Welcome to The Weight Loss Collab! In today’s episode, Dr. Dovec and Hannah Schuyler sit down with a very special guest, Christie Woodard, a patient who’s not only transformed her life through bariatric surgery, but is also a passionate advocate for breaking the stigma around weight loss and GLP-1 medications.

Christie shares her personal journey: from years of struggling with weight, health challenges, and self-doubt, to making the pivotal decision to undergo gastric bypass surgery, and later to openly embracing the use of GLP-1 medications as part of her ongoing treatment. Along the way, she discusses the emotional highs and lows, the reality of post-surgical weight regain, and the powerful impact of finding community and support throughout the process.

You’ll hear insightful discussion around the myths and realities of GLP-1 medications, the importance of seeing obesity as a treatable disease rather than a personal failing, and how shame and judgment have hijacked the weight loss conversation for too long. Plus, Christie’s inspiring story of running half marathons in all 50 states (and how her healthier lifestyle made it possible!) will motivate anyone considering a transformative step in their own journey.

Join the BodyByTransformation Retreat: The Butterfly Effect May 1st and 2nd in Orlando, FL to hear more about Christie's incredible journey!

Whether you’re curious about the medical side of weight loss, looking for motivation, or just want to hear real talk from people who get it, this episode offers honest insights, candid stories, and a dose of hope for anyone fighting to reclaim their health.

She's a doctor. Hi, I'm Dr. Dobeck, and she's a

dietitian. Hey, I'm Hannah Schuyler, and together we are the

Weight Loss Collaboration. Yes. And

I am so excited. We have a

patient today on who is one who is

very dear to me, my dear friend. This is

Christy Woodard, and today we are talking all things

about the entire journey from

wanting to lose weight to the story of how we ended up on

the operating room table doing bariatric surgery. And we're going to

spend a lot of time talking about

GLP1 medications, who they're really for,

why motivation is not just cosmetic, and how

we're going to break free from that stigma. And finally, how shame

has seemed to hijack that conversation. So, without further

ado, Christy, welcome to the weight loss collab.

I'm excited to be here. I'm a fan of the podcast. So.

Wait, we were just getting ready. And I was like, normally episodes are like this

long. And she's like, oh, I know. I listen. Oh, okay. Perfect.

Exactly. Oh, my gosh. So good. So I really

want to introduce everybody to you, and

I know it's kind of a very high level, generic kind of

question, but can you talk a little bit about your

story and just your struggles with weight and

kind of what brought you even to the why of wanting

to have bariatric surgery and just sort of how your journey began?

Yeah, sure. So I kind of grew up a

normal weight, right? Didn't really struggle with

my weight that much, but I thought I did, you know,

But I hit my 30s and I started to have. I was

having kids, I was recovering from that, and I used to be

a smoker, and I quit smoking and hit

perimenopause kind of all around the same time. And I went

to. To quite literally an 80

pound weight gain almost overnight. Wasn't overnight,

but it felt like it. And before I knew it, it was

completely out of control. I was at my

heaviest, 260 pounds. I

was miserable. I had

uncontrolled GERD and acid reflux. I was taking

multiple meds a day. I was having multiple medical tests done to try and figure

out why I was having so many issues. Endoscopies and ph

manometry tests and just all the things. I was pre

diabetic. I had hypertension. I'd also tried

running when I was heavier, and I started running in

2014, and I was doing it, but I was really

having a hard time. Not just because I was slow, I was okay with that,

but I was I was living in physical therapy, like, three days a week.

I tore my meniscus. It was a mess. And

I couldn't get out of my own way. And I

didn't see how to fix it until

a few years before I started following. Well, I had a couple

friends from school who had embarked on a weight loss journey

with you when you were in Baltimore, and I started

following you. And I was watching them so just quietly from the

wings, and I watched them change their life.

And I watched them going from being someone who never showed a photo themselves,

or if they did, it was the photo of their kid directly in front of

them, you know, to being like, hey, you know, look at

me. And I thought, wow, you know, if they can do that, I mean,

does that mean that's something I can do? And I think it took me

two years of watching that and I. And

following you for me to hit that button that you used

to have. It was like, call me or I'm ready or something like

that. Desert and now, baby. And I was like, get started

now. And. And they were like, I've moved to

Florida, of course. Yeah. And I'm finally

ready and she's out of town. Done. So for me, that

the moment, though, to like, really decide to do it, you know, it was a

couple of different things. So I was. I'm an HR director

in my. In my real life. That's where I'm at work right now.

And I went to a job fair, and I was. Got interviewed

for the local news, you know, like, oh, this is exciting to be news, you

know, And I go home and I sit on the couch and up comes the

news shot. They're out the community center where they're doing the

career fair. And here I am. And I was like,

I was horrified. I literally. I quite literally had no idea I

look like that. And I didn't know how that was possible because I looked in

the mirror every day. I also had a granddaughter,

and she was getting to the point where she wanted me to

play on the floor. And I couldn't do it. And I thought, all right, this

is it. I'm going to make a change. So I did.

Wow. And I. Of course you say I don't, but I do remember our

conversations. And. And that was the beautiful thing because

even though I did move to Florid, we were doing virtual

consults. So I got to know you. I

really adamantly said, if we're going to do this, we have to do the

gastric bypass, which I know was a tough decision. And I know a

lot of people who are listening who might be in that pre op stage. They

might still be wrestling whether the sleeve is better, the bypass is better

because the sleeve is very popular. You get, you can find

no shortage of people who've had the sleeve and share their stories.

