Danielle Santana typifies many Monmouth County, NJ women—she has a flourishing full-time career with a New York City law firm, is happily married and has two active teenage children. She also recently set up a new household after the family relocated from Staten Island to New Jersey.
The only thing holding her back was a battle with weight. Fortunately, at age 44, Danielle didn’t have any obesity-related health issues. But at a petite five feet tall, her weight, which surpassed 240 pounds at one point, left her feeling chronically exhausted.
“Ten years ago, I lost 75 pounds,” Danielle recalls. “But over the years, I slowly gained it back—and more.”
Sound familiar?
Turning to the Facebook community for bariatric surgeon recommendations
Danielle earnestly tried traditional diets—Weight Watchers, Paleo, Keto and Body for Life. She lost some weight, but the process was painfully slow, and she eventually regained the weight, as most dieters do.
“I wanted a more permanent solution to lose the weight once and for all,” Danielle recalls.
She started looking for bariatric surgeon recommendations on local Facebook groups, including Howell Happenings, and a name came up again and again—Dr. Seun Sowemimo.
Danielle checked out his website and read his bariatric client interviews about people who lost weight—and most importantly—kept it off.
“Dr. Seun has an online webinar you can join where you learn everything about the process. After I watched it in November 2020, I made an appointment with him and started the process immediately.”
In February 2021, Danielle had gastric sleeve bariatric surgery and never looked back.
By September 2021, her weight had gone from 243 pounds (she lost 20 pounds before surgery working with Prime Surgicare bariatric dietitian Lori Skurbe) to 144 pounds.
Wearing size 20 Petite/2XLsize before surgery, Danielle now wears size 8 Petite/Small.
Using Covid-19 as an asset versus a roadblock
Most impressively, Danielle achieved this success during the restrictions of Covid-19.
“Honestly, the pandemic has given me more free time to focus on my nutrition and my fitness,” she explains. “I’m working remotely, so the time spent commuting to Manhattan can be spent exercising or preparing healthy meals.”
Speaking of meal-planning, in addition to choosing surgical weight loss to jumpstart her health journey, she adopted a whole food plant-based diet, with guidance from Dr. Sowemimo, who has subscribed to a WFPB diet for nearly three years.
“I’ve been reliant upon eating meat my whole life,” Danielle notes. “I was very wary at the beginning but so grateful I transitioned.” Today, the busy professional feels less bloated and appreciates that her daily energy level is even higher than when she lost nearly 100 pounds.
“For me, food fuels me through my days and eating a plant-based diet doesn’t make me feel like I need to sit on the couch and recover after a meal.”
Danielle often turns to Pinterest to discover new plant-based recipes that even her teenagers will eat.
Danielle’s three favorite weight loss tech tools
Danielle needs to be as time-efficient as possible, so she relies on three key apps to manage her weight and fitness goals.
“Prime Surgicare introduced me to this soup-to-nuts bariatric app that I use to track my food, water, weight, measurements–even my vitamins. It also offers continuous exercise challenges and organizes your entire program into one cohesive app.”
2. Apple watch
“I use my watch to drill down to measure and record my movement/exercise and how many calories I burn. Since I spend hours at my computer every day, I set my watch to send reminders when it’s time to get up and move around.”
Danielle walks 3-5 miles most days, charting 12,000-18,000 steps daily.
“Based upon the plant-based foods you choose, they create a weekly customized menu and for you and your family. It takes the confusion about what to shop for and what to make for meals every day. Their app creates my food shopping list, so there’s no need to walk down the aisle with the fake, processed junk food.”
The road ahead—preparing for goal weight
Just seven months after weight loss surgery, Danielle is already faced with reaching her goal weight. “When I lost weight 10 years ago, I clearly remember that I was wearing a size 6,” she recalls. “That is an incredibly important milestone for me and you can bet I’ll get there.”
When she reaches her final goal weight (or size), we will revisit Danielle to garner additional tips and tools from her start-to-finish bariatric success arsenal. Stay tuned!
Tired of the weight loss/weight regain cycle?
Is your weight gain holding you back from living your best life?
If you’re located in the metro New Jersey/New York region, reach out to our team of experienced bariatric experts by calling (732) 414-2707.
We’ll confirm relevant medical insurance and set-up your private consultation (telehealth or in-person) with Dr. Seun Sowemimo or Dr. Jolita Auguste to discuss your weight challenges and set a goal for the future.
Prime Surgicare’s Bariatric Success Program offers a full range of support services to help you reach–and maintain–your weight for years to come.
Let’s get started!