Things were not the typical sunshine and roses for Ruby this week. What started out as a celebration spiraled into a lot of self-doubt, depression and fighting to find the motivation to go on.
She weighed herself for the first time in two weeks, to see that she’d dropped to 323.6 pounds. Jeff pointed out she was losing at a rate of about five pounds per week – which is definitely a healthy rate of weight loss. However, a few days later she went to visit her nutritionist Helen who also weighed her in and found that Ruby had actually gained about 20 pounds, as she weighed in at 355 pounds. She was shocked and just kept saying “no way.”
Her nutritionist, trainers and even roommate Jeff prodded to find out where she fell off. She admitted to not using the OurLife meals, not using her food journal, and not exercising each day. She expressed her anger at the scale, but recognized that the fault was her own.
The entire situation made Ruby “want to give up,” but she persevered, met with her trainers and they decided to use this slip as motivation to continue working.
She had a disappointing meeting with her psychiatrist, Dr. Brewerton, and it was likely her last. He felt that she was blowing him off, avoiding her and being disrespectful. Unable to resolve the issues, Ruby walked out saying she’d “gone as as far as I could go with him.”
Then she met with Dr. Bradley and expressed a desire to consider bariatric surgery. He referred her to a colleague, Dr. Angstadt. In that meeting Ruby learned that the surgery is “not an easy way out.” He explained that weight loss surgery is 25 percent operation and 75 percent working the program – meaning diet and exercise. The prospect of a psych consult prompted Ruby to tears and she may not follow through knowing what she now knows about the surgery.
This week she was also confronted with a huge temptation – a bake sale at her church. “I’d be lying if I said I don’t crave it,” remarked Ruby standing next to a sea of cupcakes and pies. She told Dr. Bradley her sugar cravings were hard to suppress lately. He said you have to be fair to yourself when you find yourself in situations like that, but also know how to quench cravings responsibly. Watch this video to learn more about the Glucerna diabetic-friendly snacks he recommended.