So ultimately you trusted in me to do it. But I know that was a

tough decision for you. It was because I went into it at, you

know, educated, like I, I read all the things. Right.

All the things that you said, but I was educated by

the Internet. Right. Not by, by my own

medical history, maybe what was best for me. So I was like, well, I'm going

to do the sleeve because that's less invasive. Oh, yes. And I'm

gonna, that's gonna be best for me. And I told you that. And to your

credit, you're off. You know, you were like, well, you know, we could do that.

However, you are suffering with debilitating.

Line. Yeah. As soon as you get reflux, we're like, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

And I was, I, and I knew how miserable I was, so I was like,

no, I don't want that to get worse. And so I,

I, I listened to what you had to say and decided, well, do

I, am I going to listen to the, you know,

Google or am I going to listen to my doctor who has looked at

all of my scans and looked at all my blood work and

has talked to me and I decided that that was what I should do

and thank God I did it because my

son in law went the other way with another doctor and

his recovery was so much worse than mine. He was in

so much more pain than I was in from the sleeve and,

and it turns out he needed a revision with you.

Spoiler alert. I know, spoiler. And you'll end up, you'll get that

bypass, but one way, shape or form. Anyway, I'm just trying to save you a

step, a very important step. Yes. Well,

not only did you have the bypass, you've done absolutely exceptional.

You're clearly my poster child and I just

love having conversations with you around all of this. But tell a

little bit about the results from the bypass, like where your highest weight was the

day of surgery, how low you got, just kind of how that early post

operative journey was. Sure. I think like most

bariatric patients, some of us don't exactly know our highest, highest

weight because you get to the point where you refuse to get on the scale.

So I know what my highest recorded weight was, which was

£260. If I had to, if I was honest

with myself, you know, I probably was in the two 70s,

you know, I would guess somewhere in there.

But when I knew that I was going to take this road,

I did start paying a lot more attention to my

diet and trying to mimic, you know, the things that Hannah taught me that I

was going to be needing to follow with the surgery. So

when I went to has, you didn't tell me I had to lose weight, but

I was just really trying to be better. Not

perfect, better. And I think I, I was started on

surgery day at like 2:35. Wow. Which is where

I was on, on that day. And I

had the surgery and I flew from Maryland, which, you know, seems

like a daunting thing, but it really wasn't. It was, you know, direct flight

on Southwest down there. I rented an Airbnb.

And now with the surgery center, you're right, you have a hotel that's right next

door. But, um, Ren, an airbnb had the surgery

and flew home on the third day. Um, and it was, it was

fine the first day. I don't remember a lot of it. Cause I didn't, I

really, I didn't feel great the first day, but after that I felt fine. I

walked all around the neighborhood or I was staying in Baldwin park and

flew home without an issue. And I took people ask

this all the time on the Facebook page, like, how long should I take off

work? I mean, realistically, I could have gone back to work on Monday. You know,

it wouldn't have been that big. I could have. But I knew that this was,

this was changing my whole life. I just changed my whole anatomy. I just flew

all the way to Florida and had so, so I was going to take two

weeks off and I was going to figure this out and I was going to

make sure I knew how to get the protein and the water. And

I was, I'd started pureed foods before I went back

to work. Like, I, for me, I thought that was important. And for folks

who I've talked to, who've asked my advice and what I think that's what I

recommend if they're able to do that, certainly you don' have to. But

I think it does help if you're investing in your health to take that

extra time. Yeah. To kind of go for it. Yeah, no doubt about it.

And, and the thing that I love about you just openly saying my

weight was probably 270, I was 260. You know, I,

I, I got down to 235. Like, you're sharing these numbers, which,

you know, it's hard to say that out loud, especially when you're in the messy

middle of it, when you're going through it and to, to say, but now

you, you were interviewed recently, and I read a quote that you had,

and I love it because you're essentially saying, like, I do not

Gatekeep. You said, I speak openly about bariatric

surgery because I believe silence is what allows misinformation to

thrive. Many people feel pressure to hide medical treatment or

surgical treatment because they anticipate judgment, particularly

once they are no longer visibly obese. But you are like, no

way. I put this on my Facebook, on my Instagram, I tell my friends, I

tell my colleagues. I put in the hr, like, believe in this so

much so because I am so happy that my life has changed.

So you have the surgery, you go home, you go through the two weeks

kind of to get it all right, and then how does your journey kind of

begin once you go beyond the pureed soft? And now you're living life

back in Maryland. So now, now I'm living life. I'm back at work. I

gathered, you know, I, I know what I need to do. I'm, I'm tracking my

food. I use Baratastic. I still use it sometimes when I'm trying to make sure

I'm on back, get back to basics sometimes. But

I, I, I did that and the weight just started

melting off. And I remember asking you, like, you know, what,

what number do you think. I'm going to get?

Like, you have a Magic 8 ball and you're heel to tell me. And,

you know, you gave me a number which is probably

30 pounds more than I am now.

I thought that number was unbelievable to get to. Like, I would never get to,

you know, 170. Like that's possible, you know, but

as the weight started to come off, I was like,

every pound gave me confidence, so every pound made me feel

like this is working. And you, it's so

cliche, but people say trust the process, but you, you have to trust the process.

You know, I'm having a stall. One week with the weight

maintain is not a stall. You're, you're fine. I certainly learned

that too, over and over and over again. But the weight

kind of fell off. But it fell off

because I was doing the things that you and

Hannah told me to do. You know, one of the

biggest pet peeves of anyone who's had bariatric surgery, and we all talk to

each other, which is somebody who Says, oh,

I know somebody who had weight loss surgery, negate all their weight back.

