November 12, 2024 • 35 mins
This episode of the Pound of Cure Weight Loss podcast follows Denise’s inspiring journey through bariatric surgery, bodybuilding, and discovering the transformative power of muscle and strength. Joined by Dr. Weiner and Zoe, Denise shares how she’s redefined her goals and found lasting wellness, showing that post-surgery life is about much more than just weight loss—it’s about building resilience and confidence.
A Fresh Start with Bariatric Surgery
Denise’s journey began in 2018, six years ago, when she moved to North Carolina and sought bariatric surgery to improve her health. She invested time in therapy beforehand to address anxiety and its impact on her relationship with food, which helped her approach surgery with full commitment. Within a year, she lost 110 pounds and transformed her mindset about food and body image.
Shifting Focus: From Weight Loss to Building Muscle and Strength
As Denise reached her lowest weight, she realized her new goal was not just to stay lean but to build a strong, muscular physique that reflected her resilience. She shifted from focusing on the scale to prioritizing muscle growth, redefining her goals based on body composition and the satisfaction of seeing her body change. By accepting a slight increase on the scale as a sign of muscle gain, Denise embraced her evolving body and set the foundation for a balanced, sustainable fitness journey.
Creating a Consistent Bodybuilding Routine for Success
Supported by her husband, a personal trainer, Denise started with three full-body workouts per week and a daily walking goal of 10,000 steps. This gradual start allowed her to build confidence, focusing on proper form and avoiding injury. As she progressed, Denise increased her workout frequency and noticed significant changes in her muscle tone and strength, finding new motivation as her goals evolved.
Nutrition for Muscle and Strength After Bariatric Surgery
Achieving muscle and strength after bariatric surgery required a new approach to nutrition. Denise learned to incorporate carbs strategically, pairing them with protein and healthy fats to fuel her workouts. Tracking her food intake helped her develop a balanced relationship with food and allowed her to fuel her body for optimal strength gains.
Long-Term Goals: Muscle and Strength for Healthy Aging
Now nearly 50, Denise continues to set and achieve fitness goals with the long-term view of staying healthy as she ages. She trains four days a week, with muscle-building as her strategy for healthy aging. Dr. Weiner calls muscle “the fountain of youth,” noting how Denise’s commitment to strength training will help her maintain her health and vitality for years to come.
Denise’s journey is a powerful reminder that bariatric surgery can be a gateway to lasting health and strength. Her experience shows that muscle-building and mindfulness can help post-surgery patients thrive, offering them a foundation for confidence, resilience, and a strong future.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Denise (00:00):
The importance of having muscle, especially as you get
older and you start aging, is socritical.
Dr. Weiner (00:07):
Muscle is the fountain of youth.
Having muscle, building it,using it regularly, is probably
the single most important thingyou can do to slow the aging
process down.
Zoe (00:20):
Welcome back to the Found of Cure Weight Loss Podcast.
We are here with Denise today,the conversation with the
crunchy sleever.
Welcome, denise.
Denise (00:29):
Well, thanks so much.
Thanks so much for having me,thanks for inviting me.
I'm very excited to speak toboth of you today.
Zoe (00:35):
So we were talking a little bit earlier.
Even though you live in NorthCarolina right now, where's your
accent?
From what accent?
Denise (00:43):
I don't know Well, I'm from Brooklyn, New York,
originally born and raised Ithink Dr Weiner and I spoke
about being in Brooklyn a littlebit last time we chatted but
born and raised and I'm here foreight years now, so my accent,
unfortunately, is still here.
It's still Brooklyn.
(01:06):
Well, there's a lot of.
Dr. Weiner (01:06):
New Yorkers everywhere, so you're probably
at home.
Yes, I did my residency in NewYork, so I lived in New York.
My wife's from Jersey yes, itsticks with you.
Yeah, my daughter's at Syracuse.
There's plenty of New Yorkersthere, yeah, so we're a New
York-friendly family.
Denise (01:26):
I love it.
Zoe (01:27):
I love it.
So we would really love to hearabout your journey, denise,
obviously you're a bit fartherout from surgery, which I think
is really interesting.
We'll dig into that a littlebit more in a minute but why
don't you just go ahead and goback as far as you desire to and
and tell us your bariatric?
Denise (01:47):
journey.
Sure, thank you.
So, um, you know, I uh I gotsurgery, uh, six years ago, so
in 18, when I moved to NorthCarolina.
It was kind of like a littlebit of a fresh start for me, um,
away from family anddistraction and all of these
things, so I was able to reallyfocus on me in 2018.
(02:11):
I did do a little bit of prepwork before I went ahead and
decided to schedule surgery.
I knew that I had existinganxiety issues which would
result in overeating, and that'show I coped with anxiety.
I didn't know about all of thatat first.
(02:31):
So I went to therapy, I soughtout therapy with a therapist
that specialized in eatingdisorders even though I didn't
think I had an eating disorderdisorders even though I didn't
think I had an eating disorderbut we discussed for a great
length, for around eight monthsof time, and then it was kind of
like an aha moment and I'm likewait a minute, this is anxiety
(02:55):
and this is how I cope with it,because I never like sitting
with these feelings.
So I did a lot of that workbeforehand, so I kind of had an
idea of what the trigger was.
So knowing what my trigger wasmade going into surgery a lot
easier and I had moreunderstanding, and it also gave
(03:17):
me a lot more grace for myselfand understanding the trigger
and now understanding how I'mgoing to change my lifestyle
being a bariatric patient and bykind of like marrying it
together.
So I had surgery in NorthCarolina in 2018 and I was so on
(03:37):
board I out psychology exam.
Um, I had tried to getbariatric surgery once before in
New York.
When, in around 2014, went toNYU, I failed the psychiatric
portion and she said I do notrecommend that you have surgery.
(03:59):
Um, and she gave me all thereasons why and I almost I was
testing her because I was beingvery real and I was saying just
exactly how I felt and she saidI'm not approving you.
So it was a big eye opener.
So I had a lot of work to do,which I did, and, um, I
(04:19):
committed to the program Um andI was just determined.
I just knew if I was going tohave the surgery, if I was going
to have part of my anatomyremoved, then I'm going to take
this serious.
So, which I did, and I committedand I lost my weight within a
year.
(04:39):
A little less than a year, Ilost 110 pounds.
I was originally at 250 pounds.
I got down to about 139 and I'mfive three.
So for my body frame I I feltit was a little too lean for for
for me, um, so then I was okay,I got as low as I could and now
(05:03):
I need to find my happy spot,my happy place.
So, which is scary for abariatric patient because
normally we've been on diets andup and down, and up and down
and trying to find that littlehappy weight is going to see an,
you know, an increase in on thescale and that could be a bit
of a panic for bariatricpatients.
(05:25):
But I was really committed tomy behavior change and
understanding the why, reallytapping into my hunger and my
fullness really saved me.
To this day.
I'm still able to pause, take asecond, but let let the brain
(05:49):
and my stomach connect for asecond.
Am I still hungry?
Do I still have room?
