Taking Control With MOVE!
Dave Morgan resolved to make positive changes to his lifestyle on his own terms and reach a healthy weight.
Dave was empowered by his work with the MOVE! team at the Battle Creek VA Medical Center in Battle Creek, MI, to build healthy habits and reach his health goals.
A New Start
In 2016, Dave's life changed when he learned from his healthcare team at the Cleveland Clinic that he needed quadruple bypass surgery. Dave had a successful outcome from the surgery but continued to experience small increases to his weight, eventually reaching 375 pounds by May of 2023. “Like so many people struggling with their weight I had tried diet after diet,” he explains. It was at his annual cardiology appointment that his care team recommended gastric bypass surgery. "For me this was my true wakeup call and finally got me in the mindset that I had to do something and retake control over my life,” Dave recalls. “That is when I informed the Cleveland Clinic I would not need to have gastric bypass surgery and that I would take care of my weight loss in my own way. I left and called Heather at the Battle Creek VA, and enrolled in the MOVE! [Weight Management] Program [for Veterans]. I also enrolled in TeleHealth and the start to a new life began."
Finding His Motivation
"I was absolutely on a mission,” Dave explains. “For continued motivation I focused on my daughter’s upcoming high school graduation and on October 14th, 2023, the day I was being inducted into the Pennfield High School Athletic Hall of Fame. I absolutely had to lose as much weight as possible for both these events and even more so wanted to make sure I would be here for my daughter on her graduation and beyond." Dave began attending MOVE! sessions and walking 3 miles each day. He also eliminated all carbonated beverages and replaced them with coffee, tea, and his homemade lemonade and limeade. "I cut my calorie intake down to around 1200 or less a day which was probably a little low but it worked for me, and I was seeing great results and felt great,” he shares. “The MOVE! Program was a HUGE reason I was able to keep going but even more important and motivating to me was hearing the inspiring stories and challenges of the other veterans who were in my MOVE! class. Each one of us brought something to the table and we were once again brothers and sisters fighting the same enemy."
The Next Steps
On January 4, 2024, Dave weighed in at 260.7 pounds, having lost over 100 pounds! As he looks forward to the new year, he plans to continue with his healthy habits. "I have set a goal of losing between 20-40 more pounds in 2024,” he shares. “I am also planning on for the first time in a long time regularly visiting a gym to tone and build muscle. And I am 100% sure I will be attending another MOVE! program. Without the MOVE! program and my fellow Veterans who were a part of it this absolutely would not have been possible. Every instructor was more like family as the class progressed and you can see each week how much they truly care about each Veteran in the class. Just like when we served we leave NOBODY behind and the same holds true in MOVE!. Everyone in the class was a success story in their own way and we were all better off for the time we invested in MOVE! and in each other."
