Victor Ramirez, 57, a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier in Glendale, Ariz., for the past 14 years, had once prided himself on maintaining a healthy physique.
In his 30s, while serving both active duty and in the reserves for the U.S. Army, Victor weighed less than 200 pounds and maintained a waist size of 36 inches. Once he left the service, however, he began putting on weight. Over time, it added up until about two years ago, when he topped out at more than 250 pounds with the waist size of 40 inches.
He sometimes would eat a whole bag of chips in just one sitting, not paying attention that the calories listed on the bag represented just one serving. Try as he might, he just could not find a way to lose the pounds.
“Nothing worked,” says Victor
“I had tried on my own to lose some weight. I tried some pills. I tried some natural products. Nothing worked,” said Victor, who after a decade in the Army got into the habit of working, coming home and eating, doing essentially nothing — a self-described couch potato. “I felt that, if they can make rockets to go to the moon, why can’t they make a pill so you can lose weight. But, that’s too easy.”
While surfing Facebook, he came upon a clinical trial being offered by HonorHealth Research Institute. While he was not accepted for participation in testing a drug, device or procedure, he did receive a diagnosis of obesity and was placed in a control group that received only counseling. Every 2 to 3 weeks he was weighed and measured during meetings with an expert dietician in the clinic of James Swain, M.D., medical director of the Research Institute’s GI/Bariatrics Research Division.
From January 2023 to January 2024, Victor lost more than 60 pounds, settling in at less than 190 pounds, with new holes in his belts to match a waist measurement that’s now the same as when he was 30 years old.
“At the beginning, I was a little skeptical. It’s really difficult to change your eating habits,” said Victor, who at first doubted that he would be satisfied with smaller food portions or be disciplined enough to count calories and keep a diary of the foods he consumed.
‘Don’t worry. You’re going to do fine.’
“I learned a lot — a lot!” he emphasized, receiving inspiration from his counselor. At first, not much changed. “She said, ‘Don’t worry. You’re going to do fine.’ She was so great. She didn’t push me. But she made me believe that I could do it. And voila!”
Victor said his friends and workmates were really surprised when he began shedding pounds and asked if he was on one of the new weight-loss medications that have become so popular in recent years. He tells them that he is focused on a higher consciousness and diet: “You need a commitment — a commitment to yourself.”
He’s always loved cooking, but now he follows vegetarian recipes and is always on the watch for healthy foods. He still tracks his calories. And he gets plenty of exercise from walking his seven rescue dogs. He’s a mailman, after all, and so he sees a lot of dogs on the streets that need care.
Victor also suffers from back pain due to lumbar stenosis. But now that he’s lost so much weight, he’s in a good position to make strengthening his back his next goal.