You know, those kind of comments, just one, aren't helpful. And

two, they just, they didn't follow the process. Right. You know, they did.

Their surgeon gave them a tool that they chose not to use. Right. So

that is an, that's an individual choice. Right. And I, you know, we

all know people who've done both, but I have, I have come

down, I came down after a few, after a year to

a really great place, and I started exercising. I don't know,

maybe three months or so

after surgery. I could have started sooner. I didn't. I was just trying to focus

on the food and the eating. Yeah, well, with

exercise, just to interject here really quick, like, that's something I always tell people

because they're always like, I'm not working out yet, so my, my weight is probably

not what it should be, and blah, blah. I'm like, it doesn't matter. Like, it's

fine. Start when you're comfortable. Start when you're ready. Like, I started

running in 2014 to raise money for a local humane

society. And I, and I wanted to run. I wanted to be one of

those girls who I saw running down the street that,

the ponytail and the hair and this, you know, I wanted to do, I wasn't

looking like that, but I wanted to do that. So

I started doing that. And I was eating the way I always

ate. And even though I was running and training for half

marathons, I really didn't lose any weight. So it was

supremely eye opening to me that Really, I think 80 to

90% of your weight loss is what you put in your mouth. It's not.

I didn't need to start exercising right away. I needed to figure out my, my

diet. I can't. You can't outrun a bad diet. And I

tried, I mean, for years, and it didn't, it didn't

work, you know, and now that I'm at a healthy way,

now I'm just trying to, to one maintain, but also

to tone what I got.

So I, I, I'm, I am, I am, I guess

I'm sometimes evangelical about weight loss

surgery. Even my husband will say to me, why did you need to tell the

waiter? Like, you know what I mean? Like, because I'll be like, oh, I

can't, I can't order yet because I'm having this glass of wine or whatever, and

I need to wait 30 minutes. He's like,

why do you tell everybody? Because sometimes, you know, People

ask me questions and sometimes people are like, oh my God, I had weight loss

surgery. And then we could start talking or. I don't know. I, I feel like

I've done a good job of dispelling a lot of misinformation and

miseducation out there, whether it be just here at my workplace

or in my friend group or. And I, I continue to do that

as much as I can. Yeah, I love that. I know. I get the same

thing from my husband. He's like, you over, explain everything, deal with it.

I think it's a plus. I'm a sharer. Okay. It's a massive plus.

Absolutely. Hannah, what do you think about her statement there? I love

that you can't outrun a bad diet. Yeah,

pretty, pretty common belief I would

say in the, in the nutrition world of like, yeah, you can't, you can't out

exercise a calorie too many

calories. Like, because while exercise burns calories,

obviously it's not, it's usually not as much as you think it

is. Like, even if you're wearing a fitness tracker, if you're doing this, like, unless

you are truly in like a controlled system, we can't really tell how

many. It's an estimate of how many calories you burn. And also like,

you're not gonna, most. People aren't gonna push themselves to that

point of really doing that. And then a lot of times too, it's like

exercise makes you hungry. So like the chances too of you then

going and eating those calories, which is understandable because

you are, you're like. I remember going like back in high school when I would

do morning swim, like during the summer, I would just be

hungry the entire day. We'd swim at like 6 o' clock in the morning.

And then no matter what you ate. And of course I'm like a 16 year

old kid, so you're just hungry anyway. And like I would just be starving

those days. And I'm like, yeah. So I think that's part of it too.

What the, the benefit of exercise with weight loss. We tell people this a lot

is like, it's more in the maintenance like you're saying, like it's going to help

because the more muscle that you have on your body, this is where the benefit

of exercise is. From a weight perspective, the more muscle that you carry on your

body, the higher your metabolism is, which is what makes you hungrier too.

But that means you're burning more calories at rest. So just

by existing being a human, you're going to burn more

calories if you have more muscle mass. And so that is

where, you know, we know that that's the kind of the benefit in

that maintenance phase. And then you know too, like if we look at,

you know, like you look at your arms, they're so toned and like you can

see your skin is great. Like you get that support, that underlying muscle

structure support, which helps and so many other

benefits of exercise, health wise too, of course.

And I think that a lot, a lot of folks, at least in my first

season of running, I, oh, I overate because I would,

I would, I would congratulate myself by

doing such a great run today and I'm gonna go out and eat all of

these things to reward myself. There's a lot of really bad behavior. Like, you know,

there's no bad food, but there's really bad behavior. Right.

And again, it's the overestimation of what you just did. You

overestimated. Yeah. As far as I was concerned, that that run, which was

really, really hard, meant that I could eat, you know,

2,000 calories. Right. Did not mean that I, I

gained weight that first season. Well, speaking

of running, like, tell us about your current

running journey and what that looks like now. Yeah,

completely different. It looks completely different.

So I, as I mentioned, I started running when I was overweight and I

was doing a few local races and I started doing the very

fun Disney races. I did a bunch of those. I

even ran a marathon that was my lowest weight

for running in 2018.