Um, so that's really the, thosebehaviors that I really
committed to in the beginningand in that first year truly
changed my life and it trulychanged my relationship with
food and how I use it, how Iview it, how I approach it, and
(06:14):
it's carried me all these yearsmoving forward.
Zoe (06:19):
That's amazing.
Will you talk a little bit moreabout how you were able to
shift your feeling of success orprogress even from no longer
wanting to see that lowestweight, and did your shift
towards fitness happen aroundthat time?
And what were you using asnon-scale measures of success to
(06:40):
help you not feel so scared ofseeing that number go up?
Denise (06:46):
Well, developing strength in the gym and seeing
my body respond to my fitnessprogram.
So I went from being very leanto I don't want to say more of
like a hollow kind of look to mybody to a more rounded, filled
(07:08):
out, muscular physique.
That's what I was more goingfor.
Everyone has their ideal.
My ideal is a shapely figure.
I want to have shape.
I don't want to just bestraight up and down.
And if you want to be straightup and down, that's fine.
That's, you know, to each theirown, you know.
(07:28):
But I like to have shape andcurves.
So, understanding when you wantto have shape and curves,
that's going to Allocate.
You know, weight differentlyand it's going to show a little
bit differently up on the scale.
Um, as long as my pants stillfit me, and weight differently,
and it's going to show a littlebit differently up on the scale
(07:54):
as long as my pants still fit me, even at my 139 pound weight,
and it still fit me when I wasup to the 150, to me that means
I was recomping the right way.
If I wasn't moving intodifferent sizes, even though my
body was changing and growingmuscle, I was okay with that.
Zoe (08:09):
And I just want to back up for a second.
You said recomping, so forthose who are listening, who are
maybe not familiar with thatterm, that's short for body
recomposition, which isbasically building muscle,
losing body fat to change thecomposition of your body, which
you've, you've clearly done.
Denise (08:29):
Yeah.
And then you know, doing thatalong with you know, eating, um,
carbs again, you know you, ha,you have to hide, you have to
fuel your body in a certain way,so that's going to have that
result that you want.
And so you know it's.
It's scary to say, all right,I'm going to have, you know,
(08:49):
some, uh, let's, let's sayquinoa, that's a carb.
So in our diet culture, trainedbrain, oh no.
And you get your little packetfrom your bariatric surgeon.
You can't have carbs.
And it's like, oh my God, whatam I going to do?
The whole world is you know, Iyou don't, you just don't know.
And then, once you understandand you learn how to eat, okay,
(09:13):
yes, you're going to have somecarb, but you're also going to
pair it with protein and you'realso going to pair it with some
fat so that it does what it'ssupposed to do.
That was the biggest learningfor me was, if I want to have a
carb, let's say a rice crackerTrader Joe's has these great
(09:33):
rice crackers, right, they'revery, very tasty.
But I know if I just eat thoseI'm going to be hungry again in
a matter of minutes.
But if I pair it with a littlefat and a little protein, I'm
set for a couple hours, soallowing myself to eat food.
(09:54):
That was scary, but with a newunderstanding that it's going to
help fuel my body and shape itthe way I want.
Zoe (10:03):
Yeah, that's really great.
My body and shape it the way Iwant.
Yeah, that's really great.
That speaks to the work thatyou've done to change your
relationship with food.
Dr. Weiner (10:11):
There's so many things I love about your story,
Denise.
I think, first of all, youreally trusted the process.
You kind of went through it andyou were honest with the
psychologist.
It sounds to me like you weren'tfailed, but maybe they were
like hey, listen, maybe you gota little bit of work to do
before this happens.
That's usually how thatconversation goes.
It doesn't go.
(10:32):
I'm sorry you failed.
You can't have bariatricsurgery.
It's usually a little friendlyand kinder and I'm hopeful that
yours was.
Nyu is where I trained, so Iknow that that plays.
I know that the program it's aquality program.
But I love, first of all, thatyou trusted the process and I
think the other thing that Ireally love that I'm hearing is
(10:53):
that you're very intentional andvery present with your
decisions, with how you'vechosen to use fitness, and we
haven't gotten there.
I think that's going to beinteresting to talk about how
you've used fitness, how you'veadjusted to use fitness, and we
haven't gotten there.
I think that's going to beinteresting to talk about, um,
how you've used fitness, howyou've adjusted your diet away
from kind of the, the, the nocarbs ever packet that people
give, um.
(11:14):
So I love all that intentionalstuff, so I gotta, I gotta turn
that off.
Zoe (11:20):
Yeah, thank you, it was.
Dr. Weiner (11:21):
I knew that I had to wow.
I gotta turn that off.
Denise (11:26):
Yeah, thank you.
I knew that I had to make ashift for this to be long
lasting.
I just had to do the work andjust execute, you know, and if
you don't get it that one day,then you do it the next day.
So, um, but what were?
Dr. Weiner (11:44):
some things that made.
That was the most helpful aboutthat process, about that shift.
Like you started out and you'relike, okay, I'm not ready, I
have anxiety.
And then you got to the placewhere, all of a sudden, you were
ready for surgery and then havereally demonstrated you know
kind of ideal postoperativebehaviors.
What helped you get there?
How'd you get from point A topoint B?
Denise (12:06):
So, from point A to point B really was having that
identifying factor of my triggerwas anxiety and identifying how
I coped with it.
So understanding how to dealwith, so understanding how to
deal with those uncomfortablemoments that we all have
throughout the day.
(12:26):
If I count them on my hand, youknow countless uncomfortable
moments throughout the day that,just as human beings have, it's
just how we respond to them.
So I was.
I trained my body to always,you know, seek out comfort,
because if it hurts just alittle bit, I don't want to feel
that.
So I would seek out oh, I needa snack, I need this, whatever
(12:46):
you know, always chasing, Iguess, the dopamine, you know
effects to, you know, kind ofcalm it down.
But for me, the biggest thingwas instituting a no eating in
my car, no drive-thru, and Ialso calculated how much I spent
on drive-thru and it was notpretty.
(13:08):
So it was a financial type ofaha like oh my gosh, what is
going on Eating secretly in mycar?
That's a behavior that I didn'twant to continue and
eliminating, you know, drivethrough, because no one knows
about it.
So you know what you don't see,no one knows.
(13:30):
So it's only between me and theand the drive-through parts.
But, um, working on that firstreally helped separate myself
from the feeling, the moment,and pushing the pause button I
was able to start learning tohold on a second, what's going
(13:55):
on, what am I nervous about,what's the anxiety for?
And then learning to kind oflike dissect it.
Is this something I can do?
Is this something I can change?
Is this something that I cantake care of at this moment?
If it's not in my control, thenI have to let it go.
So understanding those fourlike tenets for me and
(14:19):
practicing those really helpedme prepare myself going into
surgery, because why do I haveto destroy my body over
something that's out of mycontrol?
Dr. Weiner (14:31):
I think anxiety is really the result of taking a
caveman brain and sticking it ina modern world.
And since all of us have, tosome degree caveman brain and
all of us live in a modern world, the cor all of us have to some
degree caveman brain and all ofus live in a modern world.
