What's Extreme Obesity?
When Geoffrey Oberhaus made partner at his firm in his mid-thirties, he decided he needed to do something about his weight, which peaked at around 620 pounds.
For years, however, even at his highest weight, he was content with life as an attorney. “Then, all of a sudden, I got to be 35, 36 and I made partner at my firm and I’m like, there’s more out there,” he tells Local 12’s Liz Bonis.
Extreme Obesity is On the Rise
While there’s more out there, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, many obese people may never learn this, because they hit weights so high they will never be able to get down to healthy norms.
“All the studies show that if you’re 100 pounds over your ideal body weight, your likelihood of being successful on your own with diet and exercise and medication is less than 2 percent,” George Kerlakian MD, of TriHealth Weight Management, explains.
Once you reach 100 pounds over your ideal body weight, you’ve hit extreme obesity, which is on the rise. While there's been a leveling off of moderate obesity and obesity in children, the area of extreme obesity continues to grow.
Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Helps Geoffrey Get His Weight Down
Geoffrey decided to have Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass surgery to get his weight down. This “is basically changing the size of the stomach to a very small pouch, and bypassing about five feet of intestine,” Dr. Kerlakian explains.
Since then, Geoffrey has lost nearly 400 pounds. While he doesn’t restrict certain foods from his diet, he says he focuses moderation, portion size and being active.
When Should I Seek Medical Attention for my Weight?
If you’re so overweight that you can’t be active, you may need medical attention, Geoffrey points out. Now, Geoffrey’s enjoying life’s simple pleasures. “I can go into Macy’s. I can go into Nordstrom and go shopping. That was probably one of the most exciting things, once I lost a certain amount of weight, that I could go shop in normal stores,” he says.