I always wanted to do something called running 50 states. So

running a certified half marathon in every state

in the country. But it was one of those kind of secret goals like

being this current weight or feeling the way I feel or being able to

bend over and pick up that pen on the floor and not hurt my

diaphragm. You know, that things that I wanted to do but I knew was

just out of the stratosphere, like I couldn't do it. So

I'd met these crazy people who were running 50 states, usually wearing

something that has like the 50 states on it. And it colored in with the

different states that they've done. And it wasn't until

I had had gastric bypass in

actually my surgery anniversary is next week. So

for years, so it was a year later and

I had run my first race after gastric bypass. I ran a

race in Richmond, Virginia. And I thought, huh,

Because I saw a bunch of 50 stagers and I just, it just, I was

like, I think I want to do this. And I was sitting on the couch

in during the holidays and a race popped

up for the Las Cruces Half Marathon in New Mexico, which

is where my mom was from. And I was like, oh, my

God. It's like a sign, you know, I should. This should be like the first

state where I'm gonna make this. I make this my plan. I've done a bunch

of races. How many states have I done? I counted four.

Okay. So I signed up with like three weeks notice

and the Flame ticket, flew to Las Verus, New Mexico, and

ran my fifth state, which is the first of my 50

state journey. And I ran 11 states last year. So

I finished 2025 with 34 states.

I have six states planned. Only six states planned so far

for this year. So hopefully I'll finish this year with 40. Wow.

So I'm so excited. Like, this would be

off the table. Like, I could never have done this ever if I

had made change my life. And what's. What's been the best

state so far? Ooh, it kind of depends.

So I would say New Mexico because it has that emotional attachment with my

mom. But also I'm of a certain age where the

Oklahoma City bombing was very

imprinted in my brain. And running Oklahoma for all

of the bombing victims, I thought was. It was the easiest race I've ever done.

Because you ran with purpose, so you're running with purpose. I could have run

that. I could have run that twice, probably. I felt so good.

And then some states are just. They're just beautiful. You know, Utah.

Utah is like, probably the prettiest place I've ever been. It's

stunning. Running La Jolla, California, Running Newport, Rhode Island.

Running in Maine, Running down the cacomongous.

I'm saying it wrong highway in New Hampshire, downhill. I mean,

I have seen some really beautiful places and I've been places that I thought

I'd never go. I went to Kansas City this year. Missouri. I went to

Nebraska. I went to. I went to Kansas. I went

to Iowa. I went to Cincinnati. I never thought I'd go

these places. I think when you live on the east coast, you think the middle

of the country is kind of a flyover, but it's not. Yeah.

Kansas City is super cute actually, too. You're right. Yeah. I loved

Oklahoma. I mean, I love. I thought Little Rock, Arkansas was super

cool. There's lots of great places. Awesome. I

would. I. I think Hannah myself. We're going to be at the finish line. When

you complete it, it's going to be so Yeah. I mean, we have to be

there. Yeah. I wonder what will be that. What will be that? That,

that. That finale there. Hawaii. Have you done it? I was going to say

we got to go Hawaii. Where are we going? I, I considered, like, one of

the things you could do is I'm in Maryland, so, so it's 50 states,

so you don't have to do D.C. but you can do DC. It's a 50

states plus one. I could make my 50th state, D.C. which is

more, it's more available for family and

friends to call me and let's go to, you know, Kauai.

Yeah. I'm like. Yeah, I'm like,

it's going to be one of those two states, probably. It could be like.

So I haven't decided yet, but I've kind of. The whole northeast is done. Yeah.

The whole left side is done. I'm kind of working my way through the middle

and some of the Southern states, so. Yeah. Well. And probably just availability

of races and things. Yeah. Run the south in the, in the summer.

No, you would die. No, I would die. You can't

walk the south in the summer. Yeah, I know. But, but none of that would

have been possible with, without the changes that I made. So I,

I, I love it. And I've tied a lot of my success into my

abilities to stay active. You don't have to run a half marathon, but you do

have to a little bit. Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, you're doing exceptional. And like, you said, like, you're putting in the

reps, you're running. I know you work out, you have a home gym, you're eating

clean, you're doing all the things. And then you had a

little bit of weight regain. I did.

So it was about a year ago. I am doing

all the right things. I mean, I, I think, you know, you and Hannah would

say that I am pretty good, patient, and if I know what to do, follow

the rules. And I was following the rules and I was gaining weight.

So at first it was just a little bit, which I don't get too excited

about a count or two or three. Then it was four and five and then

six. And then I stopped looking. And then I didn't look for,

like, I don't know, like, six weeks, which is a bad pattern to get into

for me. So I thought, get your butt back on the scale. And

I got on the scale and I was like, holy crap, what is happening? So

I went back to basics. I went back to my app, I started tracking my

protein I started tracking my water. I'm looking at my, you know, like, eating

too much fat. And I really wasn't doing

anything different than what I'd been doing all along. And

I had at that point, I mean, I was pushing 20 pound

weight gain, and I'm still running, and I'm still doing all the

things. So, you know, while, you know, the surgery, you know, changed my

anatomy, it didn't fix the disease that I have, which is

obesity, which I didn't know. I didn't really know that

until it started happening to me. So that was scary.

Yeah. Yeah. I was afraid of going back to where I

was. You know, 20 pounds is not back to where I was, but I was

afraid of going back to where I was in this big slide

in my mind. I was like, it's over. What am I gonna do?

So I called. I called body by bariatrics. What am I

doing wrong? We're probably like, nothing. Just

nothing. Yeah, you're perfect. And I think that sometimes. Not

to speak for Hannah, but, you know, sometimes we're like, all right, let's get you

in with the appointment with Hannah. Let's talk nutrition. Like you said. Let's go to

the basics. Oh, and sometimes it's obvious, like, oh, that smoothie

cream run where you think it's healthy or something that you're doing. Like,

Hannah could just say, oh, there's a pattern here. This is easy

fix, and there you go. But oftentimes, I think that

we're just as frustrated as you are, because I do believe you, like, we check

your labs, like, when we check your insulin level, that there are certain things

on your blood work that are basically going to out you. Whether you

tell me you're perfect or I can see objectively. Yeah,

you are doing all the right things. Your insulin level is super low. Your

hemoglobin A1C is low. Your liver functions look great.