The corollary of that is thatall of us have anxiety.
There's not a person on theplanet who doesn't struggle with
anxiety.
I struggle with it, everybodyhas it.
(14:53):
If you don't have it, I don'tknow, there's probably a few
people out there, but very few.
And so what else I'm hearingthat I really love about your
experience is that you applydiscipline and you were kind of
very thoughtful and appliedessentially a modern day
approach.
And you know, the first wasdiscipline I'm not going to eat
(15:16):
my car.
You came up with a financialreason.
There were obviously healthreasons as well, and you made
that promise to yourself.
And that's something that's, Ithink, so important about
discipline is that you know with, if you live your life in a
very undisciplined way, justkind of giving into that caveman
brain, then you're going toit's going to make the anxiety
(15:37):
worse, and it's that discipline,that promise you make to
yourself.
That sometimes is one of thebest ways to really manage
anxiety, and I love howthoughtful you were about that
and I also love this idea ofjust being present.
And you know, anxiety is aproblem that you can't solve and
(15:59):
so torturing yourself over anunsolvable problem, recognizing,
hey, this isn't something I canfix right now, so just stop
worrying about it Exactly RightCause it just makes it worse.
It doesn't help.
Freaking out about a problemthat you can't change Doesn't
help.
It actually makes you far lessable to solve the problem when
it does come your way,absolutely the problem when it
(16:21):
does come your way.
That intentionality is just.
It's so hard, it's so.
You put a lot of effort intothis, didn't you?
Oh yeah.
Denise (16:30):
I mean, developing self-awareness is hard, you know
, because we don't.
We don't want to be wrong, wedon't want to be, we don't want
to think of ourselves in a lightthat's wait, wait, a minute,
maybe I'm not doing, maybe it'sme, you know, we don't want to
be, we don't want to think ofourselves in a light that's wait
, wait, a minute, maybe I'm notdoing, maybe it's me, you know,
we don't want to think that, youknow.
But I was so tired of quitting.
I was a professional quitterand when you get to that point,
(16:59):
you just don't want to do thatanymore, you know.
So, with the big stakes ofhaving surgery and I mean
there's risks involved you havea family and you know you you
better take it serious.
So for me, it's like this is it, this is showtime.
There's no, there's no, thereis no going back.
And I took it super serious andI promised myself that I was
(17:24):
not going to quit on myself.
And thank God, you know, thankGod we're here.
Zoe (17:30):
So talk to us about how you came into fitness, obviously
with the intention of buildingmuscle, creating the shape that
you wanted.
But what?
What was that transition Like?
How did you get to the placethat you're at now and what is
what does your fitness look likenow?
Denise (17:46):
so I've been.
I'm very blessed and I'm veryfortunate to be married to a
personal trainer, so he was incharge of it from day one.
Um, and he is, uh, he's been atrainer for over 20 years and
train people in shows andcompetitions and things like
(18:07):
that.
And, and you know, when you'remarried, it's like, oh yeah,
leave me alone.
Yeah, I got it and leave mealone.
But when?
When it was, you know, now timefor me to like, kind of like,
take everything seriously, andhe wrote out every plan that
I've ever been and he startedoff slowly.
He didn't give me anythingcrazy.
He didn't have me bouncing offthe walls or doing combination
(18:29):
moves.
I was a 250 pound body thatneeded to learn technique, how
to, how to move it, how to moveweight and do it safely.
His major key was safety.
I don't want you getting hurtand you're going to learn how to
do things correctly and I dothings to this day that I still
(18:52):
did on day one, because when youlearn certain core movements,
it will be a part of yourroutine pretty much all the time
.
So just developing that those,those rules, was let's learn to
do movement safely, and then wejust keep building and building
and building upon that.
(19:13):
So you know, my beginningprogram was, I think, three days
a week and it was full body forthree.
You know, full body, three daysa week.
And I walked.
Walking helped me so much inthe beginning.
Um, I dedicated, uh, 10,000steps a day for five days a week
(19:36):
.
That kept me really motivatedand going, because even on the
days I didn't train I still madesure I got out there and walk
and that was a huge commitment.
So that was around um.
So I had surgery in August andaround October, I think, was
when it was, I got fullclearance to do, you know, more
(19:58):
weight than what I was given.
Um, and then from October toJanuary, I started to see like a
significant change in my body.
I never thought I'd see anymuscle development or anything.
And then, by January of 19, Istarted to see, oh, there's some
possibility here.
So then I said, okay, let's dofive days a week.
So we had a five day trainingsplit.
(20:20):
So it was all organized acertain way.
I had a plan let's lose weight,let's gain muscle, and that's
what I did.
And so that was in thebeginning.
I trained way more aggressivelyin the beginning.
I still did cardio, I did fitbefore I would train and all
this stuff, and I got real leanand very muscular.
(20:42):
And it was like an alien.
I didn't know who I was lookingat and, um, I wasn't.
I was just so like surreal,like I've never seen my body, in
that you know condition before.
So when you get super lean, um,certain areas of your body also
(21:04):
become very, very lean and flat, um, so I was like, okay, let's
do a little backtracking and Iwant to fill in certain areas.
So it was important to createthe shape that I want Get them
glutes back huh Booty back Causeit went away, went somewhere
else.
(21:25):
Um, so you know that was, andagain that, and that's when the
nutrition piece ties into that,and when you purposely want to,
you know, create that shape, youhave to eat a little bit
differently and, um, and it'sbeen the same.
You know that's what I've beendoing all along.
Um, I'm older now, I will be 50in three weeks, so I was
(21:54):
younger I was.
Uh, you know your body'sdifferent at 44 than it is at 50
.
So, but so far so good.
I'm still as strong or strongerthan I was when I first started
.
So that's just the key.
For me it's not so much about.
You know.
Obviously, health reasons andthe importance of having muscle,
(22:16):
especially as you get older andyou start aging, is so critical
.
And my parents, you knowthey've broken bones.
My mom has broken both her hipsand I want to have a different
outcome when I'm 80.
You know I'm doing this now forwhen I'm 80.
Dr. Weiner (22:37):
Muscle is the fountain of youth.
Having muscle, building it,using it regularly, is probably
the single most important thingyou can do to slow the aging
process down.
And so you know, it sounds likeyou've really kind of dialed in
on that.
I'd love to see that.
Denise (22:54):
Yeah, I'm sold out for it, I really am.
But so my training schedule nowis kind of like four days a
week and you know, we changethings up a little bit.
When I first started training,I was at a plan of fitness,
which is fine and it suited mevery well.
I went to a plan of fitnessthat had more equipment than
(23:16):
most, so I think that was veryhelpful.
And then at one point Iswitched to a more um
bodybuilding gym and that'swhere, uh, I was able to, you
know, utilize more equipment,that more fancy stuff, and I was
.
I saw, you know, differenttypes of results there, which I
(23:36):
really like and um.
But one thing I think isimportant is that understanding
where you are in your fitnessjourney.
If you do like to go to the gymnot everybody likes to go to
the gym and not everyone likesto work out.
