As a personal trainer and nutritionist 15 years ago, Chris Menzel enjoyed working with clients to help them lose weight. He organized health competitions based on The Biggest Loser, the hit reality weight loss show.
“It was 24 weeks of intensive exercise, calorie counts and nutrition plans,” Menzel says of those days in his hometown of Hilton Head. “The winner lost 81 pounds, and everyone did well.”
There was, however, a hurdle that many clients couldn’t clear. No matter how hard they tried, they would hit plateaus where they could no longer lose weight.
“That’s when I started thinking ‘there’s got to be more to weight loss than calories in/calories out,” he says. “I decided to return to school to study medicine. I learned about obesity and became a bariatric surgeon.”
Today, Dr. Menzel is Medical Director of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery at Vanderbilt Wilson County Hospital where he performs a high volume of weight loss surgeries. His operations allow people to achieve successful, sustainable weight loss, and cure many related health conditions.
“Losing weight is difficult because the body shuts down its metabolism during weight loss to retain excess weight for energy,” he says. “This leads to plateaus, frustration, and ultimately, loss of hope. Weight loss surgery, however, overrides this metabolic process and allows for overcoming these plateaus.”
Menzel says the most important point to him is the impact of weight on quality of life. “I always think back to my family - my wife, my kids - and what I can do to be my best version for them. I want that for all my patients.”
“Bariatric surgery is safe and minimally invasive,” he says. “You’ll be walking around the same day, and you’ll go home the next day. Weight loss begins immediately and will continue for a year or more as we provide support along the way.
“The field of weight loss surgery has changed tremendously over the past decade, and specialization has led to much higher success rates. My goal is to be our community’s local doctor who can help people live the type of life they always wanted.”
https://search.vanderbilthealth.com/doctors/menzel-christopher
The field of weight loss surgery has changed tremendously over the past decade.