Like, there's all these different things. And you have a

quote, another one during that time where it

does mess with your brain because you do see yourself. Like, no, no, no, no.

I got this taste of what, like, freedom felt like, and now I'm,

like, threatened to potentially go back. And that is something that

is so scary. And you said, I noticed in my training, my

recovery time, my overall endurance beyond just the physical impact. I

felt like my confidence was starting to shift and my sense of identity. I've

become, you know, this poster child for weight loss surgery. It felt as though I

was slowly losing parts of myself that I had worked so hard

Unimaginably hard to reclaim.

Yes. And that's a dark place, even though outwardly people

are like, dude, you're at, like, 150, 160, or

whatever it was. You were 270. Remember, you're down 120. Like, where is

the problem here? Can you talk to friends who haven't

experienced weight loss surgery? They don't understand that because they're looking

at me and think I'm. I'm normal or normal weight.

But it was, I was, I felt completely out

of control. And even those £20, I could feel

it in my knees. Like, I can't remember that number. My orthopedic

doc told me, but he's like eight pounds of pressure for every excess

pound of weight. So you feel, you feel that, you know, by running

the kind of miles I'm running. But more than that, I, I felt

like I was failing. And I, I,

I knew that I was doing all the work, but it made me feel.

It just, it made me feel like I was a failure. And I felt, like,

felt bad. And I. And when I talked to Hannah, like, she gave me a

couple tips. There's a few things that I changed, you know, that. But it didn't

move the needle that much, you know? Yeah. And it was. It, you know,

and that's when I was like, you know what? I. My body, you know,

I still have the disease of obesity. Even

when you outwardly look at me and you think, well, she's a normal weight.

And I didn't know that. Yeah,

it's really crazy. Like, and like you said, it's kind of like, well, I can

try, like. And that's like you said, Dr. Jo, talk to me, and we'll see.

And we'll see. Sometimes it is. It's like, try these things and try. Them for

a couple weeks. Like, give it a, Give it the. Good college trial college

try and really put it in. But ultimately,

sometimes it's kind of bigger than, like, your fiber

intake, you know, or whatever it might be. Like,

you know, with the, with the, the advice and under the, the,

the consultation of a physician, we made the decision

to try a G. GLP1, in this case, Z

bound. Yeah. So I started that in January

of 2025. So I've been on it a year.

So the, the, the thing that was really interesting is that the, the medication,

you know, it didn't replace my effort that I was putting in,

but it was allowing, you know, that effort to, like, to

find, to work. I'm still, I'm still eating the same thing for

breakfast. I was eating a year ago, and I was eating two years ago. I'm

still doing the same things, but that extra weight

came off. And I'm. And I'm. I'm

maintaining, but the

decision to do it, you know, at first I felt like I was,

you know, like, my God, how many chances do you get? You had

bariatric surgery and you're going to get GLP ones and

you know, wow, what's. What's going

on? And that's. And that's coming from other people who are putting that

on me. The world is saying that I don't deserve

weight loss treatment because somehow I want to be skinny and it's

some kind of vanity thing. And that's not at all what it's

about. You know, it's. It's about being healthy and it's about being

confident and being able to walk into a room and feeling like

me and not feeling like I'm pretending

to be someone I'm not. Yeah, well, and you're also just so

petite. Like, you're. You're a tiny little lady. So,

like, those, Those couple extra pounds do also make a difference to you.

Like, you know, we can look at people in, in different bodies and things like

that. That, like, you know, 20 pounds coming off a

230 pound frame, you know, or that big of a deal. You could

hardly. Can tell that much. Tell a little. But £20 off of

this frame is. Is. It's much different. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

definitely. So I want to talk about that moment when you were like,

and you and I, again, we're very close and we are messaging and you

talk to Hannah, you talk to me, and we have just a really, you know,

casual conversation and relationship and we can be

very candid with each other. And again, I knew you're doing all the right things,

but I do remember, and you're. And you're not unique in this,

that it is like, you're saying, like, I already went through surgery,

and for you, you're saying, like, well, how many chances do I get? But I

do also think that a lot of people think, like,

well, I did surgery. Why do I have to do something

else? Like, I. That like, like, what gives? I did the ultimate

treatment, the most effective treatment that exists to lose weight and keep it off is

not what you say, Dr. Jobak. And it is. And now

I'm saying I think we need to add a little bit of a GLP one

on where I'm seeing the most

superb. Almost as close to like, perfect results I

feel like you can get, but I feel like we need to add it. And

I know that you were a little reluctant, so can you talk just a little

bit more about your mindset through that? As we were kind of talking about

first, just, you know, the basics of what it is and the logistics of how

it would work and your insurance and this and that, but also just I kind

of, from an emotional standpoint of deciding, all right, I'm going to the

pharmacy, I'm picking this thing up, and we're going to get started. I,

I, okay. I don't think I told you this. I think I had the prescription

for a month before I picked it up. There you go.

So I was, you know, I understand that GLP1s are a

lifelong medication, so I knew that going into it and I,

I knew I needed more help, but I was

honestly, I guess, stuck by the

judgment. I felt I was going to feel from others,

both in and outside of the bariatric community,

from my friends and friends who are bariatric, from my friends

who are just because they don't understand how it works. And,

and it wasn't even so much I was worried about side effects

because, you know, I can certainly now know that everybody has their own

journey. Everyone's side effects are a little bit different if, if any at all.

