Michael A. Snyder - Full: A Life Without Dieting

Copyright 2010 by Michael Snyder

Published and distributed in the United States by: Hay House, Inc.: www.hayhouse.com Published and distributed in Australia by: Hay House Australia Pty. Ltd.: www.hayhouse.com.au Published and distributed in the United Kingdom by: Hay House UK, Ltd.: www.hayhouse.co.uk Published and distributed in the Republic of South Africa by: Hay House SA (Pty), Ltd.: www.hayhouse.co.za Distributed in Canada by: Raincoast: www.raincoast.com Published in India by: Hay House Publishers India: www.hayhouse.co.in

Design: Jami Goddess Interior illustrations: Black Top Design

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording; nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise be copied for public or private useother than for fair use as brief quotations embodied in articles and reviewswithout prior written permission of the publisher.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

The hardcover edition of this book was published under the title Full: A Life Without Dieting

The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:

Snyder, Michael A.
Full : a life without dieting ; weight-loss secrets from a weight-loss surgeon (without the surgery!) / Michael A. Snyder. 1st ed.

p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-4019-2905-3 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Weight loss. I. Title.
RM222.2.S634 2011
613.25dc22

2010029888

Tradepaper ISBN: 978-1-4019-2906-0
Digital ISBN: 978-1-4019-4037-9

15 14 13 12 5 4 3 2
1st edition, December 2010
2nd edition, May 2012

Printed in the United States of America

To my patients, who teach me every day about the wonders of the body as well as the practical secrets to successful weight loss. Their stories, struggles, and experiences are what challenge me to be a better physician; and their faith in me inspires me to be a better person. I feel honored that they trust me to take care of them and enlist me as a partner in a most intimate quest: to improve their health and their lives. Without their insights, integrity, and courage, this book would not be possible.

I also dedicate this book to those who have grappled with weight issues. I am constantly reminded that virtually everyone struggles with weight, and, in the grander picture, with self- confidence and happiness. This book is for you.

THE FULL STORY: ONE DOCTORS MISSION
TO END ALL DIETING
AND THE MISERY THAT GOES WITH IT

Never diet again. Ever.

That has been my motto since I first became a weight-loss surgeon and suddenly found myself witnessing the effects of traditional dieting on people who struggle their whole lives trying to lose weight. Ive always said that never dieting again is the short answer to the seemingly bewildering question of what we should do to lose excess weight permanently and be optimally healthy, whether were trying to shed hundreds of pounds or just those last and furious 15. I wrote the first edition to this book based on this precept.

But then something happened. I realized that just because I was promoting the antidiet didnt mean I couldnt offer a defined program. The word diet, after all, simply refers to a way of eating. In this regard, my book is indeed a diet. I also realized that people desperately want a programan explicit set of rules and strategies they can apply to their lives. So yes, this is a diet, but its not the traditional diet of cutting calories or eliminating foods. Its a program that will help ease you into a new way of eating. A way that will still be filled with the joy of food.

In my surgery practice, I care for morbidly obese patients every day who resort to surgery to gain control of their weight. But over the past few years, since starting my company Fullbar, my life has become equally filled with people who are not candidates for surgery and who simply need to lose 5 to 80 or so pounds. In this regard, Im a source of advice and encouragement for people whose anatomy I never touch yet whose challenges can be just as epic as those who opt for surgery. And those are the people for whom this book can really make a difference. The groups of people Ive taken through my out-of-the-operating-room program have proven how powerful the strategies in this book can be; youll even meet and see the victories of many of these people as you read through these pages.

Im going to take you on a journey using what Ive gleaned from my practice and my experiences with Fullbar to maximize your weight-loss experience and get you to embark on a diet like youve never done before. I lay out a specific program designed to help you gain lasting control of your waistline, but more important, I provide all the information you need to know to live a full yet slim life without ever going on a traditional diet again.

Ill be honest: just because Im giving you an explicit program doesnt mean it will be as easy as 1-2-3, and it does require that you actually do something. But what Im about to show you is so simple that even you can handleand masterit, and I dont care where youre coming from. Maybe youre someone who has failed every attempt to permanently lose weight. Maybe you hate to exercise and believe food is the enemy. Maybe your picture is next to the definition of emotional eater in the dictionary. Maybe youve got so much weight to lose that youre contemplating bariatric surgery. And maybe you dont have all that much to drop (those last ten pounds) but would just like to stop obsessing about calories, belly fat, and what you put into your mouth on a daily basis. No matter what your personal circumstances are, Ive probably seenand dealt withit among the thousands of people Ive encountered and patients Ive treated. Even if the thought of being happy with your weight and losing the excess pounds without dieting seems impossible and you dont even want to try, I want you to at least take this book seriously. You might think youre unlike any other person out there looking to lose weight, but Im going to prove you wrong.

Let me say one thing, right from the start: Id love nothing more than to put myself out of business. On most days, I can be found in a chilly, dimly lit operating room. I stare at a pair of flat-screen monitors positioned to float above the head of my anesthetized patient. The image I view is captured from a scope that I have passed all the way through the patients abdominal wall. I am constantly manipulating staplers, graspers, burning devices, and scissors at the end of very long instruments that enable me to perform surgeries. I attach adjustable, restrictive, gastric bands or bypass lengths of small bowel to stomachs that I have dramatically reduced in size. I do these routine procedures 14 to 20 times per week, totaling more than 3,500 times to date. And, as you might imagine, there is no shortage of work for me. By the time you read this, the combined weight lost will have totaled more than 200,000 pounds.