Health Issues & Work Hours Lead to More Weight Gain
Up until that time, Jackie had always been at an average weight, so this new challenge was confusing and unexpected. A few years after the birth of her daughter, Jackie was faced with several lung-related health issues, including asthma, bronchitis, and pneumonia, which led to recurrent prescriptions for steroids and even more weight gain. Not only that, Jackie began working the night shift at ECU Health in Greenville, North Carolina, and because of her schedule, she often found herself eating around the clock.
“On the night shift, we love to eat, it’s just what we do,” Jackie explains. “We are people who love to cook, and we often invent different celebrations and occasions just to have a meal together.”
When Conventional Weight Loss Methods Don’t Work
When she realized how much weight she’d gained, Jackie tried everything to get her weight back under control, including reducing her portion sizes and overall food intake, making healthier food choices, experimenting with several different diet plans, such as the GOLO® diet; working out at the gym, hiring a personal trainer, and using a variety of different over-the-counter diet pills.
“Nothing worked,” Jackie says. “Nothing. And then I just always went back to my bad habits again—sweets galore, unlimited sodas, boredom eating, and, since I live on a night-shift schedule, watching TV and binge eating late into the night.”
Eventually, Jackie found herself in a very dark and uncomfortable place. She had reached 223 pounds, was experiencing a lot of pain—in her joints, back, and legs—and she had no energy to do anything.
“Basically, I went to work, I ate, and then I slept,” Jackie explains. “I had no interests, and I really did nothing at all. I was accomplishing nothing, and I was sedentary all the time. It was like I was just existing, and not truly living.”
Jackie Discovers ESG & True You
Luckily for Jackie, there was one interest that she held on to even during her most difficult days—reading. And when she’d finally had enough of her weight and sedentary lifestyle, Jackie started reading about new tools and methods that might help. This led her to discover True You Weight Loss and endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG), a non-surgical, minimally invasive procedure that reduces the overall size of the stomach.
“I found True You online while researching about different weight loss strategies,” Jackie says. “I liked what I was reading about them, especially the reviews and patient testimonials. I thought ESG might be the right thing to help me start feeling and looking decent again, but I went back and forth in my head for a while, trying to decide if I could actually go through with it.”
Jackie worried about the financial commitment, and if she could really lose a substantial amount of weight. She also wondered if she was too old to take such a big leap of faith.
“I thought, ‘I’m fat and I’ve been fat—maybe I should just deal with it and not spend the money, or not risk wasting the money for five to 10 pounds,’” Jackie reflects. “But finally my husband convinced me. He said that if it was really something that I wanted to do and if it would make me happy, I should do it.”
After that, Jackie met with her doctor who gave her a referral to True You, and from her first interaction, she knew it was the right choice. Every phone call, email, and appointment was convenient and felt very personal—it was a reassuring process for her.
“Everyone I spoke with was just so pleasant and happy,” Jackie says. “The entire staff seemed to love their job, and they all went out of their way to help me. It was very refreshing and reassuring.”