And I, but it wasn't that, honestly. It was more

about, honestly, shame and feeling like

I didn't deserve it. Like somehow I didn't deserve

to, to, to do, to, to have that

opportunity. And that again, it's, I don't feel that way

at all now. And I am completely on the other side of that. But it,

it's put on by, by the misinformation

and miseducation on the news and from what people are getting on for

social media, from influencers and all these different

places. That isn't exactly fact. And they're not getting it from a

medical professional. They're getting it from some, you know, pay

website or some influencer. They're not getting all the information. So it just puts out

all of this stuff that then people like me absorb.

And now I have this incorrect

idea about what GLP1s are and how

they'll work for me and how they can be

a very important piece of my treatment of

obesity. That's what it is. It's a treatment for a disease

that I have. Yep, absolutely. And it's,

you know, we've, we've talked about this before, but obesity is like one of the

few diseases which, again, people don't always recognize that it is

a disease. And I think that's the first thing. And. But

that people get shamed for treating. And I think that's the big thing

in the media, too. They're like, oh, this celebrity lost weight by taking.

Of course, they always say Ozempic, which I love is diabetes drugs. Stop it.

But they always say that, you know, oh, who's on Ozempic in Hollywood? And whatever.

And so they took. And it's like, yeah, but you know what

else you guys did? You made fun of them and you gave them grief for

being, you know, having excess body weight prior. So what should

they have done? Should they have gotten shame for this or for that? Like,

there's the two options. You're going to shame them one way or the other. And

it is. It's like, you wouldn't shame them if they started a

statin for their cholesterol levels, like, you

know, or a high blood pressure medication or if they had diabetes, if they treated

that, like. So it is. It's one of those few things. And.

And I'm sure, too. I mean, thinking about, you know, if you're thinking shame

of. Of taking these medications, I'm sure also access to these is, you know, could

be something where it's like, there's such limited access or

challenges to access. And so it's kind of like, oh, why do I get this?

And other people don't. You know, I could see that also being something that, like,

crosses your mind. Like, if you're. I already got to have the surgery.

And now I also get this, right? If you're not visibly

obese, people think the medication is optional, like,

and it's, you know, cosmetic, you know, which is not a

word we should be using. And. And it's. It's not true

at all. No. I mean, I took. I was on semaglutide

for a couple months last year.

I had kind of a brief window where I could take it because I had

stopped breastfeeding Elena. And then we were trying to get pregnant after that. So,

like, I had to kind of come off of it. But if you look at

my stats, I would technically fall in, like, the overweight

category. But I don't have any comorbid conditions. You know, people

don't generally. You know, of course, we all see ourselves one way, but

people don't generally look at me, I don't think, and say, like, oh, gosh, you

know, she's really big, or anything like that. But I technically was

over and It. But it was like, technically I don't qualify for this

medication from like an insurance perspective.

But yeah, I took it and it was like it helped. I mean, again,

I was a year postpartum. Like, I was like, I need some help with this,

you know, with this body right now. And

like I said, I had to stop. And then now obviously can't take it right

now. No, I think that. Yeah, I mean

that's the whole thing is about. Everyone has unique

motivators to want to lose weight, get healthy.

Labeling is strictly a vanity. Skinny women getting

skinnier and getting ozempic face and sunken in. And

like, you know, you're. You're like, oh geez, I don't wanna. I don't want to

sunken in on. You know, I, I mean there's that too. Am I gonna be

a freak? But I think. And I would love to hear like from, you know,

Casey, you did the medication and you lost, you know, the 20, whatever plus

pounds. And now you're like at this unimaginable kind of new set point

go in this maintenance phase. But I would love

to know like how it actually felt. It worked on

you from like an actual, like we hear all the time about like this food

noise going away or like your regulation on how

hungry you are changes or like satiety signaling and like all those

things. So how did it, how did it. Actually work on

you? Yeah, so when I started it, I was nervous

about side effects. Like, you know, I ever. I've talked to people who've taken

Runs the gamut of different types of side effects. I didn't

really have any. I.

I haven't. All along, I probably took.

I probably took two weeks. And I started to notice that

I was no longer spending a lot of my time thinking about what I was

going to make for dinner and then what I was going to have for snack

at lunchtime. And I wasn't gonna. I wasn't thinking. I wasn't

this distraction that's constantly going on the back of my mind where I'm thinking about

what I'm gonna eat next, which I didn't

even realize was. Had gotten so loud again.

Kind of went quiet. And that was the biggest thing.

So I, you know, Sadie feeling

full. That was about two or three weeks. You know,

I really started to notice that. So, you know, being. Being

bariatric and having all of the education that I had to be

able to go into that surgery to be successful, I knew that I needed to

keep up with my protein. I wasn't going to Get Ozempic face, which is such

a, yeah, that's such a weird, I hate that, you know, but I, you know,

I know what I need to do to do that. And I wasn't trying to

lose a lot of weight. I was just trying to get back to that where

I was and stay there, you know. And yes,

so food noise and feeling full were kind of the biggest things and

you know, just kind of feeling, I don't know,

balanced like, balanced in how I, I,

I, I feel mentally

was a big part of it too. I love

it. And I'm on a very low dose, you know, so,

you know, I'm nowhere near what you, you know, what where you can need

to go. And based on what you've told me being bariatric, I probably won't need

to go there. No. But I'm maintaining

so. And I think that's the sweet spot and that's where this like whole

idea of this being truly an individualized, personalized

journey it comes in. I do think

everyone's heard me say this many, many times on this podcast and outside that

if you so who gets, who goes on these meds? So

obviously there are people who have very high BMIs that want to

try it. Maybe they don't want to do surgery.

