Obesity’s Answer

A Tale of Two Families   



When folks come to the CELL Program support groups we ask them to tell us their story and to allow us to monitor their progress.  Because most of our patients have suffered the heartbreak of obesity for a very long time before they come to us as their “last ditch effort”  we ask them to give us an extensive history of their eating habits, tell us how they prepare food and what their family dynamic is.

The CELL Program believes that it is difficult for one person in a family to “diet” while others go about eating without regard to them.  We usually challenge them to put their family on the program.  We ask that they tell us if the family even notices the difference.  
One woman came to me in tears.  She was 200 pounds overweight, her husband was probably 70 pounds overweight and her two children were overweight and taking medication for “hyperactivity.”   

I asked her to relate a “typical” days diet. 

Here was her reply:

A. H.s Food Diary,  February 2003 (the “before”)
In the morning we have cold cereal, the kind with nuts and raisins & honey in it, and I always add a banana to everyones cereal for potassium.   We also add a little sugar and milk.   The kids drink orange juice and my hubby and I drink coffee with french/vanilla creamer.

By mid morning, I am starved!  At break time at work I usually get a cookie or doughnut from the break-room and have another cup of coffee and the non-dairy creamer or a cola ( no!  not the diet kind).

The kids buy lunch at school.  Since my hubby and I both work downtown in Waco, we meet at a fast food place and just have whatever burger and fry special they have.   I do admit to “super-sizing”  more than once or twice a week.  

During the afternoon  I would get that sinking feeling again but its hard to get a break so I usually just have another cola, and, sometimes some nuts or sunflower seeds.

By the time we get home at night we are all too whipped to cook, so I usually put some TV dinners or one of those family lasagnas in the oven while the kids do their homework. We have that with some french bread.   We have cola or iced tea (sweetened) to drink and something for dessert, usually ice cream or those packaged puddings and cookies.

If anyone wants a bed time snack they usually pop some popcorn and have a Cola or have cookies and milk. 

A. H.  

Most of you will recognize this is as a pretty “typical” diet before entering the CELL Program.  The reason I titled this, ”A Tale of Two Families,” is that now, a full year later, this familys typical diet is totally different, and they all are doing wonderfully.   Mom has lost 77 pounds, Dad has lost 50 pounds, one son has lost 35 pounds and the other 15.  Both boys have grown several inches in height during this weight loss.

A. H.s Food Diary,  January 2004 (the “after”)



Breakfast:  Ham/pepper/mushroom/chive & Egg scramble placed into 
2 heated Whole Wheat tortillas and “salsa” added on top
1 large glass of water
1 Banana or Apple
AM Snack:  20 Almonds and 1 large glass of water

LUNCH:  Salad (Yep, the same places that sell the fast food burgers and fries also sell salads).  We love the kind with grilled chicken in it and I carry my own Berry Berry or Tomato/Bacon dressing and whole wheat croutons.
1 large glass of water
The boys both carry their lunch also - usually a ham sandwich on 100% whole wheat bread, sweet potato chips and a fruit.

AFTERNOON SNACK:  Either an Apple, Banana chips, or raisins.

SUPPER:  For supper we grab our own precut Salad (lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, carrots and celery we cut up ourselves) out of the tupperwear container and start eating (using a Cell-approved dressing) while we wait for our fish or chicken to broil.   
We also have any veggies we want (usually frozen) and we just throw them in the microwave.


The boys usually drink soymilk, and we indulge in peppermint herb tea.
EVENING SNACK:  We are hooked on CELL SHAKES. The boys like to try different combinations, last night it was raspberry/banana.
On Saturdays its pretty much the same and on Sundays, we fully enjoy our free days by having foods we cannot eat any other time.  Surprisingly, after a few weeks, the family was asking, “do we have to have the “FREE DAYS” ?  I honestly have a hard time getting them to eat goodies if there is a big juicy apple or some other fruit in sight.  This plan has saved our lives.  I wish I could help more people to find out they are committing suicide with food, like we were a year ago. 
I dont know how to thank you, Elaine and Dr. Rima.
A. H.

I am assured that this family and many others will be eating the CELL way for the rest of their lives.  Mom took the time to evaluate what the family was doing to was cause the weight gain.  The family entered the program not knowing that they were on any kind of “diet.”  Mom was our patient.  She did the cooking and the meal plans.  Now that theyve had such wonderful results, everyone knows about the CELL Program.  The boys and Dad are our biggest fans.   The boys are both doing better in school (yes, OFF medications) and seem to have far less problem concentrating.   Grades and grooming have improved for them both.
Elaine

Today was one of those great days when I am so proud of our program that I could shout it to the skies!

