Bariatric surgery is the beginning of a lifestyle change that leads to Ironman - Houston Chronicle

Everything came to a halt when Marcus Cook discovered that his close friend and business mentor Chuck Dalio had terminal cancer.

“He basically said that he was dying of cancer,” Cook recalled. But Dalio had a message for Cook: “‘You’re dying because of your choices. You’ve got to promise me that you’re going to try something different.’”

With that conversation, Cook decided to make a drastic change. He realized his success in the pipe-supply business was nothing compared to his health.

He decided to take charge of his weight and named his journey, which took him to the triathlon finish line and Ironman title, “Big to Little.” He started documenting his transformation on his website, BigtoLittle.com, from the get-go.

“I knew that if I had this footage, and if I did it, I could prove that you can do anything you set your mind to,” he said. “I wanted to prove to the person sitting on the couch that you can do whatever you want to do.”

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Meeting Dr. Garth Davis was key to Cook’s transformation. The Memorial Hermann-affiliated doctor specializes in bariatric surgery, procedures in the stomach and intestine designed to help extremely overweight individuals.

Davis also is the author of “Proteinaholic: How Our Obsession With Meat is Killing Us and What We Can Do About It.”

The surgeon explained to Cook that the medical procedure would be only one step of the journey toward weight loss.

“It’s going to knock off 100 pounds, but you need to lose 300,” Davis told him.

A plant-based diet would become an important ingredient in making the major shift Cook would see in the mirror.

Cook is typical of his patients, many of whom have been overweight since childhood, Davis said.

“He was a successful businessman who was fighting a disease that was greatly affecting the quality and quantity of his life,” Davis said. “I see so many people that are otherwise successful in life but struggle with weight. Nobody goes straight to surgery as their initial attempt at weight loss. They have all tried many diets in the past, and have been successful, but have then gained back the weight.”

Cook weighed 489 pounds before the gastric bypass surgery in September 2015. He lost 30 pounds just to prepare for the operation.

Davis then offered Cook some advice that ended up becoming his mantra: “Do something new every day.”

Instead of seeing surgery as the final step, the doctor encouraged his patient to consider it as only the beginning of a lifestyle change.

“People get stuck in a rut, both physically and mentally,” Davis said. “They are afraid to approach something new because they have failed so many times in the past. I like to get people to challenge themselves and their beliefs into what is possible. I find that small wins create momentum and help change beliefs.”

Cook started by walking 20 minutes a day. “I thought I was going to die at first,” he said.

Instead, his walking goal turned into a mile, then a mile and a half. “That just progressed and progressed,” Cook said. “In a couple of months, it was three miles a day but taking forever.”

He started to jog to decrease the time of his workouts. His friend Will Castle then challenged him to up the ante.

“Will said, ‘You need to do something bigger than you’ve ever done in your life,’” Cook recalled. “I said I thought I could do a 5K. He said, ‘No, you need to think big. Have you ever thought about a triathlon?’”

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Cook volunteered at the Ironman triathlon in The Woodlands to see what it was all about. Ironman, which attracts some of the most intense athletes in the world, is a series of long-distance triathlon races. Each consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a marathon, which is a 26.22-mile run, raced in that order and without a break.

At a check-up, Cook discovered Davis is an Ironman. The doctor offered to compete alongside Cook at Jeff and Brede’s Triathlon in Katy.

After completing their first triathlon, the duo headed to Miami for another.

Cook was hooked — and he adopted a new philosophy. “I always think of the next goal,” he said. “Let my finish line become a starting line. Every finish line is the start of something else.”

That’s how, a year and a half after weight-loss surgery, Cook found himself on the starting line of the Ironman. He ended up competing in two before heading to the 2018 Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona.

He now plans to race or compete in triathlons across the U.S. His next Ironman is in Arizona, but he has a calendar full of competitions from New York and Chicago to Denver and Seattle.

“My new quest is to journey to every corner in America,” Cook said.

Cook also enjoys being fitter in his everyday life. When Hurricane Harvey hit, he helped rescue nearly 100 individuals in 24 hours. If he had not lost weight, the day would have been drastically different.

“I would have been the one being rescued,” he said. “Who would have been there for them if I hadn’t done what I did for myself?”

Cook hopes his story will motivate others to prioritize their health.

“You may not be 500 pounds overweight, but you may have 500 pounds of problems,” he said. “Change them every single day. The way you start is by changing your mindset.”

A new attitude coupled with hard work can make a world of difference.

“When you do something new every day, you build a momentum,” Cook said. “Just start doing little things; that’s how you make a big improvement in your life. All of those little things lead up to drastic changes.”

He leads by example. “I’m living proof,” he said. “And it’s happening right before your eyes because I’m still defying the odds.”

Lindsay Peyton is a Houston-based writer.

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https://www.houstonchronicle.com/lifestyle/renew-houston/health/transformation/article/bariatric-surgery-ironman-triathlon-marcus-cook-14097434.php

2019-07-16 09:00:00Z
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