“I didn’t really start gaining weight until 2007 when I stopped smoking,” the Auburn-area woman says. But the improved health easily outweighed concerns about her waistline. “I want to live. I want to watch those grand babies grow up!”
But over the years, the numbers on her scale just kept creeping up. Finally, her primary care doctor asked if she’d like a referral to the MultiCare Center for Weight Loss & Wellness. “I just couldn’t stick to anything diet-wise,” Shaw says.
She wasn’t sure but decided to give the medical weight-loss program a try. “It changed my life,” Shaw says. “It’s the best referral she ever made for me.”
She was dubious at her first appointment. “But when I went back and I had lost weight I was very encouraged,” she says.
Sticking with the tips and recommendations from her doctor and dietitian, Shaw has lost 54 pounds from her 4’11” frame. She didn’t grasp what that meant until recently. “We’ve got farm animals and the other day I had to pick up a 50-pound bag of chicken feed and I thought, ‘Wow! This is what I’ve lost!’”
Shaw says she has much more energy than she did before losing weight. “I feel like the Energizer Bunny sometimes; like I did when I was younger,” she says. “And I have more self-confidence. I had gotten to the point that I was so self-conscious about going anywhere because I’d gotten so heavy. I just kind of didn’t want to leave the house.”
Now, when she goes out and she runs into someone she hasn’t seen for some time, she loves their reaction. “They’re just in shock. And when you get that compliment or that ‘Whoa!’ it’s just so uplifting.
She’s also needed to do some shopping. “You lose all this weight and you start changing your clothing size and your face thins out and your feet thin out,” she says. “Who would have thought? I’ve got all these shoes that are too wide!”
Shaw says the staff at the Center for Weight Loss & Wellness were just the right mix of supportive and frank about what she needed to do. “I just love my dietitian,” she says. “She gives you suggestions and she’ll listen to you whine.”
Shaw’s biggest change was to her snacking. She had a strong milk and cookie habit that she replaced with veggies and balsamic vinegar.
“I love Oreos and milk and I can finish off that whole bag,” she says. Her daughter recently dropped by and had some Oreos. “She said, ‘Mom, have one.’ Finally, I said OK. And I ate that one and that was it – and no milk.” Knowing she could stop at one was better than any bag of cookies, she says.
And after several months on the program, “I don’t feel like I’m on a diet anymore,” she says. She continues to watch what she eats and make healthier swaps. “Over time you really learn more about food,” she says. “Carbs, sadly, are not your friend.”
But she says she’s also learned that cheat days are OK. “Just get back on task,” she says. “I still don’t eat a lot of carbs, and vegetables are whatever you can eat… most of them. You do have cheat days and it’s OK as long as you get back on task.”
Shaw says chocolate is her weakness, “But when I cheat and have that piece of chocolate, it’s dark chocolate now,” she says.
As she approaches her 68th birthday, Shaw says she’s grateful for the referral that changed her life and encourages anyone thinking about it to give it a try. “You have to want to do it. It’s probably not for everybody but I think everybody that’s overweight should try.”
Call 253-301-5280 or visit us online to learn more about MultiCare’s medical weight-loss program and the Center for Weight Loss & Wellness.