Maybe they are someone that has, is in the overweight category,

that doesn't maybe quite qualify, if you will, by insurance

standards for surgery. Maybe it's somebody who

is already had surgery like yourself.

And those who respond the best out of all the categories are

the post op bariatric patients. And now we are, we've been

treating probably over a thousand people, people who've been on this and I, and

I'm absolutely identifying the trends and I think this

is going to come out more and more and more and more that again after

surgery your numbers go up, your GLP1s you add. This is a very

synergistic impact. So what you're talking about with the side

effects which are typically nausea, is the big one, constipation,

maybe some of that reflux, which for you that would be a

horrific thing to come back after. You know, obviously the bypass

helped to get rid of that, but I think that

because you're such a super responder, you are able

to stay at really low doses. So it starts out at 2.5

milligrams, then it can go to month two at 5 and 7.5,

10, 12.5, all the way up to 15. And

you have been maintained on. On what dose are you on now?

Five. Just Five. That's like a drop in it. And so

sometimes everyone's variable. It's just like sizing. Don't worry about

whatever the dose is that you're on or the size that you're on. But I

think that some people, you know, they're frustrated. They

don't really see results. But what they don't realize is

technically you're not therapeutic until you're at that 15

milligram weekly dose for, for quite a while, which doesn't happen until at least

six plus months of treatment. So the fact that

you're on 5 milligrams, you're on a whiff of it, it's nothing. You're, you're, you're

barely on anything, but it's just enough that it's working for you and you're not

having those side effects. And I, you know, I'll, I'll, I'll share this

because he doesn't mind that I share it. But my husband,

you know, has elected to go on a GLP1. He, he,

he's probably going to listen to this, so he'll hear it and hopefully he'll be

okay with it. But he, you know,

he, he was overweight. Not, you know, he's very tall, so it's kind of hard

to tell. But he's, you know, we're in our 50s now. You know,

he's gained some weight, and we're not as active as we used to be.

And he made the decision to, you know, kind of try and get rid of

some of that abdominal, you know, fat that's kind of dangerous as you get

into your older years here. And he started it,

I want to say, six months ago maybe so. And

he's not bariatric, right? So watching him do this is completely different than, than

my journey. And he came out into the. He's going to hate on

saying this. He came out into the, to the kitchen on Sunday and he

goes, I've got a problem. I thought, oh, my God, he's cut off a finger

or something. And I turn around and he's standing there because we're going to

Disney in a couple of days. And in his shorts that he bought

down in Orlando a couple of months ago, and he's holding them, you know, at

the waist. And I was like, what? And he just lets go and they just

fall straight off his. But he has lost 25

pounds. And I actually took a photo of his lunchbox the other

day. It's like, so he packed, you know, he's got grilled Chicken and celery and

a protein bar and a cheese stick. And I'm so proud of him. And

what I see happening to him is what happened with me, which you start losing

a few pounds, it gives you the confidence that you can move forward. And he's

only on 7.5, which is amazing. He's, you

know, moving up slowly. He has a few more side. He has some side effects,

which he is managing with Prevacid and some medication

for helping with constipation and stuff. But with that, he's fine. So he is

doing. He's doing so well, and I

couldn't be prouder. And. And I've watched him struggle. I mean,

you know, doing most of the right things and not being able to lose the

weight and it's. He's doing great, so I'm excited.

I love to hear that. I don't want to bring him up, but I. And

you guys are just great together. And I do think, especially

when both, like a couple, we love our

pairs, whatever, Mother, daughter, friends, when you have that support

system. And that's why we always are talking about community, which is something else I

really want to talk about. Is that why

that is so critically important on this? Whether whatever your weight

loss journey is and whatever twists and turns or road that you're on.

Not to steal your whole beta there, but

yeah, I mean, I think that that's so cool. And I think it. I. I

can see you guys have a great relationship. I know you guys just had your

big anniversary. It was what, 25 years?

Yeah. Last year. Yeah. I mean, unbelievable. So.

But I feel like you guys are better than ever. You look better than ever.

I'm sure he does. Haven't seen them, but, you know, just.

I love it all. But speaking of community. So some people don't

have that person in their life that, you know, wants to go through this or

might be reluctant. And so that's why we have a huge community.

We have our Facebook community with almost 11,000 people in

our private support group. We have our support groups

that meet monthly, once a month through Zoom. But we're

doing our huge in person meetup with you

as one of our main speakers

at May 1st and 2nd here in Orlando at the Rosen

Shingle Creek Resort and Spa. And I would love just

like a little sneak peek for people out there about like, well, you know, I

heard her talk here, like, why should I go to an event like that?

And why are you also investing your time, your energy, coming back

down to Orlando again, getting a hotel room Doing all the things like,

why is that event important to you?

Well, you're right. Not everybody has a community.

I, you know, living where I live, I, besides these two

friends on Facebook who had weight loss surgery, I didn't have a community.