You know some people arededicated walkers and that's
totally fine.
But if you are someone thatlikes to lift weights and you
like to go to the gym, yourenvironment is so important,
(23:59):
especially for the morale, foryour own self, for your own
workout, like who you surroundyourself with.
You may not know these people,but their intention, the people
that you work out surroundingwith their intention, can sort
of influence you as well.
You know, you can kind of havelike a silent community in your
(24:24):
head like, oh, I know that girland oh, she's lifting that today
and I remember last week.
You know, you create thislittle team in your head.
Maybe you don't speak to thesepeople, but you see them all the
time.
So it's like I have my ownCrossFit family in my head but I
don't want to talk to anybody.
Like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, Icould lift more than that, but
(24:46):
you know that type of a thing.
But, um, if you feel likeyou're getting bored, like with
a place, or it's just like, oh,this is, this isn't, this isn't
for me, look at other places,look at other gyms.
Like, change the scene.
Because just changing the scene, changing the environment and
the people that are around you,is such a boost and can really
(25:09):
help you move forward in yourfitness.
Dr. Weiner (25:12):
Yeah, a workout partner too.
Workout is invaluable.
You keep each other motivated.
You push each other yeah, makestime go by faster.
Um, you gotta have two headsinstead of one working on this
problem.
So so do you work out alone, ordo you work out with your
husband, or do you have aworkout partner?
How does that work?
Denise (25:32):
I pretty much work out alone.
But, um, if we go to the gymtogether, we're not like tag
teaming on the on the, on the onthe uh machine too much.
He does his thing and I do mything and we're like, hey, hi,
you know whatever.
Um, he he print, he gives meout my plan for for the six
(25:53):
weeks and I just put it in mynotes and I just follow it along
and if I'm being really goodthen I'll write down like the
sets and how much weight I'musing, and that becomes a little
too much.
But I like to have structure, Ilike rules, I like to follow a
plan.
Um, having a plan when you go tothe gym really makes a big
(26:16):
difference Instead of justwilly-nilly.
Let me see what this does, letme see what we do here.
If you really want to see adifference and keep track of
your progression and how strongyou're getting, it's very
important to consistently do thesame thing for a certain amount
of time, to be like oh, when Ifirst started this I was at 20
pounds and now, at the end ofsix weeks, I'm at 35 pounds.
(26:38):
That's wonderful, it keeps yougoing, it keeps you motivated.
Zoe (26:45):
You can't see that progressive overload that's
required for building muscle ifyou're doing a bunch of
different things every time.
Denise (26:53):
Yeah, exactly, and try not to people get caught up with
like trendy workouts.
Or there's a video I saw onTikTok or this is you know this
crazy thing.
You know, no, you're going tohurt yourself and don't do that.
So you know, if you're 300pounds and you're starting on
your journey, you should not bejumping on.
(27:16):
You know things and jumping upand down and you know doing
burpees and that you you gonnahurt yourself and it's okay that
you're.
You can't do that right now andyou know, maybe don't ever do
that.
I don't, you know, I don't know.
But but along with the fitness,part of what I wanted to
(27:36):
mention is in regardingnutrition and how it has been
able to get me from point a inthe beginning into now and was
tracking my food in thebeginning was essential,
absolutely For me.
It helped me greatly and Itracked for many years, even
(27:56):
afterwards.
My assumptions were always theworst thing imaginable.
So if you gave me something toeat and I was like, oh, I don't
know, I would always assume theworst this has got a ton of fat
in it.
This has a ton of carbs.
This is, this is terrible.
It's gonna ruin my whole day.
This has got a ton of fat in it.
This has a ton of carbs.
This is, this is terrible.
This is going to ruin my wholeday.
But if I actually stopped for asecond and plugged it in and put
(28:19):
in what I'm eating, and then Isee black and white the number,
I'm like, oh, it's really notthat bad at all and this can
totally fit into my day.
Um, so if, if you are a hugeassumer, if you're assuming all
of all of the, the caloricvalues of food and you think the
worst, and if your head goes tothe worst and then you say,
(28:42):
well, I just blew the daywithout knowing the black and
white evidence of what you'reselecting.
You know, don't do that.
Just see what, see what it'sactually worth, and and then
then move on with your day Like,oh, this really isn't a deal
breaker, Throw it.
Dr. Weiner (29:00):
you know, throw in an analogy I sometimes use is
like if you dropped your phoneand had a little crack in the
corner, would you then be like,oh, this phone is wasted and
stomp on it and shatter thescreen?
No, you try to salvage it.
And we have to do the samething because we're not going to
be perfect every day, andthat's going to happen.
We're not going to be perfectwith our exercise routine, we're
(29:22):
not going to be perfect withour eating, and we just have to
accept that sometimes, you know,we might get a little nick in
the corner of the screen and aslong as we don't shatter it,
we're probably going to be fine.
Zoe (29:39):
And going to be fine.
And awareness precedes change.
So you were able to use thetracking as a tool to gain
awareness around what you weredoing so you could make that
mindful, intentional choice andthe changes that you were
wanting to make into yournutrition.
Denise (29:50):
Absolutely.
It gave me.
It's like a superpower.
It gave me that factual gracethat I needed, like, okay, let's
say you go to a party orsomething and you're not going
to.
I mean, early on I did bring myown food because I really
didn't want to go astray, buteventually you're not going to
(30:12):
be doing that.
Um, so you know, you have, youhave to enjoy life too, you know
, and you can do your best bet.
But if you've already done yourhomework and you know what four
ounces of chicken kind of lookslike and you could assume like
all right, factor in maybeanother tablespoon or something
(30:32):
of fat because it's outside food, maybe another tablespoon or
something of fat because it'soutside food, and you know, you
start learning how to um, assessthese times and then, okay,
this is what I had, and thenenjoy it and move on.
You know, then tomorrow is anew day.
Zoe (30:52):
Don't dwell on it.
So I want to know we need thestory behind your Instagram
handle the crunchy sleever.
Talk to us about what thecrunchy sleever is.
Denise (31:03):
So, um one, I like crunchy foods, that's obvious
there Sleever, because I had thesleeve, the VSG, bariatric
sleeve because I had the sleeve,the VSG bariatric sleeve, and
I'm probably around 80% organicliving.
Let's say I don't have a gardenyet because I don't think I can
(31:25):
handle it.
I'm still from Brooklyn and I'man expert in cement and
watering down the cement.
So let's not get crazy on thecement, you know.
So let's not get crazy.
But so they say crunchy andorganic, you know living kind of
like, goes together.
So that's where that all camefrom.
So I tried, I try as best as Ican.
Does it make a difference?
(31:46):
I hope so.
If it doesn't, then I'm justout extra couple bucks, right,
all the organic food.
Zoe (31:55):
Well, this was really great .
I feel like you had so manywonderful nuggets the whole
story was wonderful but so manyreally wonderful nuggets and
takeaways that I think all playa huge role into your very
obvious success.
And now, eight years later,you're living the life that
(32:17):
you've created for yourself andthe body that you love and feel
good in and are proud of.
