COLUMBUS, Ind. — Corey Seegers stepped on a scale and weighed in at 602 pounds last March. Now, almost 10 months later, he’s lowered that to 382 — thanks to dietary changes, exercise and bariatric surgery.
Seegers is a Columbus resident and an engineer at Faurecia. About a year ago, he read an article about a man who underwent bariatric surgery. The story struck a chord with Seegers and got him thinking about weight loss.
Then, in early 2020, Seegers began coaching basketball again at the request of his youngest son, Lucas.
“That was kind of my ‘aha’ moment, was I couldn’t get on the court and really show the kids anything,” Seegers said. “It was just, I weighed way too much to be trying to demonstrate any type of physical activity.”
He had his first appointment at the Bariatric Center at Columbus Regional Health was on March 4. While the doctor at the center wanted him to lose 100 pounds, Seegers set out to push himself as far as he could. By the time of his surgery on Oct. 1, he had lost 170 pounds.
Seegers said that dietary changes and walking both played major roles in his weight loss.
In terms of diet, he began focusing on what he was eating, worked with dieticians at the bariatric center, researched diet ideas, counted calories and removed items from his diet. Seegers said that he changed not only how and when he ate, but also how he thought about food.
“Instead of just being something that was enjoyable, it was a source of fuel to keep my body going,” he said.
Seegers also began working out “gradually” after his March appointment, as going too hard could result in an injury and subsequent setback. He started small, going on walks that were about a mile and a half long at first. A couple of months in, he was walking about five or six miles a day. He also took care to walk in different locations.
Since his surgery, Seegers has lost an additional 50 pounds for a total of 220, as of Dec. 29.
“Most people lose more weight at this point following surgery, but because of all the weight I dropped to prepare for surgery, the doctors say I’m still ahead of the curve, and my body is still making adjustments,” he said.
For more on this story, see Monday’s Republic.