I had joined the Facebook group, and it's the same group you have

now, you know, many years ago, before I even decided to have

surgery. And that was my community as well as some Instagram. On

Instagram, like you were my community. Right. I, I needed to

find a way to connect with people who knew what

was what, how I was feeling. I will just say that

I came down to Orlando in September for the,

the Mindset retreat. That. Yes. And that

was incredible. And I will say too, that I did not tell

people that I was on a GLP1 until that retreat

because that retreat was about shame. We talked about shame and getting rid of

shame. And doctor, you know, Laura Graybaugh, the

bariatric therapist, talked a lot about that. And I told my table

mates, you know, you know, and I was like, she, it was totally

helpful. So going to a retreat like this, being around

like minded people. And I've been to another bariatric retreat in the past

and this is for anybody. You don't have to be bariatric at all.

It's, it's, it's so inspiring. I left that retreat

in September feeling like a million bucks. Like, you

know, all the things I feel are normal, all the things I'm doing are normal.

You know, she and he and they, they. Everybody's

feeling the same way. I'm okay. I

love that. And we, you know, all the different bodies and body shapes and

celebrating, you know, every step of somebody's journey. There

was someone there who hadn't had surgery yet. There were people there who were just

a few weeks out. There were people there who were, who were years

and 10 years out. And it was so exciting to

be around that much energy and to be around that many

people who are like you. And I don't have that here.

So I am so looking forward to coming down in May and

being with you and with Hannah and Laura and

the entire bariatric community and talking about

all of the things that we don't get to discuss with

people who maybe don't quite understand the path that we're

on. And all of these people understand. They understand

all of it. And that is. And I made some great friends like you. You

introduced me to Nicole. Yes, we heard. I text, you

know, and, and so, so Chris and a

few others and, and it was really. It was. It was. It was really great.

So thank you for putting that on. Thank you to Hannah and to Laura for

putting on that retreat. And this next one's going to be. So much

bigger and so exciting. We're so excited. This next

one is gonna like that. That one was so great. And I think it really.

It was such, like, an intimate thing, and it really. Like you said, people just,

like, really got a lot out of that. And now I'm like, we're leveling up

on this one, and it's not gonna be intimate. It's still gonna be great. It's

still gonna be, like, private, and people will be, like, supportive and all of that,

but it's gonna be a little bit of a. More Dr.

Dovag talk about, you know, her. Her struggles, listening

to other patients talk about. I mean, not everybody's.

Not everybody's story resonates every piece of. But they're so.

We're more alike than we are different, and sometimes we forget that.

And whether you're bariatric or not, I mean, it is. It

is truly. It is truly inspiring to be

around that many people who are all just

trying to be better in every aspect of their life.

And not just weight, you know, it's. It's being

confident and feeling better and dressing better and feeling like you can,

you know. You know, you can do better in your career and you can take

these things that you've learned to become a better business

person or executive or whatever your job is. So it's gonna

be. It's gonna be great. I can't wait. Oh, that was.

We're gonna take those sound bites, Hannah. We gotta make stuff on social media posts

and put that on the website, because I'm like, yeah, yeah. I'm really excited

to attend this. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Putting it on. Okay. We got. I have

to plan it. Absolutely. Oh, my

gosh. Well, this conversation, I. I could keep going, and guess what? We are.

We're going to keep going. You're going to be a featured speaker, and we're going

to keep the conversation rocking and rolling in. In May, but

goodness, we didn't even get to some of the stuff that I want to go

to, especially your professional journey and how all the weights impacted that.

But people have. You got to come to the retreat for that? Yeah,

that'd be good. But some of it back. Yeah, she's like. She talked about wealth

and just overall, all of that stuff. Mindset,

successful professionally. We're going to be

excited for the opportunity. I'm I'm nervous. You know, I'm a. I am not a

public speaker. It's not in my job title. Sure. But it is on

my LinkedIn profile. I'm leaning into it. So I'm going to do

my, do my very best. But I, I am reminding myself that the audience,

you know, we're all on the same. They're all friends. So that's what

I'm telling myself as we, as I move forward to kind of put together what

I want to talk about and discuss a little bit about my journey. Yeah,

can't wait. Well, Hannah, this was a great episode. I loved it.

I know. Well, thank you so much for joining. Like we said, we're really

excited for you to, for seeing your whole journey from back

in 2022, four years later, you know, seeing

you kind of go through the ups and downs and like, we all watch you

on social media and we see all your races and we see Woody and

all of that. Like, and we just love,

love that. So we're so excited. So that information just for everybody is that

Body by transformation retreat in May 1st, on

May 1st and 2nd in Orlando, Florida at the Rosen Creek

Shingle Resort and Spa. So that's in Orlando.

All the information is on our website, so be sure to check that

out. Tickets are 249. That's for the retreat. It's

a great deal. What you're getting, you're getting professional

advice. You are getting some patient. There's going to be, you know,

booths and sponsors and we're going to have a super fun Friday night and we're

going to meet you at the pool and we're going to do like, it's going

to be amazing. So just definitely go ahead, snag a ticket

because we don't want you to miss out on that opportunity.

And there's also deals for the hotel that bring that price down for,

for booking. So go ahead and book your hotel, Come and stay with us.

We're going to have a blast. And yeah, otherwise you can always

check us out at Body by Bariatrics at Dr.

Dovag, Hannah Schuyler, RD. That's all on Instagram,

Facebook, I don't know, YouTube. We're there.

Dr. X, the weight loss collab. I keep going. Dr.

X, dietitian. It's like old habit, man. The weight loss

collab. All the goodness. Awesome.

Well, Christy, again, thanks again for your time today, for sharing your

insights. I think you are quite the public speaker as was

evidenced today. I'll endorse you on LinkedIn. Yeah, we will. I will.

I'm rushing right to LinkedIn on this note. That's where I'm going next.

Thanks again. All right, we'll talk to you later. Bye.