So I'm just so grateful thatyou shared your story with us
today.
Thanks so much.
Denise (32:28):
Thank you, thank you so much, thank you.
Dr. Weiner (32:30):
Denise, you should be proud of yourself.
I think you know this wasclearly a plan put in action.
Zoe (32:37):
Executed to perfection.
Dr. Weiner (32:39):
Executed to perfection, and I think that's
you know, for some people that'sdaunting, but I think, on the
other hand, it also shows youthat it is possible to do that
and you were just veryintentional about it, very
thoughtful about it.
You put a lot of energy andeffort into it and you know
you've managed to be consistentand kept those promises that you
(33:00):
made to yourself, you know,before surgery.
You've kept them to this dayand I think that's really
amazing and I'm really proud ofyou for everything you've
accomplished.
Congrats on that.
Denise (33:13):
Thank you, I really appreciate it.
Thanks so much.
Thanks for inviting me and, um,you know, anyone needs to talk
or chat or whatever.
They can always reach out to meon Instagram and I'm happy to
chat with anybody.
Dr. Weiner (33:24):
Love it.
Zoe (33:25):
Thank you so much.
Okay, all right, have a greatrest of your day, denise.
Thanks for chatting with you.
Thanks, denise.
The importance of having muscle, especially as you get
older and you start aging, is socritical.
Dr. Weiner (00:07):
Muscle is the fountain of youth.
Having muscle, building it,using it regularly, is probably
the single most important thingyou can do to slow the aging
process down.
Zoe (00:20):
Welcome back to the Found of Cure Weight Loss Podcast.
We are here with Denise today,the conversation with the
crunchy sleever.
Welcome, denise.
Denise (00:29):
Well, thanks so much.
Thanks so much for having me,thanks for inviting me.
I'm very excited to speak toboth of you today.
Zoe (00:35):
So we were talking a little bit earlier.
Even though you live in NorthCarolina right now, where's your
accent?
From what accent?
Denise (00:43):
I don't know Well, I'm from Brooklyn, New York,
originally born and raised Ithink Dr Weiner and I spoke
about being in Brooklyn a littlebit last time we chatted but
born and raised and I'm here foreight years now, so my accent,
unfortunately, is still here.
It's still Brooklyn.
(01:06):
Well, there's a lot of.
Dr. Weiner (01:06):
New Yorkers everywhere, so you're probably
at home.
Yes, I did my residency in NewYork, so I lived in New York.
My wife's from Jersey yes, itsticks with you.
Yeah, my daughter's at Syracuse.
There's plenty of New Yorkersthere, yeah, so we're a New
York-friendly family.
Denise (01:26):
I love it.
Zoe (01:27):
I love it.
So we would really love to hearabout your journey, denise,
obviously you're a bit fartherout from surgery, which I think
is really interesting.
We'll dig into that a littlebit more in a minute but why
don't you just go ahead and goback as far as you desire to and
and tell us your bariatric?
Denise (01:47):
journey.
Sure, thank you.
So, um, you know, I uh I gotsurgery, uh, six years ago, so
in 18, when I moved to NorthCarolina.
It was kind of like a littlebit of a fresh start for me, um,
away from family anddistraction and all of these
things, so I was able to reallyfocus on me in 2018.
(02:11):
I did do a little bit of prepwork before I went ahead and
decided to schedule surgery.
I knew that I had existinganxiety issues which would
result in overeating, and that'show I coped with anxiety.
I didn't know about all of thatat first.
(02:31):
So I went to therapy, I soughtout therapy with a therapist
that specialized in eatingdisorders even though I didn't
think I had an eating disorderdisorders even though I didn't
think I had an eating disorderbut we discussed for a great
length, for around eight monthsof time, and then it was kind of
like an aha moment and I'm likewait a minute, this is anxiety
(02:55):
and this is how I cope with it,because I never like sitting
with these feelings.
So I did a lot of that workbeforehand, so I kind of had an
idea of what the trigger was.
So knowing what my trigger wasmade going into surgery a lot
easier and I had moreunderstanding, and it also gave
(03:17):
me a lot more grace for myselfand understanding the trigger
and now understanding how I'mgoing to change my lifestyle
being a bariatric patient and bykind of like marrying it
together.
So I had surgery in NorthCarolina in 2018 and I was so on
(03:37):
board I out psychology exam.
Um, I had tried to getbariatric surgery once before in
New York.
When, in around 2014, went toNYU, I failed the psychiatric
portion and she said I do notrecommend that you have surgery.
(03:59):
Um, and she gave me all thereasons why and I almost I was
testing her because I was beingvery real and I was saying just
exactly how I felt and she saidI'm not approving you.
So it was a big eye opener.
So I had a lot of work to do,which I did, and, um, I
(04:19):
committed to the program Um andI was just determined.
I just knew if I was going tohave the surgery, if I was going
to have part of my anatomyremoved, then I'm going to take
this serious.
So, which I did, and I committedand I lost my weight within a
year.
(04:39):
A little less than a year, Ilost 110 pounds.
I was originally at 250 pounds.
I got down to about 139 and I'mfive three.
So for my body frame I I feltit was a little too lean for for
for me, um, so then I was okay,I got as low as I could and now
(05:03):
I need to find my happy spot,my happy place.
So, which is scary for abariatric patient because
normally we've been on diets andup and down, and up and down
and trying to find that littlehappy weight is going to see an,
you know, an increase in on thescale and that could be a bit
of a panic for bariatricpatients.
(05:25):
But I was really committed tomy behavior change and
understanding the why, reallytapping into my hunger and my
fullness really saved me.
To this day.
I'm still able to pause, take asecond, but let let the brain
(05:49):
and my stomach connect for asecond.
Am I still hungry?
Do I still have room?
Um, so that's really the, thosebehaviors that I really
committed to in the beginningand in that first year truly
changed my life and it trulychanged my relationship with
food and how I use it, how Iview it, how I approach it, and
(06:14):
it's carried me all these yearsmoving forward.
Zoe (06:19):
That's amazing.
Will you talk a little bit moreabout how you were able to
shift your feeling of success orprogress even from no longer
wanting to see that lowestweight, and did your shift
towards fitness happen aroundthat time?
And what were you using asnon-scale measures of success to
(06:40):
help you not feel so scared ofseeing that number go up?
Denise (06:46):
Well, developing strength in the gym and seeing
my body respond to my fitnessprogram.
So I went from being very leanto I don't want to say more of
like a hollow kind of look to mybody to a more rounded, filled
(07:08):
out, muscular physique.
That's what I was more goingfor.
Everyone has their ideal.
My ideal is a shapely figure.
I want to have shape.
I don't want to just bestraight up and down.
And if you want to be straightup and down, that's fine.
That's, you know, to each theirown, you know.
(07:28):
But I like to have shape andcurves.
So, understanding when you wantto have shape and curves,
that's going to Allocate.
You know, weight differentlyand it's going to show a little
bit differently up on the scale.
