34 Mom of 3 over Due for a Lifestyle Makeover - Dayton, OH

So I have battling with weight all of my life. I have tried so many diets over the past 23 years....... yes since the age of 11!!!!!!! My mom put me on the slim fast diet. It worked.. but as soon as I stopped drinking them the weight cane back with vengeance lol. I have also tried calorie counting, Alli, LA weight loss.... with the same fate.

I weighed 175 from grades 6-9. After that, I shot up to 245(09/1995). Weighed 262 in 1996 and maintained that until I got pregnant. I gave birth to my daughter in November of 1997. My weigh in before birth was 270..... Didn't gain much with her. I actually only gained what she weighed, which was 7 lbs 8 oz.

At my 6 week check up I was down to 235 and remained there until 2005... I joined la weight loss in October 2005. I lost 50 lbs in 3 months. Then during the month of jan and feb i was at a stand still and we couldn't figure out why. At the end of Feb I found out I was pregnant. That pregnancy ended due to it being an ectopic pregnancy.... had surgery and ended up pregnant again (weight loss will jump start your fertility. I wasn't informed of this until after the fact) I went from 215 to 260. Gave birth to my first son, second child,in jan 2007, and my last son in November of 2007..... fertility definite'er ly jump started. There is a 10 year gap between my first and my second...... and that wasn't purposely done. With the last pregnancy I went from 270 to 285.

OVER the next few years I managed to pick up more weight and reached my highest weight which was 305.

I didn't like that and managed to get back under 300. I tried Dherbs total body cleanse and weight release. I lost 40 pounds without exercising. The weight stayed off for about 7 months..... but it came back. My current weight is 291.

So my job has insurance that will cover the weight loss surgery. Found out that info through a Co -worker who has had WLS(band). To qualify I need to be on a 6 month supervised diet under my physicians supervision or 3 months supervised with a dietician. I'm going with the dietician. I have had enough. I'm ready for change. I'm clearly aware that I'm going to have to work at it... I ready to do that. I just need a really good jump start.

I saw the dietician when I had my visit with the surgeon yesterday. She wants me to make some changes with my food, such as pop and sweet, less carbs and more protein. I will visit her again next month. My last visit with her will be in November.

So on December 8th I completed my third and final appointment with the dietician. That was an exciting day! I had to make sure I did not have a net gain during the supervised diet...... That is Aetna's protocol. My weigh in for October was 292. November was 280 ( I had cut out pop and lost that weight in a week). I has managed getting dowm to 278... Now over Thanksgiving week lol I climbed back up to 287(11/28). December 5th I got back down to 283. This was unacceptable because my appointment was December 8th. I took drastric matters cause was not allowed to gain anything and even though I only had to do 3 monthly visits with the dietician, I was not about to start over, so I went on a mostly liquid diet over the weekend. That weekend I discovered that I love the protein drink called muscle milk. I'm hoping after surgery I will still like it..... I have read in the support group that I am in on Facebook that some of the members taste buds have changed.... Any who.... In 3 days I lost 3 pounds and got down to 273. I was excited..... And definitely had met Aetna's requirements. My surgeons office said that they would be sending over the stuff that day. They said that I would be hearing from their office in a couple of weeks, and when I did, it will be them calling to schedule for my pre admission testing. She was confident that I will get approved. I kinda want to call Aetna to see if my info was submitted but I'm not. I'm sure my surgeon's office submitted it.... I'm just a little anxious lol.... Plus I won't be getting the surgery until tax time because I won't be able to pay my copay of 1600 until then..... So there is no need to rush it...... So I am patiently waiting.........

I was approved within a week..... love it lol... waiting on surgery date. Me and the surgery coordinator keep playing phone tag......

Wow.... I haven't been on here in a long time.... So much has happened. My surgery date was January 27th. As long as I kept up with the pain med schedule I was fine. I only needed my pain meds for 5 days.. Gas pains lasted for about 5 days... I think that was the worst part.

My post op diet was supposed to have been 4 weeks on liquids, 2 weeks on soft foods, then regular foods at week 7. My stomach was not ready for regular good at 7 weeks. So I continued to eat soft foods until week 10.

I was instructed to keep fats at 3 grams and sugars at 5 grams. I follow that the majority of the time.

I'm not an exerciser... I really wish that I was because I do have lose skin. It isnt horrible and you can't see it when I have clothes on...... But I know that its there lol.

Getting my fluids in is a struggle. But I still keep trying. My calorie intake is usually no more than 800. There are days that I just want to eat and on those days it will increase to 12-1300.

As of yesterday I weigh 185. That's a loss of 88 since surgery and a total loss of 108 including the 3 month pre-op diet. Every time I pass a window and see my reflection or look at a picture I am amazed. Having the surgery was one of the best decisions I have made.