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A man with a big story to tell

By MARLENE
Published December 30, 2005

CARROLLWOOD - The old Sergio Pages couldn't fit in a seat at Raymond James Stadium.

When he tried to welcome the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back after the 2003 Super Bowl, a police officer chased him from the bench seat he had staked out and let "a little skinny family" have it instead.

"That's how they treat people who are obese," said the new Sergio Pages, leaning comfortably across the counter of his jewelry store.

Diamond stud in his ear, Santa hat on his head, soulful brown eyes, chiseled cheekbones ... the new Sergio is hot!

As New Year's rolls around and thoughts turn to waistlines, listen to his story.

A Tampa native from a Cuban-Puerto Rican family, Pages ate like every day was Thanksgiving. Not a couple of slices of pizza, but the whole pie. Not two eggs, but five, for starters.

Benched with injuries from Leto High football, Pages continued to pack on the pounds.

He married his high school sweetheart, raised three children and built a landmark business at Gunn Highway and Casey Road.

"Everything I touched was a success," he said.

He also topped 400 pounds. Between diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol, his doctor gave him maybe five years to live.

"My knees were shot," said Pages, 44. "I could not walk without a cane, and I had tendinitis of the wrist from the pressure of leaning on the cane."

So Pages tried what he estimates was his 28th diet. "I gained 5 pounds," he said.

Inspired by Today Show weatherman Al Roker, Pages met up with University of South Florida surgeon Michel Murr. After a year of preparation, he underwent a gastric bypass operation at Tampa General Hospital in late 2003.

The procedure, which comes in various forms, allows food to travel only to a small, and often dissected, portion of the stomach. Critics call it a quick fix that carries substantial risks, including (as with any major surgery) death. Pages dismisses the naysayers as "skinny people who don't know what they're talking about."

After the surgery Pages describes months of "psychological terror" as he acclimated his body to taking in food. Patients start with the tiniest bits of nourishment, all liquid at first, and this is someone who was used to having a rather large meal. "I was mentally starving," he said. It was a big deal, long after the surgery, to go from a half a can of tuna to a full can.

Exercise happened in increments - walking, walking farther, walking with light weights, walking with heavier weights. Finally he was able to run 4.2 miles. On nonrunning days, he would walk the 4.2 miles, carrying 10 pounds in each hand.

In little more than a year, he had shed 227 pounds.

Today he stays in shape by hunting, fishing, working in the yard and generally staying active, returning to his workout only if his weight creeps up.

"I'm more excited about being able to maintain my weight than losing the weight," he said.

When you've lost the equivalent of a large person, life can be surreal.

There were customers who did not recognize Pages, and thought his store had changed hands. Some told him, right to his face, that they would not buy from the new owner.

Hence the television commercial. You might have seen it. There's Pages, reassuring viewers that he is still Sergio, minus some 200 pounds.

"It was not narcissistic," he said. "I was trying to save my business!"

Then there are the women. "Right in front of my wife they come on to me!" For her part, wife Theresa told him that for a while she thought she was "cheating" on him.

There have been moments, more than one, when Pages looked into a bathroom mirror and saw a complete stranger.

"I'm security conscious because I'm a jeweler," he said. "So I would see myself and think to go look for my gun!"

Ah, and the old friends. One, from high school, nearly passed out in the store.

Others, including Pages himself, talk about "Sergio" in the third person.

"I miss Sergio," he said. "I had a larger-than-life personality, because I was larger than life. Now I just feel like a loudmouth."

Okay. But in a good way.

Pages takes delight in counseling friends and customers about weight loss.

He has talked several through surgery, and doles out tips as easily as the heartfelt "thank you for your business" that comes with each pair of earrings.

He told one husband that his wife "will be a 110-pound hottie pretty soon. You win!"

True to his prediction, the woman returned to the store so completely transformed, Pages did not recognize her.

"When somebody says, "Sergio, you inspire me,' " he said, "it just puts me on cloud nine."

While some of Pages' tips are specifically for bypass surgery patients, others will ring familiar to many as we ring in 2006.

- Eat it all in 12 hours. If you had your first meal at 7 a.m., finish the last one at 7 p.m.

- Learn to exercise, a step at a time. So you can only walk as far as your mailbox. Resolve that tomorrow you will go to the mailbox and maybe one step farther. Then two steps the day after that. Make it a point never to do less than the day before. Don't think of it as exercise if that word rattles you. You're just "taking a walk."

- Weigh every day. Pages finds it keeps him on track. He fluctuates between 180 and 185, and panicked after he gained 5 pounds on a hunting trip. Not a problem, his wife told him; just go back to what you were doing and the weight will come off. While losing weight, don't worry if the scale goes up a pound. Often a larger loss is soon to follow.

- Drink five bottles of water a day. It "cleans out the junk in your body," helps you feel full and gives you the energy you need to stay active.

- Take your calcium. Pages likes to pop three Tums tablets in the morning and three more in the evening. The calcium is good for your bones and is widely believed to help take off weight.

- Avoid sweets after the bypass. It's like this: You have to expand your stomach gradually, or you will starve. Sweet things, in particular, will make you feel ill. Stay away from them entirely so you never regain the tolerance.

- "Find a source of support." For Pages it was Theresa, a size 6 - if that - thanks to a lifetime of sensible eating and moderate exercise. If you don't have a live-in role model, look elsewhere. Women, in particular, get great results from Weight Watchers.

- Don't let unsupportive words derail you. One customer asked Pages if he had cancer. Others have asked "Aren't you getting too thin?" and "How much more weight do you want to lose?" Dieters hear this kind of thing all the time. It might come from jealousy. Who cares where it comes from? You know how much you want to lose. Stay the course.

- Don't sabotage yourself. Gastric patients often feel so good after the first, say, 100 pounds, they're ready to stop. Don't quit until you have reached your goal.

- "Don't feel bad about yourself." Look at it this way. In the caveman days, you would have outlived your skinny friends as you feasted on a mastodon and lived through the winter. Your body is just very good at storing calories, which is none too practical with a McDonald's on every corner. So make the best of things without giving in to the negativity.

Say it out loud: "We are not lazy, fat slobs."

[Last modified December 29, 2005, 08:40:09]