She made a lifestyle change by counting calories and walking
Six years ago, with her two children grown and out of the house, she decided she needed to change her life. “My focus returned to myself after many years of being a single mom,” she says. “I knew I needed a long-term, permanent solution rather than the yo-yo dieting.”
She talked to her doctor and started counting calories and walking. And she saw her doctor monthly to stay accountable. “I was serious about it, and the walking played a huge part,” she says. “It really worked.”
She lost 100 pounds in 15 months. Over time, though, her weight started creeping up again even though she hadn’t changed anything, and she was walking all the time. She couldn’t figure out what was happening.
She saw a different doctor and discovered that menopause was behind her weight gain. And with it, her health issues started creeping back into her life. She also developed fibromyalgia and struggled with chronic fatigue syndrome.
Bariatric surgery helped her reverse menopause weight gain
Kalstrom talked to her doctor and made a tough decision — she had gastric bypass surgery in December 2021.
“I felt like I needed a little extra help. It was the tool for me. It’s definitely been very helpful, and I’ve maintained my weight since. What I’m doing seems to be working,” she says.
She no longer needs blood pressure or gout medication, she’s not prediabetic, and she doesn’t use a CPAP for sleep apnea anymore.
Since her stomach is smaller, she eats mainly protein and vegetables and mostly avoids sweets. “I don’t cut out things altogether. I just save them for special occasions,” she says.
Along with the weight loss, she discovered a new mindset when she was recovering from surgery, compared to previous operations: “In the past, when I had surgery, it would set me back in my walking and my weight because I had to recover. But this time, instead of dwelling on what I…
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