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Hi all. Just heard about this forum and wanted...
Hi all. Just heard about this forum and wanted share my story in brief. Well, where to start? Always battled with weight. 8.9 lbs when born! I'm 37 now. Three years ago I was at my heaviest (267) and hit the end of my rope. I was always tired, got the eye rolls when I boarded planes, couldn't find clothes anywhere but Lane Bryant, and zero social life. Maybe someone here can relate? Anyhow, it was time. Oh, my stats. I should mention I'm 5'11 with moderate muscle mass, so ideal weight is noted as 165 on the charts. 3 yrs ago I was a size 24.
So it was time, and I thought I was so far gone I had to do bariatric surgery. I tried everything it seemed up to that point. Weight Watchers, Atkins, cabbage Diet, Slim Fast, you name it. I lived in DC at the time, and had an extremely stressful job, a 3 hour round trip daily commute, and long hours. Oh, and smoking a pack a day and drinking a pot of coffee before noon! Needless to say the clock was ticking. Fortunately, by some miracle, I didn't have any serious health issues yet like diabetes or high blood pressure, but it was just a matter of time. So, bariatric surgery was the solution I thought. I did the research and chose the vertical sleeve. I did all the prep nutrition classes, blood work, group sessions, etc and was right to the point of scheduling the surgery when I got cold feet and backed out. See, nutrition is soooo important for the bariatric patient after surgery for the rest of their lives. The bypass inhibits absorption quality, and the sleeve limits intake, so either one means supplements and protein and nutrient intake via shakes, liquid 'shooters', pills etc would be necessary on a daily basis for the rest of my life. It crossed my mind that what if there was a natural disaster or something that shut down the local stores, net, etc and I couldn't get my supplements for an extended period of time? That started me thinking about dependencies for survival that may risk my life if I forgot to stock up on things. Remember I had a chaotic life, and I often forgot or was just plain too tired to stock the pantry until Saturday rolled around and I realized I had no food in the house. So I backed out. I felt stuck, and a little depressed. Back to the drawing board. Then I found Medifast. Pricey (about $300/ month) but had a program that did all the thinking for me. I could set up auto-renewal shipments when I neared the end of my supplies. Best thing, was that it targets rapid weight loss, with peak nutrients, and speeding up the metabolism (unlike all the other diets I'd been on!). So I did it. It is EXTREMELY strict, and took a tremendous amount of will power, especially the first two months, but then it got easier. I was very fortunate to have supportive friends and family too, so when the holidays or events came around and I drank a protein shake and ate a small, dry salad while they all ate turkey or cake or whatever, they didn't lay on the guilt trips or pressure.
By month 2 I started exercising. Slow at first. All I could do was 2.7 with no incline on the tread mill! I was a mess, but I stuck with it and I'm so glad I did.
I lost 85 pounds in 6 months! I kept it off for a year, and decided it was time to explore plastic surgery to fix some problems that my weight had permanently created. I'm a size 12 now, and just had a tummy tuck and lipo in February (I'll post some pics shortly). When fully healed I may be down to a 10!!!!! Whoop whoop! :)
I wanted to share my journey in hopes that it may help someone else. It is doable! You can do it! You're beautiful, you're worth it, and you have the strength to do it! Good luck....
So it was time, and I thought I was so far gone I had to do bariatric surgery. I tried everything it seemed up to that point. Weight Watchers, Atkins, cabbage Diet, Slim Fast, you name it. I lived in DC at the time, and had an extremely stressful job, a 3 hour round trip daily commute, and long hours. Oh, and smoking a pack a day and drinking a pot of coffee before noon! Needless to say the clock was ticking. Fortunately, by some miracle, I didn't have any serious health issues yet like diabetes or high blood pressure, but it was just a matter of time. So, bariatric surgery was the solution I thought. I did the research and chose the vertical sleeve. I did all the prep nutrition classes, blood work, group sessions, etc and was right to the point of scheduling the surgery when I got cold feet and backed out. See, nutrition is soooo important for the bariatric patient after surgery for the rest of their lives. The bypass inhibits absorption quality, and the sleeve limits intake, so either one means supplements and protein and nutrient intake via shakes, liquid 'shooters', pills etc would be necessary on a daily basis for the rest of my life. It crossed my mind that what if there was a natural disaster or something that shut down the local stores, net, etc and I couldn't get my supplements for an extended period of time? That started me thinking about dependencies for survival that may risk my life if I forgot to stock up on things. Remember I had a chaotic life, and I often forgot or was just plain too tired to stock the pantry until Saturday rolled around and I realized I had no food in the house. So I backed out. I felt stuck, and a little depressed. Back to the drawing board. Then I found Medifast. Pricey (about $300/ month) but had a program that did all the thinking for me. I could set up auto-renewal shipments when I neared the end of my supplies. Best thing, was that it targets rapid weight loss, with peak nutrients, and speeding up the metabolism (unlike all the other diets I'd been on!). So I did it. It is EXTREMELY strict, and took a tremendous amount of will power, especially the first two months, but then it got easier. I was very fortunate to have supportive friends and family too, so when the holidays or events came around and I drank a protein shake and ate a small, dry salad while they all ate turkey or cake or whatever, they didn't lay on the guilt trips or pressure.
By month 2 I started exercising. Slow at first. All I could do was 2.7 with no incline on the tread mill! I was a mess, but I stuck with it and I'm so glad I did.
I lost 85 pounds in 6 months! I kept it off for a year, and decided it was time to explore plastic surgery to fix some problems that my weight had permanently created. I'm a size 12 now, and just had a tummy tuck and lipo in February (I'll post some pics shortly). When fully healed I may be down to a 10!!!!! Whoop whoop! :)
I wanted to share my journey in hopes that it may help someone else. It is doable! You can do it! You're beautiful, you're worth it, and you have the strength to do it! Good luck....