I threw myself into the sport and eventually triathlon, into my supplements and with the guidance of my knowledgeable physician, good friends, and that special person who started me on the path to getting healthy again I hope I found a way to cope with the constant stressors in life.

Although it helped, I still had not found the magic pill to keep me healthy. Through the next two years I would finish a sprint triathlon, then an Olympic distance, and finally 3- 70.3 races. Although I have been training hard; the weight was still there. I did drop down to 160 by fall of 2011 with the help of some intense marathon training, but then the stress ramped up again. In fact, I felt like I was losing my path in my life and in my work. My friends were all leaving or being forced to leave from my hospital. Stress levels rose again and I lost my passion for my job. I no longer felt like a doctor, just a bureaucratic pencil pusher and a poor one at that. The weight came back and my training suffered. I was in pain daily due to gastric ulcers and dumping syndrome. All of my nutritional deficiencies had reared their ugly head.

Thanks to KC, my friend, coach and overall triathlon goddess who one day told us about Vinnie Tortorich and his podcast about the NSNG lifestyle. After listening once, I was hooked. JC and I were on our way to a much healthier lifestyle. Although I have not lost the weight he has I can attest to feeling 100% better. I rarely experience dumping syndrome, ulcers are under control, energy levels are up.

The stress is still there, in fact even more so with my new job away from my dear friends and partner; but there are new friends, new practice and every morning I wake up with a renewed passion for my patients. It is amazing what a positive work environment does for you. I am slowly learning how to manage a busy practice, call schedule, and half iron man training. My new friends and family are finally accepting that the NSNG lifestyle is here to stay. And I am getting to the point where I am saying NO to the sugary snacks when stressed more than YES.

JC and I ... Tri and then TRI again!

As if the living the dream weren't enough, I get to incorporate my scientific background into my new lifestyle. I want to delve deep into the physiology of bariatric surgery and how to make it work. I also want to help flesh out the associations between cancer and obesity...there is a lot of information out there just waiting to be discovered....