Renee
Renee began at 224 pounds. Four months after her procedure, she has moved down to 196 pounds.
“It’s not just a matter of going in and having this procedure done,” she said. “There is a lot of mindset that you have to change– your diet, your attitude, your mind. It cannot change your life. It cannot fix your issues. It has to be something you want to do.”
She had been a size 18 wide, and it was that size that filled her wardrobe. She noted there were a lot of clothes that she had to get rid of.
“I do find, in the mindset, if you hold on to any of those, you have to get rid of it. There’s this mental hold that if you hold on to those clothes that self-consciously you still believe that you’re that person,” she said.
It took Renee two months to conclude that she needed to ditch the old clothes for her new self. She grabbed her clothes and brought them to the consignment shop. She debated and battled her fears of needing the clothes in the future, but ultimately got rid of them.
“I haven’t turned back since. It is sickening to look at the two pairs of pants and all that space…” she said. “It’s fine because I now know officially, there is no turning back. There’s absolutely no turning back.”
Dr. Shienbaum helped Renee along her transformation. She called him “better than any drug” and “better than any psychiatrist.” His instructions were important to follow.
“Sometimes people need to have their hands held. Or they need to have a better understanding that it’s not a quick fix,” she said. “Not everybody has that kind of willpower to get them to that point, you know what I’m saying? But, I wanted to hear what he had to tell me. I wanted to get to that point.”
“That procedure was the beginning of a whole new attitude,” she noted. “It’s a brand new day when I wake up.”
Renee noted that she will keep fighting her weight, and never intends to go back. Her now limited wardrobe is also not going to faze her.