About 60 percent of the people living in Michigan are overweight, and nearly one in four is considered obese.

“Everyday you get some ungentle reminders that you’re not supposed to be this way,” said Martin Super.

You can’t tell by looking at him, but a year ago, Martin Super weighed more than 300 pounds.

“It’s not the numbers so much,” said Super. “It’s you can’t get on the ride at Cedar Point, no matter what kind of shirts you buy they won’t stay tucked in, it’s uncomfortable to sit in a car for more than a half-hour.”

Super says he tried repeatedly to drop the pounds himself, but was unsuccessful. Supers thought weight loss wouldn’t be easy, but then he met with experts at the Borgess Bariatric Center.

“A lot of it is getting patients to be accountable to themselves as well as to me,” said Dr. Melissa Olken of Medical Weight Loss Management.

Dr. Olken knows nutrition and she’s teaching patients how to lose weight naturally through diet and exercise.

“The first time they see me, I don’t hand anyone a diet,” said Dr. Olken. “I give them some calorie targets, some diet component targets, but I say really what you’re doing for this first month is you’re keeping a food journal.

For Super, that meant taking an honest look at his lifestyle.

“I sat down, I figured out what I was eating before,” said Super. “I was eating over 6,000 calories a day, maybe 6,500.”

Now, Super’s down to 2,200 calories and exercises almost every day, but he admits it began with baby steps.

“July and August of last year, I didn’t lose a pound either month, I plateaued totally and it was that 265 level that I’ve always come down and hit, and if I was on my own I probably would have given up,” said Super. “The biggest thing was going to a dietitian, I had to be responsible to somebody else.”

Now, Super is a success story. He counted calories and exercised regularly for one year and lost the weight without surgery.

“Some people don’t know they don’t need that surgical tool until they work with someone who really helps them unlock their own behaviors that can be changed,” said Dr. Olken.

Super just ran his first 10-K, and is now training for a half marathon.

(NEWSCHANNEL 3) – Congestive heart failure doesn’t have to be a death sentence. Recently Newschannel 3 visited Borgess Medical Center’s Heart Failure Clinic where patients learn to live by managing their illness.

Irma Pruve comes to the clinic twice a month. She may not have recognized the symptoms, but during a routine check-up, doctors discovered the beginnings of congestive heart failure, her heart wasn’t pumping blood properly.

“A lot of people when they get the diagnosis of heart failure, it’s just a death sentence, but it doesn’t have to be,” said Amy Shaffer, clinical coordinator. “It can be like any other chronic illness where you can learn to live with it.”

That is what Pruve has done with the help of Borgess Medical Center’s congestive heart failure program.

“I had to decrease my fluid intake, and also my salt intake,” said Pruve.

Pruve was also put on medication. She monitors herself at home, but is also checked regularly by specialists at Borgess.

“We’re really teaching them how to manage their own disease process and let their doctor know in time if they start to get into trouble,” said Gail Venner, nurse practitioner.

“They had me weighing myself everyday,” said Pruve, “I had to check for swelling to see if I was retaining fluids.”

Managing the disease for Pruve means no salt, no soda, and frequent cardiograph tests.

The heart failure clinic is the only heart failure rehab program in southwest Michigan.

“We see patients every two weeks to make sure they get the benefit of medication as quickly as possible,” said Venner. “We also have a hot-line they can call into if they have any question about the education we did earlier in the day or are confused about a schedule and we call them back during office hours that same day.”

For Pruve, the program has been a definite plus, and she says she’s learning to live with her chronic illness.

“Eat lots of fruits and vegetables, take my medication like I’ve been instructed and I’m doing real well,” said Pruve.

Heart failure is a serious disease, but those affected can still lead active lives with the right treatment.