Um, as long as my pants stillfit me, and weight differently,
and it's going to show a littlebit differently up on the scale
(07:54):
as long as my pants still fit me, even at my 139 pound weight,
and it still fit me when I wasup to the 150, to me that means
I was recomping the right way.
If I wasn't moving intodifferent sizes, even though my
body was changing and growingmuscle, I was okay with that.
Zoe (08:09):
And I just want to back up for a second.
You said recomping, so forthose who are listening, who are
maybe not familiar with thatterm, that's short for body
recomposition, which isbasically building muscle,
losing body fat to change thecomposition of your body, which
you've, you've clearly done.
Denise (08:29):
Yeah.
And then you know, doing thatalong with you know, eating, um,
carbs again, you know you, ha,you have to hide, you have to
fuel your body in a certain way,so that's going to have that
result that you want.
And so you know it's.
It's scary to say, all right,I'm going to have, you know,
(08:49):
some, uh, let's, let's sayquinoa, that's a carb.
So in our diet culture, trainedbrain, oh no.
And you get your little packetfrom your bariatric surgeon.
You can't have carbs.
And it's like, oh my God, whatam I going to do?
The whole world is you know, Iyou don't, you just don't know.
And then, once you understandand you learn how to eat, okay,
(09:13):
yes, you're going to have somecarb, but you're also going to
pair it with protein and you'realso going to pair it with some
fat so that it does what it'ssupposed to do.
That was the biggest learningfor me was, if I want to have a
carb, let's say a rice crackerTrader Joe's has these great
(09:33):
rice crackers, right, they'revery, very tasty.
But I know if I just eat thoseI'm going to be hungry again in
a matter of minutes.
But if I pair it with a littlefat and a little protein, I'm
set for a couple hours, soallowing myself to eat food.
(09:54):
That was scary, but with a newunderstanding that it's going to
help fuel my body and shape itthe way I want.
Zoe (10:03):
Yeah, that's really great.
My body and shape it the way Iwant.
Yeah, that's really great.
That speaks to the work thatyou've done to change your
relationship with food.
Dr. Weiner (10:11):
There's so many things I love about your story,
Denise.
I think, first of all, youreally trusted the process.
You kind of went through it andyou were honest with the
psychologist.
It sounds to me like you weren'tfailed, but maybe they were
like hey, listen, maybe you gota little bit of work to do
before this happens.
That's usually how thatconversation goes.
It doesn't go.
(10:32):
I'm sorry you failed.
You can't have bariatricsurgery.
It's usually a little friendlyand kinder and I'm hopeful that
yours was.
Nyu is where I trained, so Iknow that that plays.
I know that the program it's aquality program.
But I love, first of all, thatyou trusted the process and I
think the other thing that Ireally love that I'm hearing is
(10:53):
that you're very intentional andvery present with your
decisions, with how you'vechosen to use fitness, and we
haven't gotten there.
I think that's going to beinteresting to talk about how
you've used fitness, how you'veadjusted to use fitness, and we
haven't gotten there.
I think that's going to beinteresting to talk about, um,
how you've used fitness, howyou've adjusted your diet away
from kind of the, the, the nocarbs ever packet that people
give, um.
(11:14):
So I love all that intentionalstuff, so I gotta, I gotta turn
that off.
Zoe (11:20):
Yeah, thank you, it was.
Dr. Weiner (11:21):
I knew that I had to wow.
I gotta turn that off.
Denise (11:26):
Yeah, thank you.
I knew that I had to make ashift for this to be long
lasting.
I just had to do the work andjust execute, you know, and if
you don't get it that one day,then you do it the next day.
So, um, but what were?
Dr. Weiner (11:44):
some things that made.
That was the most helpful aboutthat process, about that shift.
Like you started out and you'relike, okay, I'm not ready, I
have anxiety.
And then you got to the placewhere, all of a sudden, you were
ready for surgery and then havereally demonstrated you know
kind of ideal postoperativebehaviors.
What helped you get there?
How'd you get from point A topoint B?
Denise (12:06):
So, from point A to point B really was having that
identifying factor of my triggerwas anxiety and identifying how
I coped with it.
So understanding how to dealwith, so understanding how to
deal with those uncomfortablemoments that we all have
throughout the day.
(12:26):
If I count them on my hand, youknow countless uncomfortable
moments throughout the day that,just as human beings have, it's
just how we respond to them.
So I was.
I trained my body to always,you know, seek out comfort,
because if it hurts just alittle bit, I don't want to feel
that.
So I would seek out oh, I needa snack, I need this, whatever
(12:46):
you know, always chasing, Iguess, the dopamine, you know
effects to, you know, kind ofcalm it down.
But for me, the biggest thingwas instituting a no eating in
my car, no drive-thru, and Ialso calculated how much I spent
on drive-thru and it was notpretty.
(13:08):
So it was a financial type ofaha like oh my gosh, what is
going on Eating secretly in mycar?
That's a behavior that I didn'twant to continue and
eliminating, you know, drivethrough, because no one knows
about it.
So you know what you don't see,no one knows.
(13:30):
So it's only between me and theand the drive-through parts.
But, um, working on that firstreally helped separate myself
from the feeling, the moment,and pushing the pause button I
was able to start learning tohold on a second, what's going
(13:55):
on, what am I nervous about,what's the anxiety for?
And then learning to kind oflike dissect it.
Is this something I can do?
Is this something I can change?
Is this something that I cantake care of at this moment?
If it's not in my control, thenI have to let it go.
So understanding those fourlike tenets for me and
(14:19):
practicing those really helpedme prepare myself going into
surgery, because why do I haveto destroy my body over
something that's out of mycontrol?
Dr. Weiner (14:31):
I think anxiety is really the result of taking a
caveman brain and sticking it ina modern world.
And since all of us have, tosome degree caveman brain and
all of us live in a modern world, the cor all of us have to some
degree caveman brain and all ofus live in a modern world.
The corollary of that is thatall of us have anxiety.
There's not a person on theplanet who doesn't struggle with
anxiety.
I struggle with it, everybodyhas it.
(14:53):
If you don't have it, I don'tknow, there's probably a few
people out there, but very few.
And so what else I'm hearingthat I really love about your
experience is that you applydiscipline and you were kind of
very thoughtful and appliedessentially a modern day
approach.
And you know, the first wasdiscipline I'm not going to eat
(15:16):
my car.
You came up with a financialreason.
There were obviously healthreasons as well, and you made
that promise to yourself.
And that's something that's, Ithink, so important about
discipline is that you know with, if you live your life in a
very undisciplined way, justkind of giving into that caveman
brain, then you're going toit's going to make the anxiety
(15:37):
worse, and it's that discipline,that promise you make to
yourself.
That sometimes is one of thebest ways to really manage
anxiety, and I love howthoughtful you were about that
and I also love this idea ofjust being present.
And you know, anxiety is aproblem that you can't solve and
(15:59):
so torturing yourself over anunsolvable problem, recognizing,
hey, this isn't something I canfix right now, so just stop
worrying about it Exactly RightCause it just makes it worse.
It doesn't help.
Freaking out about a problemthat you can't change Doesn't
help.
