Before & After VSG with Emily and Losing Weight Regain
May 31, 2016Celebrating Emily Martens' Before & After VSG and Losing Weight Regain!
From an early age, I used food as a tool to give myself love. I would eat if I was stressed, sad, or happy, it didn’t matter what the emotion was because I ate from it. I remember being teased for hiding the honey bear under my bed and sneaking food as a kid, especially sweets.
I had been overweight since I hit puberty, around the age of 12 or 13. I remember that I was always the heaviest one of my friends. I wasn’t morbidly obese in middle school and high school but most of my friends had thin and athletic bodies. People would say I was pretty but would be so much prettier if I was thin.
When I reached my 20's, I started to gain more weight. I was not in a great place at that point in my life and used food as somewhat of a drug. I can remember getting a surge and rise in blood pressure when I would get fast food or something "delicious" to eat. I would eat a fast food meal and then come back for more because I didn’t feel satisfied. Sometimes I would eat a Whopper, fries and a drink, and then go back to buy and eat another burger.
I gained some weight during both of my pregnancies. I got up to about 286 pounds at one point. I was sad, scared, and felt very unattractive to my husband. I felt hopeless about my weight. When my son was about a year old, my husband ended up leaving. He wanted a divorce. During this time, I gained more weight.
I hated the thought of weight loss surgery. I had it in my brain that it wasn’t God’s plan for me. He wouldn’t want me to alter my body that way. I ended up doing medical weight loss through a reputable physician’s group. I lost about 50 pounds on that program and within a year had gained it all back plus more. I topped out at about 290 pounds and realized I needed to make a change.
Before & After VSG and Losing Weight Regain
OH Username: red42897
Weight Loss Total: 114 pounds
Surgery Type: VSG
Date of Surgery: August 20, 2012
Surgeon: Dr. Jeffrey Gawel
I started looking into weight loss surgery and praying about it. I started hearing from God that He uses surgery to heal people of things every day and this was no different.
I ended up getting approved through my insurance company and had VSG surgery on August 20, 2012. I lost about 95 pounds within a year and a half of my surgery date, weighing 185 pounds.
Weight Regain and Success in Losing It
My Weight Regain:
In 2014, I started exercising. After about a month, I stopped exercising and gained about 10 pounds. I held steady at 195 pounds for another year. At this time, I got into a relationship and gained another eight pounds. I weighed over 200 pounds. I had been eating out frequently and just wasn’t focused on my goals. The relationship ended and it was a difficult breakup. This began a bit of weight loss because I lost my appetite due to the emotions I was going through.
Getting Back On Track and Losing My Weight Regain:
Weighing over 200 pounds scared me a lot. I knew that I had to make some changes and get back on track.
Once my appetite came back, I was determined to make the necessary changes to lose the weight I had regained. For me, tracking every single calorie, carb, fat gram, etc., has never been good for me. It has only caused me to focus on food and think about what else I was able to eat in a day. I know tracking food and exercise is what surgeons recommend and many people in the WLS community are firm believers in that. I had to do what was best for ME. That is what this entire journey is about.
I focused on eating low carb as often as possible without becoming obsessed with it. I focused on eating dense, lean proteins and greens, and healthy fats like olive oil and avocado. I will periodically track my food to give me an idea of whether or not I am on track, not consuming too many calories and carbs, and that I eat enough protein.
I usually eat an egg with mushrooms and onion for breakfast, chicken thigh and greens with olive oil and vinegar for lunch, and a dense protein and some veggies for dinner. If I crave something sweet, I will have a square of dark chocolate or a small mandarin orange. I have cut out all processed carbs like crackers, bread, tortillas, cereal, oatmeal, etc. I drink lots of water and sometimes flavor with lemon.
I also started going to the gym, even though I was terrified to go for fear of looking stupid and regaining again if I quit exercising. I do cardio and plus strength training about 5 days a week.
I love feeling my body getting stronger.
I have lost about 35 pounds from my regained weight, and I feel fabulous. I want to lose about 15 more pounds to put me at my healthy non-overweight BMI. I have never felt so great in my life. I have tons of energy, feel as though my brain works better and my body is becoming so much stronger.
I encourage you to find the tools that work for you. If measuring is detrimental to you as it was for me then figure out what works for you. You want to make sure that you are using correct portion sizes, etc, eating adequate amounts of protein, and keeping your nutrition on track. I recommend really focusing on eating meals and not snacking. I try to space my meals out every day and not eat after 7:00 pm at night. I find this also makes a difference in my weight loss.
Special Milestone
In the past year, I started a YouTube channel that talks about beauty and lifestyle. One of the videos I filmed is a video about my weight loss journey. I would never have had the courage to put myself out there on the Internet for the world to see when I was heavy. In so many ways, I have become a different person. I now am able to share my experiences with others and have made a positive impact through videos while sharing my own struggles.
How has ObesityHelp.com been a part of your journey?
ObesityHelp has been a crucial part of my journey. It started the very second I was recommended to check it out from a friend at work who had VSG surgery. I started reviewing the VSG forum and found such a wealth of information. I felt very empowered and supported in my journey.
A big source of help are the WLS veterans who have been successful with their weight loss for a few years. They help others through their journeys and make posts that are inspirational and thought-provoking which help members of the OH community be successful. I especially like that many of the people within the forums recognize that weight loss success is a personal journey and there is no right way that fits everyone.
I have seen other forums on other sites where members are criticized for certain ways of thinking, for not tracking or choosing less than perfect methods. On OH, it feels like a community of support and people guide you on your way without the judgment. I have been judged so much in my life, so for this I am especially drawn to OH.
The Before and After Gallery and WLS Journeys have been crucial to my success as well. Seeing the weight loss journeys of other members is uplifting and very inspiring. I have gained more from OH than I can put into words. It is a place for knowledge, community, support, and tools that you need on your weight loss journey.
Share Your Before & After Success!
Do you have Before & Afters, special milestones and non-scale victories from your journey that you’d like to share? The OH team wants to hear from you! Visit our Before & After Submission page for details.
