Happy, Healthy and Living Way Beyond 35
Geof Oberhaus always figured he would die young. Overweight most of his life, the scales tipped 600 by the time he reached 30. “I had had a good life; a lot of fun,” Geof explains. “At my weight I just figured I’d be dead by 35. I was OK with it.”
But Geof’s law career suggested otherwise. Employed by one the biggest law firms in the Midwest, Geof says he was “successful in spite of my weight.” When he learned he was to be named ‘partner,’ he started to think that maybe life held more promise.
Years earlier Geof’s mom had undergone a very successful bariatric surgery. “I thought she was crazy for even considering the surgery,” Geof recalls. “But after seeing how great she was doing, I decided I may as well try it. Otherwise I’d probably die soon.” Within months Geof met Dr. Kerlakian, attended an information seminar, and scheduled a gastric bypass for March 2007. He describes the surgery as “uneventful,” the recovery as “astronomical. There were no complications,” he says.
Shortly after walking out of the hospital, Geof walked into a gym where he pushed himself nearly every day to do cardio exercises and weights. “Post surgery was so exciting. I was shedding pounds like crazy!”
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Three years later, more than 370 pounds lighter, Geof says his life has changed completely. “At 600 pounds, you buy your clothes from a tailor, or from a store with ‘King’ in its name. I love the fact that now I can walk into any store and buy clothes.” At 230 pounds he wears a large or extra-large, depending on the brand.
Fourteen months post-surgery, when he reached 300 pounds, Geof rewarded himself with a second, sportier car and a trip to Germany to pick up the car. His old SUV, while still in good condition, had a broken seat. “My weight put so much pressure on the seat, it shorted out the motor that adjusts it.”
Possibly Geof’s biggest surprise since his weight loss is his love of running. “I never-ever thought that running was something I would actually enjoy. I mean, if someone was chasing me with a gun, I might take a couple of steps. That’s how much I hated to run.” Calling himself a runner isn’t something that happened overnight. “I remember walking on the treadmill right after my surgery and being drenched in sweat,” he laughs.
Today, three years later, Geof runs a 5K -- sometimes two of them -- almost every weekend. He recently ran in his first half-marathon and has committed to a second. “To think I can run for two and a half hours straight is mind-blowing,” he marvels, then rattles off races in Columbus, Louisville and throughout Cincinnati in which he recently participated. “I especially like the tee-shirts they give you,” he jokes. “I love them. I’m a tee shirt snob.”
For someone who never expected to live beyond age 35, Geof is ecstatic to recently have turned 40, happy and healthy. “Back then I didn’t believe anything would work. I had tried everything. I gave up.” Today he is quick to admit that he was wrong. “Bariatric surgery isn’t a quick fix; there is no quick fix, you have to work at it,” he says. But it was a decision that gave him his life back. “I’m not going anywhere,” he says with a smile.
To learn more about Geof Oberhaus’ weight loss journey, visit his blog and click on Gastric Bypass.