It actually makes you far lessable to solve the problem when
it does come your way,absolutely the problem when it
(16:21):
does come your way.
That intentionality is just.
It's so hard, it's so.
You put a lot of effort intothis, didn't you?
Oh yeah.
Denise (16:30):
I mean, developing self-awareness is hard, you know
, because we don't.
We don't want to be wrong, wedon't want to be, we don't want
to think of ourselves in a lightthat's wait, wait, a minute,
maybe I'm not doing, maybe it'sme, you know, we don't want to
be, we don't want to think ofourselves in a light that's wait
, wait, a minute, maybe I'm notdoing, maybe it's me, you know,
we don't want to think that, youknow.
But I was so tired of quitting.
I was a professional quitterand when you get to that point,
(16:59):
you just don't want to do thatanymore, you know.
So, with the big stakes ofhaving surgery and I mean
there's risks involved you havea family and you know you you
better take it serious.
So for me, it's like this is it, this is showtime.
There's no, there's no, thereis no going back.
And I took it super serious andI promised myself that I was
(17:24):
not going to quit on myself.
And thank God, you know, thankGod we're here.
Zoe (17:30):
So talk to us about how you came into fitness, obviously
with the intention of buildingmuscle, creating the shape that
you wanted.
But what?
What was that transition Like?
How did you get to the placethat you're at now and what is
what does your fitness look likenow?
Denise (17:46):
so I've been.
I'm very blessed and I'm veryfortunate to be married to a
personal trainer, so he was incharge of it from day one.
Um, and he is, uh, he's been atrainer for over 20 years and
train people in shows andcompetitions and things like
(18:07):
that.
And, and you know, when you'remarried, it's like, oh yeah,
leave me alone.
Yeah, I got it and leave mealone.
But when?
When it was, you know, now timefor me to like, kind of like,
take everything seriously, andhe wrote out every plan that
I've ever been and he startedoff slowly.
He didn't give me anythingcrazy.
He didn't have me bouncing offthe walls or doing combination
(18:29):
moves.
I was a 250 pound body thatneeded to learn technique, how
to, how to move it, how to moveweight and do it safely.
His major key was safety.
I don't want you getting hurtand you're going to learn how to
do things correctly and I dothings to this day that I still
(18:52):
did on day one, because when youlearn certain core movements,
it will be a part of yourroutine pretty much all the time
.
So just developing that those,those rules, was let's learn to
do movement safely, and then wejust keep building and building
and building upon that.
(19:13):
So you know, my beginningprogram was, I think, three days
a week and it was full body forthree.
You know, full body, three daysa week.
And I walked.
Walking helped me so much inthe beginning.
Um, I dedicated, uh, 10,000steps a day for five days a week
(19:36):
.
That kept me really motivatedand going, because even on the
days I didn't train I still madesure I got out there and walk
and that was a huge commitment.
So that was around um.
So I had surgery in August andaround October, I think, was
when it was, I got fullclearance to do, you know, more
(19:58):
weight than what I was given.
Um, and then from October toJanuary, I started to see like a
significant change in my body.
I never thought I'd see anymuscle development or anything.
And then, by January of 19, Istarted to see, oh, there's some
possibility here.
So then I said, okay, let's dofive days a week.
So we had a five day trainingsplit.
(20:20):
So it was all organized acertain way.
I had a plan let's lose weight,let's gain muscle, and that's
what I did.
And so that was in thebeginning.
I trained way more aggressivelyin the beginning.
I still did cardio, I did fitbefore I would train and all
this stuff, and I got real leanand very muscular.
(20:42):
And it was like an alien.
I didn't know who I was lookingat and, um, I wasn't.
I was just so like surreal,like I've never seen my body, in
that you know condition before.
So when you get super lean, um,certain areas of your body also
(21:04):
become very, very lean and flat, um, so I was like, okay, let's
do a little backtracking and Iwant to fill in certain areas.
So it was important to createthe shape that I want Get them
glutes back huh Booty back Causeit went away, went somewhere
else.
(21:25):
Um, so you know that was, andagain that, and that's when the
nutrition piece ties into that,and when you purposely want to,
you know, create that shape, youhave to eat a little bit
differently and, um, and it'sbeen the same.
You know that's what I've beendoing all along.
Um, I'm older now, I will be 50in three weeks, so I was
(21:54):
younger I was.
Uh, you know your body'sdifferent at 44 than it is at 50
.
So, but so far so good.
I'm still as strong or strongerthan I was when I first started
.
So that's just the key.
For me it's not so much about.
You know.
Obviously, health reasons andthe importance of having muscle,
(22:16):
especially as you get older andyou start aging, is so critical
.
And my parents, you knowthey've broken bones.
My mom has broken both her hipsand I want to have a different
outcome when I'm 80.
You know I'm doing this now forwhen I'm 80.
Dr. Weiner (22:37):
Muscle is the fountain of youth.
Having muscle, building it,using it regularly, is probably
the single most important thingyou can do to slow the aging
process down.
And so you know, it sounds likeyou've really kind of dialed in
on that.
I'd love to see that.
Denise (22:54):
Yeah, I'm sold out for it, I really am.
But so my training schedule nowis kind of like four days a
week and you know, we changethings up a little bit.
When I first started training,I was at a plan of fitness,
which is fine and it suited mevery well.
I went to a plan of fitnessthat had more equipment than
(23:16):
most, so I think that was veryhelpful.
And then at one point Iswitched to a more um
bodybuilding gym and that'swhere, uh, I was able to, you
know, utilize more equipment,that more fancy stuff, and I was
.
I saw, you know, differenttypes of results there, which I
(23:36):
really like and um.
But one thing I think isimportant is that understanding
where you are in your fitnessjourney.
If you do like to go to the gymnot everybody likes to go to
the gym and not everyone likesto work out.
You know some people arededicated walkers and that's
totally fine.
But if you are someone thatlikes to lift weights and you
like to go to the gym, yourenvironment is so important,
(23:59):
especially for the morale, foryour own self, for your own
workout, like who you surroundyourself with.
You may not know these people,but their intention, the people
that you work out surroundingwith their intention, can sort
of influence you as well.
You know, you can kind of havelike a silent community in your
(24:24):
head like, oh, I know that girland oh, she's lifting that today
and I remember last week.
You know, you create thislittle team in your head.
Maybe you don't speak to thesepeople, but you see them all the
time.
So it's like I have my ownCrossFit family in my head but I
don't want to talk to anybody.
Like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, Icould lift more than that, but
(24:46):
you know that type of a thing.
But, um, if you feel likeyou're getting bored, like with
a place, or it's just like, oh,this is, this isn't, this isn't
for me, look at other places,look at other gyms.
Like, change the scene.
Because just changing the scene, changing the environment and
the people that are around you,is such a boost and can really
(25:09):
help you move forward in yourfitness.
Dr. Weiner (25:12):
Yeah, a workout partner too.
Workout is invaluable.
You keep each other motivated.
You push each other yeah, makestime go by faster.
Um, you gotta have two headsinstead of one working on this
problem.