I will call it:  BELLE OF THE PROM

Today I was hit with a double whammy.  I bumped into P. W. one of the first people who joined our Limestone county group.  She looked amazingly good and proudly told me her loss fron 4X to size 18 was due to the CELL PROGRAM and she wanted me to know that she was going to stay on it forever or until her hubby couldnt afford buying her new wardrobes as she dives through sizes.  Then she turned to the young girl beside her who I did not recognize.

They both grinned at each other and  she asked, ” do you want to tell her or do you want me to?”

The girl said, “No Mom, I will tell her.”

The girl was holding onto a dress bag and held it toward me.  “Would you like to see my prom dress, Ms. Elaine,” she asked?  “Its a size 8.”

Then I recognized her, she was P, W.s daughter and was much smaller than when Id seen her last, and had a much clearer complexion.  I was so shocked I almost fell off the curb.   Id met her before and remember thinking, at the time, that I wished her mother would put her on the CELL program also.  I did not mention it to her though,  fearing she would be hurt that I thought her daughter needed the program. (Im a mom and know that we all see our children as perfect through Mothers Eyes.)

The daughter continued, “When Mom started the CELL Program she didnt tell anyone.  She put the whole family on it and we didnt even know.   It was six months before she mentioned it.  I was a size 20 when Mom decided to try this one last diet and I was sure I would be like Mom and never see a thin day in my life.  By the end of a month I was an 18 and I just kept losing weight.  I pigged out on free days and really didnt notice we werent eating the same on program days because the food is so good.  Mom didnt tell anyone anything until we were on the program almost a year.

I never had a date in my whole life, infact, I dont remember a guy even talking to me until I started school last Fall.  I am a size 8 now and I have all new clothes and I have energy I never dreamed I could have.  Im going to the prom with one of the cutest guys in school and I will never have the words to tell you how much your book means to my family.  My dad says he is so proud of Mom and I that he is going to take us both on a cruise when I graduate.”

Needless to say, I cried tears of joy for this lovely teen and her mother, who is still working to her goal size of a 14.  

There is no greater gift we can give our children than the ability to “fit in”. 

This patient story had me chucking all evening.  Scott came in as a new patient last month.  He was told he had sleep apnea two years previously and decided he was tired of feeling tired, so was going to do something about it.  Per my usual pattern, I did a full lab workup on him, including cholesterol and triglycerides.  His cholesterol was high, 303, but his triglycerides were very high, 1400s.  I gave him my usual speech about how triglycerides were an indicator of metabolism, that high triglycerides meant insulin resistance.  He had to start eating like a diabetic to change things.  Scott agreed to stop drinking his ten Cokes a day to cut down his sugar load.  I also said that lipids are not the bad guy.  Our bodies need cholesterol to make hormones and coat our nerve cells.  Lipids are an indicator of body function and we need to use them as such.  Treating the insulin resistance would bring down his triglycerides.  I told him to take Inositol 500 mg three times a day and Taurine 1000 mg a day, like I talk about in Obesitys Answer, which he did diligently for the next four weeks.  He had his blood redrawn a few days ago. 
Today was the day he came in for the results, along with the results of his sleep study.  Scott told us that, since he has been taking vitamins and monitoring his nutrition, he feels much better.  His brother had triglycerides over 1700, and that his doctor put his brother on medication to lower his lipids but he is not doing so well.  ”My doctor,” he told his brother, “just put me on some vitamins.”  Scott can have the last laugh.  After only four weeks, his cholesterol dropped to 187 and his triglycerides dropped to 272!  Sounds like a pretty dramatic result if you ask me! 

Elaine Bolen co-authored Obesity`s Answer, the CELL Program. She started her career as an investigative reporter, an accountant and a teacher before entering nursing in 1978. She attended North Harris County College and Texas Women`s University for nursing. She worked in the fields of oncology, emergency nursing and nursing education. She taught nursing at San Jacinto College. Over the years, she has published a number of articles and short stories on a variety of topics. For the past ten years, she has provided support for hundreds of the disabled via an Internet group she founded. She recently retired on disability because of multiple sclerosis. Her ten grandchildren occupy a lot of her time (as well as “pestering” Dr. Rima to write more books). Without Elaine, there would be no CELL Program. The preface to the book has the full story.

“I was in the morbidly obese catagory, have MS and to the end of my rope, barely able to walk and losing strength daily. I knew I had to lose weight and Dr. Rima was my only hope. I had already tried everything possible including shots, phentermine, the Rice Diet, the Adtkins diet, the Pritkin diet, and hundreds of more…if I stayed on a program a month and it wasn`t working to my satisfaction, I went on to the next.”

“It turned out that it wasn`t the diets that were killing me, it was wrong foods and thyroid resistance syndrome. The Cell program is the only thing that ever worked for me. I was challenged by Dr. Rima and the Program, and am ever greatful for return of strength, perseverance and hope to my being.”

