The Bariatric Athlete

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Hello my name is Seth Margolies and welcome to the show. I like many of you have been struggling with my weight for many years and in 2003 I decided to undergo gastric bypass surgery. Since that time I have done six marathons several half marathons biked centuries. I also did a little bike ride across America that was sponsored by a major corporation and thus I became the first professional bariatric athlete.

Although motivating people to lose weight and to maintain a fit lifestyle are my main goals on this blog I plan to discuss others aspects of weight-loss as well and keep you as up to date as possible on the latest news and studies. It is my hope that you the audience will send in your thoughts, comments and questions in order that this blog be as useful a tool as it can be and educational. I also hope to get your weight-loss and fitness success stories and plan to post celebrity fitness workouts so you might learn how some of your favorite stars keep fit. It is my hope that this blog will be informative, communal and entertaining so that you will come back and share it with your friends.

When it comes to this blog, I plan to be your humble servant and provide you with the type of material you think you might benefit from. The ultimate goal with weight-loss of any kind is maintenance. And so I hope that we will motivate and educate each other and our nation to be as successful as possible when it comes to fighting obesity.

My dream is that one day, we band together and march onto our nation’s capital and let the government know how important an issue obesity is. We as a society need to fight it as we would any other disease. It is rivaling tobacco as the number one preventable death. So if interested in marching in the billion pound loss march send your name and weight-loss my way. We just may start a movement right here right now and change the way our country thinks. The journey of 20,000 miles

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My new endeavor is to run a marathon a month for a year to promote fitness. I hope to find people who want to go on their first marathon with me. Just last Sunday I ran in the NYC marathon and yes I beat Katie Holmes time but not by much which means training starts now to qualify for Boston. I run in Hawaii December 9, 2007 so if any of you in Hawaii want to meet or cheer me on shoot me an email at [email protected].

Marathons as you know are a great challenge. They require mental discipline and long hours of training. It can also be one of the most rewarding experiences in the world. It is 26.2 miles long and was set in 1908 for the London Olympics so that it could start at Windsor Castle and end in front of the Royal Box. The marathon comes from the ancient Greeks where legend has it that a foot soldier named Pheidippides ran from the town of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians were defeated in the Battle of Marathon. Legend has it that he entered the Senate shouted, “Masters Victory is ours” collapsed and died. It is thought that he ran a distance of 25.4 miles. So we have the Brits to thank for adding that extra painful .08 tenths of a mile.

Just surviving a marathon means that you did better than the original runner and so I have adopted a motto stolen from Willie Dixon when it comes to running them. I am built for comfort not speed and thus finish the best you can. Marathons present a myriad challenges. The are mental, physical,weather,road conditions,elevation and gear challenges. It takes an alignment of the universe just right to get things to go perfect. And so you take each moment at a time and not look at the big picture.

By now you know I have run several marathons in several cities. Nothing is more exciting to me than running New York because it is where I grew up. Two million people line the streets to cheer you on in five boroughs. You see the great sights including the house that Ruth built. There are several bridges to run over each providing an uphill run. Where else can you hear the memorable words from a native Brooklynite, “Run Seth you MoFo run”

Of course I go to New York and I see friends and family so there is little time for me to prepare or rest. I took a redye Friday got into the city Saturday. Went to the Expo where you buy gear and pick up your number. At the expo this year I met with Ultra Marathoner Dean Karnazes. Dean ran 50 marathons in 50 consecutive days in 50 states. I also met a gastric bypass patient who ran her first marathon. Mary hopes to inspire others and join her in her love of 26.2. I then met friends at the Carnegie Deli til late hours.

The next day I was bussed at 5am to the Verrazanno bridge. I then spent four hours trying to stay warm until the race began. There I saw an old friend Gerry and caught up on old times. At 10 am the race started and I spent the next five hours running it. It was joyous and painful. There really is nothing like crossing the finish line. This year I crossed it while on the phone talking with my friend Emily. It is her dream to run one and soo
..I had her finish with me hearing the roar of the NYC crowd and the snapping of cameras.

I then spent of an hour trying to leave the park and since the city was crazy I had to walk forty blocks to my hotel. I showered, dressed put on my medal and went out to party. It is NYC. In the morning hours an old friend invited me for a drink and so after being up at this point for 20 hours I decided I owed it to myself to continue and so I accepted the offer moved downtown and had some great laughs with some great people.

The next morning I got up three hours after I had gone to bed and met my friend Elizabeth on the picket line at Rockerfeller Center. The writers Guild is on strike and the issues are pressing. Go the WGA website to find out how you can help. We picketed for several hours. I ended up on CNN and Elizabeth and I had a picture run in AP that went nationwide.

The next morning as I left my hotel I met Tom Cruise coming out of Good Morning America. What do you say to this guy. So I told him to congratulate his wife and then told him I beat her time. He was very nice and what would possess me to do that I have no idea. Oh well back to therapy next week.

And so I leave you with this. Be practical with your goals but set them high. You just might surprise yourself. And my hope is that a group of us one day will run a marathon together. Or better yet we can start our own. One that is about the little guy and gal struggling everyday to live a healthy lifestyle. I remain humbly yours
.S

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