So so do you work out alone, ordo you work out with your
husband, or do you have aworkout partner?
How does that work?
Denise (25:32):
I pretty much work out alone.
But, um, if we go to the gymtogether, we're not like tag
teaming on the on the, on the onthe uh machine too much.
He does his thing and I do mything and we're like, hey, hi,
you know whatever.
Um, he he print, he gives meout my plan for for the six
(25:53):
weeks and I just put it in mynotes and I just follow it along
and if I'm being really goodthen I'll write down like the
sets and how much weight I'musing, and that becomes a little
too much.
But I like to have structure, Ilike rules, I like to follow a
plan.
Um, having a plan when you go tothe gym really makes a big
(26:16):
difference Instead of justwilly-nilly.
Let me see what this does, letme see what we do here.
If you really want to see adifference and keep track of
your progression and how strongyou're getting, it's very
important to consistently do thesame thing for a certain amount
of time, to be like oh, when Ifirst started this I was at 20
pounds and now, at the end ofsix weeks, I'm at 35 pounds.
(26:38):
That's wonderful, it keeps yougoing, it keeps you motivated.
Zoe (26:45):
You can't see that progressive overload that's
required for building muscle ifyou're doing a bunch of
different things every time.
Denise (26:53):
Yeah, exactly, and try not to people get caught up with
like trendy workouts.
Or there's a video I saw onTikTok or this is you know this
crazy thing.
You know, no, you're going tohurt yourself and don't do that.
So you know, if you're 300pounds and you're starting on
your journey, you should not bejumping on.
(27:16):
You know things and jumping upand down and you know doing
burpees and that you you gonnahurt yourself and it's okay that
you're.
You can't do that right now andyou know, maybe don't ever do
that.
I don't, you know, I don't know.
But but along with the fitness,part of what I wanted to
(27:36):
mention is in regardingnutrition and how it has been
able to get me from point a inthe beginning into now and was
tracking my food in thebeginning was essential,
absolutely For me.
It helped me greatly and Itracked for many years, even
(27:56):
afterwards.
My assumptions were always theworst thing imaginable.
So if you gave me something toeat and I was like, oh, I don't
know, I would always assume theworst this has got a ton of fat
in it.
This has a ton of carbs.
This is, this is terrible.
It's gonna ruin my whole day.
This has got a ton of fat in it.
This has a ton of carbs.
This is, this is terrible.
This is going to ruin my wholeday.
But if I actually stopped for asecond and plugged it in and put
(28:19):
in what I'm eating, and then Isee black and white the number,
I'm like, oh, it's really notthat bad at all and this can
totally fit into my day.
Um, so if, if you are a hugeassumer, if you're assuming all
of all of the, the caloricvalues of food and you think the
worst, and if your head goes tothe worst and then you say,
(28:42):
well, I just blew the daywithout knowing the black and
white evidence of what you'reselecting.
You know, don't do that.
Just see what, see what it'sactually worth, and and then
then move on with your day Like,oh, this really isn't a deal
breaker, Throw it.
Dr. Weiner (29:00):
you know, throw in an analogy I sometimes use is
like if you dropped your phoneand had a little crack in the
corner, would you then be like,oh, this phone is wasted and
stomp on it and shatter thescreen?
No, you try to salvage it.
And we have to do the samething because we're not going to
be perfect every day, andthat's going to happen.
We're not going to be perfectwith our exercise routine, we're
(29:22):
not going to be perfect withour eating, and we just have to
accept that sometimes, you know,we might get a little nick in
the corner of the screen and aslong as we don't shatter it,
we're probably going to be fine.
Zoe (29:39):
And going to be fine.
And awareness precedes change.
So you were able to use thetracking as a tool to gain
awareness around what you weredoing so you could make that
mindful, intentional choice andthe changes that you were
wanting to make into yournutrition.
Denise (29:50):
Absolutely.
It gave me.
It's like a superpower.
It gave me that factual gracethat I needed, like, okay, let's
say you go to a party orsomething and you're not going
to.
I mean, early on I did bring myown food because I really
didn't want to go astray, buteventually you're not going to
(30:12):
be doing that.
Um, so you know, you have, youhave to enjoy life too, you know
, and you can do your best bet.
But if you've already done yourhomework and you know what four
ounces of chicken kind of lookslike and you could assume like
all right, factor in maybeanother tablespoon or something
(30:32):
of fat because it's outside food, maybe another tablespoon or
something of fat because it'soutside food, and you know, you
start learning how to um, assessthese times and then, okay,
this is what I had, and thenenjoy it and move on.
You know, then tomorrow is anew day.
Zoe (30:52):
Don't dwell on it.
So I want to know we need thestory behind your Instagram
handle the crunchy sleever.
Talk to us about what thecrunchy sleever is.
Denise (31:03):
So, um one, I like crunchy foods, that's obvious
there Sleever, because I had thesleeve, the VSG, bariatric
sleeve because I had the sleeve,the VSG bariatric sleeve, and
I'm probably around 80% organicliving.
Let's say I don't have a gardenyet because I don't think I can
(31:25):
handle it.
I'm still from Brooklyn and I'man expert in cement and
watering down the cement.
So let's not get crazy on thecement, you know.
So let's not get crazy.
But so they say crunchy andorganic, you know living kind of
like, goes together.
So that's where that all camefrom.
So I tried, I try as best as Ican.
Does it make a difference?
(31:46):
I hope so.
If it doesn't, then I'm justout extra couple bucks, right,
all the organic food.
Zoe (31:55):
Well, this was really great .
I feel like you had so manywonderful nuggets the whole
story was wonderful but so manyreally wonderful nuggets and
takeaways that I think all playa huge role into your very
obvious success.
And now, eight years later,you're living the life that
(32:17):
you've created for yourself andthe body that you love and feel
good in and are proud of.
So I'm just so grateful thatyou shared your story with us
today.
Thanks so much.
Denise (32:28):
Thank you, thank you so much, thank you.
Dr. Weiner (32:30):
Denise, you should be proud of yourself.
I think you know this wasclearly a plan put in action.
Zoe (32:37):
Executed to perfection.
Dr. Weiner (32:39):
Executed to perfection, and I think that's
you know, for some people that'sdaunting, but I think, on the
other hand, it also shows youthat it is possible to do that
and you were just veryintentional about it, very
thoughtful about it.
You put a lot of energy andeffort into it and you know
you've managed to be consistentand kept those promises that you
(33:00):
made to yourself, you know,before surgery.
You've kept them to this dayand I think that's really
amazing and I'm really proud ofyou for everything you've
accomplished.
Congrats on that.
Denise (33:13):
Thank you, I really appreciate it.
Thanks so much.
Thanks for inviting me and, um,you know, anyone needs to talk
or chat or whatever.
They can always reach out to meon Instagram and I'm happy to
chat with anybody.
Dr. Weiner (33:24):
Love it.
Zoe (33:25):
Thank you so much.
Okay, all right, have a greatrest of your day, denise.
Thanks for chatting with you.
Thanks, denise.
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