Out of my head: Every story has a beginning

I’m going to get raw and real for a moment. For years I have struggled with my weight and by years I mean from Junior High into my adult years. I had a brief period in my timeline that I was at a healthy weight for my age and height, but children and life slowly took its toll. I tried a million different diets, exercise routines, types of weight loss aids, saw a nutritionist and nothing seemed to tip the scale for long. I would lose 10 and gain 20. I am an emotional eater and I would call my relationship with food an addiction. It blew my mind how often food was a topic of conversation or on my mind. My love of food was starting to impact my ability to play with my kids, my energy level, my overall health and severely killing my self-confidence. Something had to give.

A few months ago I took a long hard look at my options and together with my husband attended a consultation for a bariatric surgeon. After careful discussion and thought we mutually decided that the Lap Band would be the safest option and would provide the results I needed and on March 19, 2015 I began my journey. Luckily our insurance would cover a weight loss surgery, but there were criteria that needed to me met which included 3 consecutive months of weight related health monitoring and several medical clearances. I met with doctors, a psychologist, a cardiologist, had blood work done and jumped through the hoops I was told to. After being denied initially and working through the appeal process on July 14^th I got my approval. There was a light at the end of this LONG tunnel.

I had one week of a pre-op diet to complete which consisted of replacing 2 meals a day with a low carb protein shake and having a small dinner meal with no carbs, fats or sugar. I had to stop drinking soda, sugary beverages, eating bread and pasta. No more mindless snacking and more concentration on what I was actually eating. This whole process is such a 180 from my normal habits and let me tell you it was way more challenging than I expected. All for the greater good right? I watched my weight drop from my starting weight of 240 to my current pre-op weight of 232 and today marks another milestone in this journey. Today is SURGERY DAY!

I would like to follow up this story with this: I did not make this decision public knowledge in the beginning for a reason. Everyone has their own opinions about weight loss and surgery and such and quite often tend to judge others based on their ideas. Not everyone will support my decision to go under the knife, but frankly they are not walking in my shoes. Some will call this the “easy way out” and I can vouch that to this point and what I know about the massive lifestyle change that this is going to take it is anything but. I have done my research, joined a support group, sought counselling and given this more thought than you can even imagine. This was not my first choice of weight loss methods, but when all others miserably failed and I knew it was due to my self-control issues I knew I needed “something” to hold me accountable. That is what this device does. This is going to be challenge, but it one that I can’t afford to fail. I want to feel good about myself again, I want to run with my kids, I want to love me so I can let my husband love me, I want to live. I truly in my heart believe that this is what will get me to those goals.

Today starts a new chapter in my life and my family’s life. Below I compiled my stats and before pictures. I am very self-conscious about being so bold on this, but I think in its own way doing this will help too. I will post updates periodically, but in the meantime here I go.

Left wrist - 8"

Left bicep - 15-1/2"

Right wrist - 7-1/4"

Right bicep - 14-3/4"

Bust - 49-1/2"

Waist - 45-1/4"

Hips - 51"

Left thigh - 26"

Left calf - 15-1/2"

Left ankle - 9-1/4"

Right thigh - 25-1/4"

Right calf - 15-3/4"