AIF Health No. 1-2. “Omicron” — the most contagious and not the last strain of COVID-19? 18/01/2022
By the age of 50, an online editor Mikhail Verny gained 206 kg of weight. And I decided: enough is enough. In just a year, he managed not just to lose weight, but to lose the weight of a whole person! The next goal is to reach 100 kg. And then reach the ideal 80 kg.
Mikhail says he started getting fat from birth. Already in kindergarten, he was teased for this. At school, too. He came to the recruiting station with a weight under a hundredweight. The Soviet army, of course, made a man out of him in 2 years, he was even able to wear size 48 suits. But after a couple of years, there was no trace of the former status.
Food as a leisure activity
Mikhail’s family loved to eat. However, at the same time, my father actively played football, and my mother, in addition to work, worked tirelessly around the house. But Mikhail liked to lie on the couch with a book and eat. Fortunately, my mother cooked well, and the dishes in her performance were mostly high-calorie: kharcho soup, chops, fried potatoes, dumplings. Mikhail’s grandfather is from the Urals. From him the tradition startedgather the whole family and make 1000 dumplings, and the next few days eat them from morning to evening. First, 15 steaming dumplings were laid out for each, and when they were eaten, the grandfather, demonstratively patting himself on the stomach, announced: “Packed. Start the second portion”. Then a third. Mikhail remembers that they sat down at the table during the day, and got up because of him closer to night.
At first, Mikhail planned to have an operation to reduce the stomach. Photo: from the personal archive of Mikhail Verny
The fun student days are over. Life has become more orderly and less riotous. Now Mikhail mostly rested in front of the TV on the sofa, in a restaurant. The work was also sedentary, at the same time difficult, nervous and responsible. And these two moments –inactivity and stress – only aggravated the problem.
Like any overweight person, Mikhail tried to lose weight many times. Every time a new miracle remedy appeared, whether it was a dietary supplement or a blood type diet, he tried it and hoped. The results were there, but not too noticeable and, in addition, short-lived. Besides, my head ached, my strength was draining, my mood was spoiling.
But the problem needed a solution. Then Mikhail decided to resort to bariatric surgery. This operation is difficult, but it helps to lose weight dramatically. But it turned out that a person with his weight first needs to go through a preliminary stage – surgical installation of an intragastric balloon (put on for six months). Mikhail learned that with his gastritis, this is fraught with complications. I thought about it and abandoned this idea.
You can’t live like this!
But his health was deteriorating. There were severe swelling of the legs, shortness of breath, apnea (sleep retention, dangerous for the heart and brain), hypertension, trophic ulcers, increased sugar and cholesterol levels. There is nothing to say about household inconveniences – it has become impossible to bend down to tie your shoelaces. However, the realization that it is impossible to live like this anymore came suddenly a year ago. On the eve of the New Year, Mikhail went grocery shopping, slipped and stretched out right at the entrance to the store. The woman who came up to help, unable to withstand his weight, also fell down next to him. A third came up. Then Mikhail understood,that if he gives him a hand, there will already be three of them lying there. He rolled to the nearest bench to get up, leaning on it, and heard after him: “Where did the bun roll?”Then he thought of his mother, whom he had been caring for for the last two years of her life after she broke her hip neck, and realized that he might be helpless, but there would be no one to take care of him. Then he turned to the First City Hospital, where they treat obesity. There he was offered to take part in a weight loss project. It didn’t take long to persuade him.
Dramatic changes
At first, the plan was to lose some weight in order to have a stomach reduction operation. But in the end it turned out that Mikhail lost 70 kg in a year, and so far he does not need surgery. He even inspired others with his example, and now he has followers in his social media group.
But in the end, he lost 70 kg in a year, and so far he does not need surgery. Photo: from the personal archive of Mikhail Verny
I had to cut portions and reduce the amount of fatty foods and fast carbohydrates (bread, pasta, white rice, sweets), as well as increase physical activity. A nutritionist from the First Gradskaya helped develop a diet, because not everything was possible for Mikhail. Because of gout, red meat, spinach and other foods that increase uric acid levels have been banned. Abecause of the high creatinine, we had to limit what could have a bad effect on the kidneys (the same meat, for example). But the vegetables that Mikhail had hardly eaten before, on the contrary, were added. It turned out that steamed zucchini is even delicious. Mikhail learned to drink ordinary water. The doctor asks you to drink 2.5 liters daily until it fails, but at least 1.5 liters of water a day goes away.
Our hero is lucky – he does not like flour and sweets. It was more difficult to limit meat, but fish, sea products, cottage cheese and lean turkey turned out to be not so bad in the end. And considering that the size of the usual portion has decreased by three times, it turns out not so expensive. The refusal of alcohol, with which Mikhail used to relax, became the biggest problem. But he managed. And my friends have supported me, now they come to tea with him.
Physical activity wasn’t easy either. Earlier, Mikhail walked to the nearest store with two stops, sat down on a bench on the way. At first, he walked 700 m a day, but every day he increased the load. Now he takes at least 5 thousand steps a day.
Nutrition and self-education
The feeling of hunger and a terrible mood tormented Mikhail for the first three months. Then they gave way to sports excitement. The first successes in weight loss turned out to be a real drug. But at first it was really difficult to lose weight. And, as Mikhail himself admits, he would certainly have quit if not for an innate sense of responsibility. He also promised that he would participate in the program, and announced its launch publicly on social networks. There was nowhere to go.
It cannot be said that this year Mikhail has never allowed himself too much. But all these indulgences were controlled. They were approved by a nutritionist, because it is impossible to live on permanent prohibitions. For example, on the eve of the anniversary of a comrade, our hero discussed with a doctor how to behave at a banquet. The doctor advised me to stop at 2 glasses of brut champagne (or dry wine). Because alcohol is not only high in calories, but also leads to fluid retention. Also a nutritionistI warned against mayonnaise salads and meat cuts. However, if you really want to, you can eat, but not much. The main thing in the diet is not prohibitions, but a sense of proportion. After all, the diet is not a one-time promotion, but a lifestyle forever. Now Mikhail’s blood pressure, sugar and cholesterol have normalized, the swelling of his legs has almost gone away (the need to wear compression stockings and perform surgery on veins has disappeared).
Tips from our hero:
- Contact a nutritionist. It is important to choose the right diet and control the process. It is necessary to constantly do analyses, for example bioimpedance, in order to understand what causes weight loss: due to fat or muscle. It is necessary to take medications to prevent the formation of gallstones, as a large weight loss increases this risk.
- Find what you should lose weight for. Motivation is the most important thing in losing weight. For Mikhail, the main incentive was the desire to travel, to move.
- Turn off emotions. This strategy, which our hero learned in the army, helped him survive the first – most difficult – months of the diet. Don’t give in to negative thoughts, accept your new life as a necessity. Don’t feel sorry for yourself, but do what you have to. Sooner or later you will get used to it. As soon as the psychological discomfort disappears, it will become easier to lose weight.
- Don’t lose hope and patience. The weight can stand for two weeks even on a strict diet, and this is normal. Losing weight is long, difficult, but possible.