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If you’re a z100 fan, you know Mo’ Bounce. He’s on the air 6-10 p.m. weeknights. We checked in with him to get the latest on his life since weight-loss surgery.
How are you feeling, Mo’?
Amazing. Everything has been great. I started at 270 pounds. That was my highest. On Jan. 16, I had surgery. As of today, the 29th of May, I’m 209. That’s 61 pounds!
Do you have a target weight?
I just want to feel good. Dr. Garber always says don’t look at the scale. And that was me — looking at the scale all the time, so I stopped. I realized it’s not about the scale. It’s about how you feel. I didn’t do this to be a bodybuilder. I just wanted to be healthy. I want to fit into regular clothing and to put the future in my control.
I’ve always been a big eater. I didn’t eat a lot of junk food, but I come from a big Italian family, and we eat large portions. That was me. That’s why the sleeve gastrectomy was perfect for me because it forces you to limit your portion size.
After surgery, I decided not to eat glutens. Before, I would love those kind of things. Now, I’m more health-conscious and feeling great. I’m more in tune to what’s not great for our bodies.
What types of food are you eating now?
I’m eating a lot of lean meat and vegetables. I don’t eat a lot of salads. I find it more enjoyable to eat grilled vegetables with my meat. I love grilled fish. The lifestyle change has not been difficult. I eat out a lot with friends and family. I don’t feel I’m holding them back from eating at places where they want to eat, because I can find something to eat wherever I am.
Because I’m on the radio, people ask me on Twitter how hard it was to adjust just being with friends and family. Not hard at all, because once you learn your new body, and you learn very quickly after surgery what your do’s and don’ts are just from experience, you find out it’s not a social hang-up at all.
I can eat anything. I don’t eat pizza any more. Of course, I smell it, and it smells great, but it’s bread, and it doesn’t provide a whole lot of nutrition for my small stomach, so why do it? I get over that rather quickly.
Do you eat out more than you eat in?
Yes, with my lifestyle in radio, I’m on the go, and I do eat out a lot, but I’m finding it easier to get good things for your body when you’re eating out. I frequent Trader Joe’s, where there’s a lot of great healthy food. Their homemade soups are healthy. I’ll bring them home and portion them out. Even though I know what my limit is, I like to portion everything out in small 4 oz. containers. That’s my meal. That’s what I do. That’s what I eat. I’m always satisfied.
Personally, what works for me is eating 5-6 small meals a day. I’ll have a handful of raw almonds as a snack, or a healthy granola bar. I’ve never felt that I’ve been missing out on anything. I never once felt hungry or wish that I had the rest of my stomach back. Not once have I thought of that. It’s been great.
So do you use take-out containers or just leave food on your plate?
For example, the Cheesecake Factory is known for its large portions. I still eat there, because their food tastes great, but they have something called the SkinnyLicious menu. Sounds kind of girly, but it’s a menu of everything basically 500 calories or less — but even those are too large for me, so when my food comes, I instantly ask them to portion out half to go, and leave the other half on my plate. They’re very good about that, which is great because I save money, too. I’m a cheap date now.
Tell us about the changes in your clothes.
I was wearing 44 jeans. Now I’m fitting into 36-38. In T-shirts, I was a 2XL or 3XL, depending on the brand. Now I’m down to a L or XL. It’s been awesome.
It’s easy for people around us to say just get in the gym and eat right, but when you’re a large person, it’s really uncomfortable on your joints, your stamina is not there, and it’s difficult to motivate yourself because you find yourself not being able to finish your 20-minute workout.
Now that I’ve lost so much weight, it feels good to work out now. I enjoy it.
What kind of workouts are you doing?
I do a mixture of a few things. I walk briskly to the subway station and the bus stop here in the city. We have a gym in our apartment complex, and two days a week, I do a running program called “Coach to 5K,” which gets you up to running a 5K in about eight weeks. I’m on week five right now, and I’m running at a constant 10-15 minutes at a time. That was unheard of before. I would run maybe two minutes and get extremely winded. Now I’m running distance on a incline, and it feels good. Now I actually know what a runner’s high feels like.
I’m also doing a little strength training on the circuit, working all the muscle groups. I’m definitely feeling comfortable getting into that regimen.
Have you noticed a difference in how you feel in public and how people look at you?
Yes, a 100%, 360-turnaround. I’ve always been a fun person to be around, but I would hold back a little bit because I was physically self-conscious. Now that I’ve had surgery, the biggest compliment I get is that I’m more energetic and I look younger. You expect to be told you’ve lost weight, but you don’t expect to be told you look younger. I feel younger. It’s a great feeling. I just did a couple of videos the other day for the radio station. Now when I look at video of myself, I don’t dread it as much. I can see the difference. It’s really changed my morale.
Mo’ Bounce sounds like a big guy’s name. Are you going to have to change your name now?
You know, it’s funny, but I’m not going to change my name, because it’s my staple. But people now are calling me Less Bounce, Not So Bouncy or Skinny Bounce. It’s fun to hear the different variations. In the future, maybe I’ll drop the Bounce and just be Mo’.
If diets and exercise have not worked for you, we invite you to make an appointment to see one of our surgeons by using our online contact form, calling (516) 616-5500 or, if you prefer, click on “Live Chat” in the upper left corner of your screen to have a conversation now.
