Before & After VSG with Faith, losing 171 pounds!
May 2, 2017Why I decided to have WLS
Growing up, I was always heavyset, I never had much, and never had many healthy food choices. In elementary school, I was about 150 pounds and 5 foot 5 inches. By the time I reached high school, I weighed about 205 pounds. At that time in my life, I was so big that I missed out on a lot of things and I didn’t have many friends.
The next few years were very difficult. When I was 18, my mom told me that she wished I was never born and that she never had me. I found out that my sister’s father was not my father. I was in high school and had to get a job to support myself. When I got pregnant with my first son, I gained over 40 pounds because I didn’t know how to eat. I ate a lot of cheeseburgers, hamburgers, fried food, spaghetti, fried fish and anything that was unhealthy. When I had my oldest son, Damon, I got up to about 260 pounds. I never exercised or ate healthy. I felt unwanted.
When I met the father of my next child, Terrell, I weighed about 250-260 pounds. After I was pregnant with Terrell, I gained more weight and weighed over 300 pounds. I was on my own again with no familial support at 21 years old.
After that, I got into an abusive relationship because I had very low self-esteem. I had no one in my corner and was physically and verbally abused. I continued to gain and weighed over 400 pounds.
I was eating everything that I could think of without restraint, and it didn’t matter. I used food as a secondary tool to salve the pain that I was feeling, not knowing that I could do anything different. When the food was gone, I was still struggling with the emotions and the abuse. I started dealing with a lot of pain, sleep apnea, back pain and high blood pressure, and I became deeply depressed. I got up to my highest weight of 410 pounds. In my heart, my name was no longer faith. On August 21, 2008, he hit me for the last time.
Before & After VSG with Faith
OH Username: Faith46
Weight Loss Total: 171 pounds
Surgery Type: Gastric Sleeve
Date of Surgery: 12/9/2014
Surgeon's Name: Dr. Bagshahi Hossein
When I got away from him, I decided to get my life back by taking diet pills. I went to a spa and met a woman named Rhonda whom we called Uptown. I told her that I wanted to die but she told me that I was beautiful. We began working out together and I went from 410 to 390 but it wasn’t enough.
In 2010, I tried to get weight loss surgery and was denied, so I continued to struggle with pain and high blood pressure.
On April 28, 2011, I lost my son, and I wanted to give up because half of my heart was gone and I really wanted to die. I stopped going to the gym and quit. Then I met another friend, her name was Rhonda as well. She said, “I’m going to help you.” I told her to leave me alone but she refused. Rhonda became my closest friend and helped me to change my eating habits and diet.
On January 4th, 2013, I lost my mother, and that is when I moved away from Atlanta and moved to Texas.
My Surgery and Post-Op Life
When I arrived in Texas, I decided I was going to change my life, and take my life back. I started working out at the gym and taking care of myself much better. I went from 390 to 350 pounds, and on my own, I took control of my life.
At this point, I went to a doctor who told me that the pain would continue until I could lose the excess weight. She told me the best thing for me was the Gastric Sleeve and she sent me to Dr. Bagshahi Hossein for my obesity weight loss program.
As we went through the process for bariatric surgery, Dr. Hossein put me on a high-protein/low-carb diet, and I lost 25 pounds. I continued eating high-protein/low-carb until December 9, 2014, the day of my weight loss surgery.
At two years after my surgery, I lost over 171 pounds! This was the hardest task that I have ever done in my life. I weigh 165 pounds currently, and the food is no longer my journey, my journey is me being healthy and living the best life that I can. I love helping people and sharing my journey with others and I am very motivated. I finally have faith in FAITH.
Share Your Before & After Success!
Celebrate your own Before & After WLS Success, milestones, non-scale victories, and inspire others! The OH team wants to hear from you to share your weight loss surgery journey. Visit our Before & After Submission page for details.
