Roland Jr. High Principal Sheds 180 Pounds

ROLAND John Speir doesnt miss the days when after he rolled out of bed, his back immediately would ache, his ankles would throb and his knees would feel as if they were burning.

In 2013, Speir weighed 398 pounds. He admits that at that time, he had succumbed to a lifestyle seemingly overrun by fast food and soft drinks. Time for exercise, he said, just wasnt in the cards, until a routine visit to his physician served as an unintended wake-up call.

I got on the scales at the doctors office and saw the number 398 pounds; it scared me, said the 43-year-old Speir, a 1989 Sallisaw High School graduate who now works as the Roland Junior High School principal. It then hit me. I knew that I had to do something about it.

Speir immediately thought of his wife, Misty, and their two daughters, Britton, 14, and Emily, 9.

The thought of leaving them hanging really scared me, Speir said. I didnt want to do that. I want to see my girls graduate from high school and college. I knew I wanted to spend time with my family.

Speir was referred by his doctor to the Cherokee Nations Healthy Eating for Life Program (HELP), which is offered through W.W. Hastings Hospital in Tahlequah, Okla. The program has a team of nurses, a surgeon, psychologist and counselor certified in the medical study of obesity, who provide patients with nutrition education, weight loss support groups and, if appropriate and desired by the patient, the option of bariatric surgery.

I actually went on to lose 100 pounds at first, just from the HELP program, before any surgery; that was from August 2013 to June 2014, Speir said. I cut out soft drinks and fast food and started eating chicken and turkey-based meats, and I would go to the gym to exercise. I go four or five times a week to the gym, doing cardio walking and running and then things like free weights.

The HELP program has participants attend monthly meetings and keep daily food journals. Both tools help keep HELP participants on track, Speir said.

The changes in eating and exercise habits were an adjustment at first, yes, but I was OK, he said. A month after I quit drinking soda drinks, I dropped 25 pounds, and my doctor later cleared me to have the laparoscopic vertical sleeve gastrectomy surgery.

Its not as intense as bypass surgery, and its where they take a percentage of your stomach off and reform what is left into a smaller, sleeve-like structure, Speir added. Now surgery isnt for everyone, but it was something that worked for me.

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Roland Jr. High Principal Sheds 180 Pounds