“I`m not to my goal yet so I won`t send the before and after pictures but I`m no longer morbidly obese and that goal looms close.”

After years of trying to lose weight on every diet program available, Elaine have gone from a 3X to a size 14 while on the CELL Program in spite of being steroids for multiple sclerosis! She`s lost 75 pounds while on steroids for MS!! She looks like a totally different person. She looks and feels better than she has in a very long time. The only thing she really complains about is the sagging skin everywhere. I keep telling her it WILL adjust to her body, but it will take a year. Patience is a virtue. We never dreamed this plan would work as well as it has for so many that have never been able to lose weight before.

You may contact Elaine by e-mail here. Miss shy Minnie will give in someday to getting her picture up here!

I KNOW the Cell program works because I lost about 30 pounds before I quit being diligent. That was six months ago. However, one huge change in the past six months is that I eat nutritious food about 90% of the time. Before I started Cell I ate nutritious food about 30% of the time! Success in small increments!

I never would have believed it! Im a walking testimonial. I lost 7 pounds in 3 days JUST by stopping sodas. I wasnt drinking that much, just 1 to 2 a day. But that was enough to retain a lot of fluid. Im sticking to the rest of this now. Dr. Kittley makes sense!–Joyce

I was in the military and gained and lost weight for years. Even on a military-imposed 1200 calorie diet I GAINED weight. After the military, I slowly gained weight to the point where it was hard to move around. In the military, I was told I did not have a thyroid problem. I had it tested several times. With the new information about thryoid, Dr. Jensen said I actually did have a thyroid problem. I could start losing weight only after starting on thryoid medication. I felt MUCH better.

Being medically supervised is helpful. As problems crop up, the medical side of it can take care of those problems. My eyes have improved since I have been eating well. Even the eye doctor noticed that my eyesight got better.

The diet is very nutritionally sound. The Inositol and Taurine has really helped. It`s not a fad diet. It`s meant for someone who wants to lose weight. The free days help you stick with it. But I will admit, it takes work to stick to it. The WHOLE society works against you!

I still have a ways to go to my goal. I fell back some after I stopped going to the support group. And during the winter it`s hard to get fruit. The support group really helps. I`m glad Dr. Rima started the support groups again. I`m trying to convince my wife to go on the CELL Program with me. To the right is the before picture.

Update, 1/7/2005 from Linda:
I will be there (at the CELL meeting tomorrow) with bells on Im a backsliding cell member.  But I was able to get a new RED leather jacket in a side XL.  As you know they dont make Red leather jackets in 3XL unless you special order I was able to buy mine out of the ladies dept. not the plus size dept.  I cant tell how great that felt when the saleslady told me I was in the wrong size dept.
Thank - You Dr. Kittley 
Linda Burges
*********************
When I saw Dr. Kittleys ad in the newspaper for the weight loss seminar, I knew that was my only hope.  I was seriously considering having the stomach surgery because I was going to be 300 pounds very soon and just could not stop it.  I didnt care that one of my coworkers died from the surgery and one of my other coworkers almost died.  I was on 17 different medicines and truly felt horrible when I went to Dr. Kittley for the first time.  I looked puffy all over. 
Its been easier than I thought.  Im down 38 pounds now in less than 3 months and I feel great!  My sugar is down to nearly normal.  On less medicine!  Every diabetic should be on this diet.  My blood pressure is under control with only two blood pressure medicines instead of 5.  In fact, I olny take 6 different medicines now, instead of 17.  This works!  Even my husband has lost weight, and he only does the diet some of the time.
Update:  Ive lost 53 pounds!!

Mrs. Hattie is in the Limestone County Support Group. She lost 36 pounds and is the first in that group to reach her true goal. She confesses that her goal had been 35 pounds but she allowed herself an extra pound off “just in case” she wanted another free day now and then. Hattie says, “The CELL PROGRAM is the first diet Ive ever been on that makes sense. Its like the old days, we pretty much ate sensibly during the week and then feasted on Sundays.” Her hubby beamed as he confessed that hed also lost weight on “Hatties food plan” and both admit to “feeling great” and getting around without any problems and say they feel the best they have in years. (Mrs. Hattie is 86 years old and her hubby 84.)

I met a new patient the other day, R.S. Her doctor is out of practice for a while because of the hurricane. She was sick, so thought she would come see me as a patient. Her current illness was relatively minor. But I got to hear the story about how she bought my book, read it, then proceeded to lose 40 pounds since November! She looks and acts a lot younger than her 80 years. She’s down to a BMI of 34, feeling better than she has in a very long time. She says she still has plans and dreams for the next 10 or 20 years. So she plans to continue to lose weight slowly down to something more reasonable. Over and over again I hear how people feel so much better following the CELL Program. Even the weight loss becomes a secondary goal to looking and feeling better.