He Was Driven to Lose, and Lose Big He Did

All through childhood I was pudgy. But as I progressed into adulthood I got even larger.

In the fall of 1995, I entered a local hardware store and a child there explained to her father that I was fat.

I weighed 420 pounds. And every morning when I got out of bed, a sharp pain ran up my leg. I knew I had to do something and I knew I couldn’t lose the weight on a typical over-the-counter diet. I couldn’t starve myself. It is extremely difficult to eat less than a normal-size person when you are as large as I was.

I knew that for me to lose the weight and to keep it off, I had to take the diet seriously. Not only that, but I knew I had to make some serious behavior changes and give up the love of my life that is food. But I was ready. I needed to do something drastic and I knew I had to do it now.

After months of researching diets, my doctor recommended that I look into a program he had recently learned about. This was all I needed, a little push from someone I respected who knew about my health. He knew I would die soon if I didn’t do something. He also knew a typical diet wouldn’t work for me. I wasn’t an overeater, just an eater who chose the wrong foods. My favorite was fast food. I would eat fast food for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

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The procedure I decided to go with was the gastric bypass (stomach stapling). My insurance approved it within two days. I was just learning about the ins and outs of this particular procedure and already the doctors were arranging my surgery date. But I was determined to make this work for me, and I didn’t back out.

My surgery was Nov. 27, 1995. Like those who have also gone through this say, this is my new birthday. A new beginning for me. This procedure provided me with an essential tool that no other diet could. I was now forced to eat meals that were no larger than one-quarter of a sandwich. I ate meals of this size six to eight times a day. I could just as easily have begun eating larger portions again and stretch my stomach back out, but I was determined to see this work. There was always the shadow of doubt that I would fail.

I had to not only change my eating habits, but also my lifestyle, namely my attitude toward food and exercise, as well as my perception toward life and what I wanted to achieve.

I started with my eating habits. I had to eat small meals all day long, but now I chose to make those small meals the right foods. I began reading the labels on all food packages and I learned what was good for my body.

I had to also begin an exercise program. I have the leader of my support group to thank for this. I was lazy, and to exercise? Ha! She made me commit to just walking around the block. Soon my activity level was ever so slightly increasing. I was no longer comfortable just sitting around. I now needed to be doing something.

I bought a bicycle and added this to my exercise routine three times a week, although my all-time favorite now is to get out into the Pacific Ocean on a Sea-Doo. I also now enjoy wilderness hiking and camping. My energy level continues to increase and now, just about two years later, I enjoy walking three miles six times a week and running about 1 1/2 miles of that three times a week. Now 245 pounds lighter, I am concentrating more on working out with weights to tone muscles that I thought never existed. It is such a difference in my life now to see muscles just beneath my skin rather than three or four inches of fat. Working out has become such a passion for me. I thought I could never feel this happy.

Some amazing new discoveries: fitting through the grocery store turnstiles, fitting comfortably in theater and airplane seats, fitting in my car seat and being able to hold a drink between my legs and have room between my stomach and the steering wheel, feeling great in smaller clothes. My latest accomplishment was staying in a hotel and being able to wrap those dinky hotel towels around my waist. The list goes on.

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But the best was yet to come. My food bill went from more than $6,000 a year to just more than $2,000. I actually put every dime of this extra money aside, and at my first-year anniversary, I used it to help buy a new Jeep Wrangler.

The weekly support group, offered to the surgery patients, was most helpful for me and still is. But especially in the beginning, I was going nuts right after my surgery.

The hardest hurdle was my roommate, who continued to bring home pizza, McDonald’s, Del Taco, etc. It all smelled really good and it was driving me crazy. I learned to walk away from this environment, which helped me to get out of the house and exercise while he ate.

He would even offer me all this fast food to eat. He was completely against what I had done. He always asked why I couldn’t lose weight “the real way,” like other people do. I had more than a few hundred pounds to lose. When you’re over 400 pounds, regular diets just don’t work. A regular diet doesn’t provide the tremendous initial weight loss to keep the motivation going.

I do feel I’ve lost a lot of my friends. Many of them believe I have this ego problem now and that I think I’m too good for them. I just think my goals are so much higher now and I feel good about myself. Maybe they don’t feel good enough about themselves to be around a positive role model. But the fact is, I do feel good about myself, and, little by little, I have gained new and valuable friendships. And I imagine the effort to find good, long-term friendships is a long and never-ending road ahead of me.

Keeping the weight off is now the real work. I’ve lost the motivation of that first rapid weight loss, and I just hope I can continue. I still eat six to eight small meals a day and continue with my exercise routine. This is my new lifestyle, and I plan to continue with enjoying every minute of it. Emotionally and physically there have been real challenges, but in the end, I never thought I would ever be this happy.

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Vital Statistics

Name: Craig Willis

Age: 29

Occupation: Shift manager, Toll Road Operations

Height: 5 feet, 10 inches

Old Weight: 420

New Weight: 175

Time to Get there: 17 months

Want to Share Your Success Story?

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