Successful and sustainable: Couple’s weight-management journey pays off

The routine was frustratingly familiar. Donna and Craig Manske would start a weight-loss program, experience some short-term success, hit a wall, then go backwards. Nothing seemed to stick. Feeling defeated, the Manskes decided to give it one more shot.

“But this is it,” Donna told Megan Biegler, a physician assistant at the Essentia Health-Wahpeton Clinic who specializes in weight management. “This is my last try at this.”

Biegler’s response? “We’ll get it to work.”

Two years later, Biegler’s words have held true. Craig has lost about 50 pounds, from 330 to 280, and his waist size has shrunk from 57 inches to 49.5. His wife of 43 years is down from 200 pounds to 165. More importantly, their quality of life has improved. They are healthier and feel stronger. Donna, for example, no longer struggles to get on the ground and play with their grandchildren.

“Let me tell you, before I got this weight off, it was hard to get off the floor,” she says.

The Wahpeton, North Dakota, couple, both of whom are 62, have three kids and seven grandkids ranging in age from 3 months to 13 years.

Just before the Manskes connected with Biegler, Craig had a health scare. In addition to being sick with influenza A and COVID-19, he had a stroke relapse (his first stroke, which occurred around 2010, was so severe that Craig had to relearn how to read and write). He also was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. Today, his health is much better. So, too, are his energy levels.

“It used to be, when I was at work, by about 3 o’clock in the afternoon I was done for the day,” Craig, a retired car salesman, says.

That is music to Biegler’s ears.

“It’s not just about losing all this weight and seeing a smaller number on the scale,” she says. “It’s about being healthier, happier and more energetic.”

LEARN MORE: There are several options for weight management at Essentia Health. Talk to your primary care provider to learn more.

Plans that are sustainable

With Biegler, the Manskes learned strategies that are both effective and sustainable — how to read food labels, prepare balanced meals, get enough protein, drink sufficient water, incorporate exercise, limit heavy meals.

Gone are the days when Donna and Craig would make a couple trips through the buffet line at lunch “and feel miserable after.”

Biegler is certified in weight management through the Obesity Medicine Association. She focuses on four pillars in her practice — nutrition, exercise, water and sleep — while also checking in on her patients’ mental health. Biegler tailors her plans based on each person’s specific needs and lifestyle; there is no one-size-fits-all solution to weight loss. Exercise, of course, may mean different things to different people. It could be yoga, walking, swimming or dancing in your living room for 15 minutes. Anything to get the heart rate up.

“The end goal is the same, but the process is completely different for each person and tailored to that person,” Biegler says.

She starts by conducting an initial assessment with her patients, then meets with them on a monthly basis. The customized weight-management plans she creates may involve a combination of lifestyle changes and medication.

Biegler does more than simply tell her patients what to eat and what not to eat. She explains the reasoning, which has empowered Donna and Craig. It has garnered their buy-in, they admit.

Most importantly, perhaps, Biegler is a cheerleader and a sounding board.

“She never made me feel that if I stayed the same or only lost a pound I had failed,” Donna says. “I had that person supporting me, saying this is amazing, you’re doing great, do not get discouraged. She always makes you feel that no matter what you’re doing, it’s a success.”

Biegler shoots for about 1-4 pounds of weight loss per month. That might not sound like much — and Biegler admits some patients want it to happen more quickly — but when the results become really noticeable by the third or fourth month, they are sold. That pace is manageable, as opposed to some programs in which the weight jumps off at first but ultimately returns because the diets are too restrictive and not sustainable.

“It’s going to be a lifestyle change,” Biegler says.

Donna, a licensed practical nurse at the Essentia clinic in Wahpeton, was referred to Biegler by her primary care provider. Despite the sustained success, it took Donna some time before she felt comfortable cleaning out her closet for a new wardrobe. What made her take the plunge? “I truly feel like I’m going to stay at the lighter weight now.”

“As we started progressing through the program, I just felt so grateful. I was believing in myself, that with help I can do this,” Donna says.

Many of Biegler’s patients give her credit for their transformation. They have it backwards, she believes.

“They always attribute it to me,” she says. “And I always say, ‘No, I’m just part of your story. You’re the one who’s doing it.’ ”