Connie Stapleton---Tell US about YOU!

Are you a post-op WLS patient? What was your highest weight? Were you a fat kid, or did you become obese later in life? What struggles have you had with your weight? How have you dealt with the emotional aspects of obesity? What led you to become a member of the OH staff?

Enquiring minds want to know.

 From her website:

Dr. Stapleton is a licensed psychologist who has worked in the Augusta area since moving here in 1997. Connie, her husband, and their three children are originally from Iowa. Dr. Stapleton completed her doctoral degree at Texas A&M University and her internship at the Medical College of Georgia.

Dr. Stapleton and her husband opened Mind Body Health Services in 2006. The business continues to grow steadily and the providers see people of all ages for therapy.

In addition to seeing individuals for therapy, Dr. Stapleton also works with couples. She sees patients at Mind Body Health Services in the evenings. She also works at the Medical College of Georgia in Student Health Services. In addition, she works extensively with local surgeons who conduct weight loss surgery.

Dr. Stapleton recently published a book on living a balanced life and the prevention of weight regain following bariatric surgery. Learn more about Eat It Up!here, and click here to preview the first two chapters.

Dr. Stapleton is a certified addiction therapist, specializing in all addictions. She most recently obtained certification in sex addiction. She currently works extensively with persons suffering from obesity. She has written a number of articles for Obesity Help magazine, has been cited as an expert in several other magazine articles, and has appeared on the WGAC Morning Coffee Break with Harley Drew and Mary Liz Nolan. Dr. Stapleton is a presenter at the National Obesity Help conferences at various locations throughout the United States. She has also been a presenter at local CSRA events, speaking on topics including the stress associated with infertility and the stress associated with diabetes.

Dr. Stapleton is available to speak at local organizations. She enjoys educating people. Her passion is to inspire others to live full, happy, balanced lives.

Spending time with her husband and children are Connie’s favorite way to spend her time when she is not working. She is an outdoor person who loves playing at the lake with her family friends, and animals.

Click here to view Dr. Stapleton's VITA.  Her book:  Eat it up. 

 

Thanks---but  I want to hear the answers to my questions from CONNIE.

Oh I know.  Did you message her as well?

I LOVE this book!!!  I think every WLS patient should read it!  Very insightful.  It's about finding a "center of balance" in life.

Lorraine

I ordered her book this week.

I'm currently reading "Anatomy of a Food Addiction: The Brain Chemistry of Overeating".  I am really enjoying it.  Only about 1/2 way into it.  It was recommended by a vet WLS patient.

Excellent questions all. I await the response.

WOW! I saw your post by accident and I'm so glad I did! I will be happy to tell you about myself! I am not a post-op WLS patient. I have definitely had my struggles with food - and with weight, however. When I was in middle school, I, like most females, became aware of my weight. I was sitting cross-legged on the floor and noticed the FAT where my upper thighs met my REAR END and was mortified! I wasn't overweight - I was comparing myself to the SKINNY GIRL IN CLASS who had already developed into a very curvy SKINNY girl! I was still very childlike in my build... no curves. I pretty much went through high school the same way - very little "shape." When I went off to college, however, I became OBSESSED with food. Obsessed as in it invaded my mind almost every waking minute. I thought about calories and what I could and could not eat and how I could work it off if I did eat it. I became obscenely anorexic. Although it is not the same as being obese, it is equally painful. For several years, I was very very SICK with anorexia and eventually weighed only 85 pounds - at 5'4" and at 19 years of age. I then found alcohol, which literally, I think, saved my life as I gained weight. However, I then drank way too much for the rest of my college career. Got married right out of college and my husband wasn't a drinker and I got pregnant, so I stopped drinking - for some time. I weighed almost 180 when my son was born... that was almost 100 pounds more than I weighed just a few years before. I had over 50 pounds to lose after my son was born. I did it by eating Total cereal with lots of milk (I was breastfeeding) twice a day. In the afternoon I had a Pepsi and then had a good healthy dinner with protein and veggies. I lost the weight to a healthy weight (125-130) and have pretty much remained there since - except when I was pregnant with my twins. My emotional issues with food were the same as with alochol and later codeine, which I also became addicted to. Food - or for me, the lack of food, the alcohol, the codeine... they all served the same purpose that overeating does for many obese people... they all numbed me. I didn't want to feel. I didn't want to hurt or to cry or to acknowledge the hurt from the "stuff" of my life. Only when I went to treatment for the alcohol and drugs, when I was 29, did I address the torrent of issues that I had dammed up for so long. Since then, I have been alcohol and drug free, and have maintained a healthy relationship with food. My work with obesity comes from my passion to help other people find in "recovery" from food issues the absolute joy I have known in recovery. That's why I wrote the book from a Mind/Body/Spirit perspective. I know that food, alcohol, drugs, whatever, negatively affect every area of a person's life and that in order to live without torment from these issues, we have to address all of the areas of my life. My husband was an obese adolescent and teen who lost 50 + pounds in his late teens and has kept it off since. We both feel passionately about helping others find the JOY in life when we learn to live life on life's terms! I was fortunate enough to be introduced to OH when I attended the OH Conference in Atlanta a couple of years ago and sat in on a lunch and learn session. I'm not actually an employee of OH. Just a volunteer! Hope this helps. I'm happy to answer other questions... if someone could let me know if there are questions by emailing me at [email protected] it would help as I don't have a lot of time to check the forum board. THANKS.