Introduce yourself

Holy long Chris! Geez! Hahhaha

Since I am 49.9 years old, i won't have time to actually write out my life story. I'll center my comments on my health journey. Let's just say i realize my appe-stat was broken as a young child. My parents tell a story, laughingly, about me, 1 year old in a high chair and my mom fries up eggs - SIX of them, in fact, before they stopped making them for me. My appetite was a family joke. Looking at pictures, I was not fat, but  good sized kid.  I had these boobs (38D) in the 6th grade, and weighed close to 160. I was already 5 foot five.  I developed an eating disorder (so did all my other normal sibs - see my profile for more on that) in my early teen years.  When I graduated High school, i weighed around 150 pounds - about a size nine for me.  In my own eyes, i was still a sweathog, had terrible body image. Started using drugs, mostly pot and whites, graduated to cocaine use.  Recreationally, basically, like most people in the 70's as I saw it.  I thought Tupperware was developed to store weed in!  LOL. Got married at 18, had two kids THEN noticed the guy was absolutely a nut job, but i kept trying to fix him anyway. Both of us used drugs recreationally. Quit smoking at age 32-ish after four years of trying.  I bull****ted myself that smoking was keeping my appetite at bay, but really, I was slowly putting on weight anyway. I had not smoked pot for about 10 years by this time, not too much illegal stimulants.  To summarize here, it was also about this age that I realized my true monster addiction was food, and all other drugs i sought were an attempt to control it. I also developed a bit of an exercise addiction, very common practice among bulimics. But guess what?  I still would yo-yo weight wise (160-200pounds most f the time, blossomed to 230 at highest recorded weight).  I blame stopping cigs as the most of the reason, but it was the stress of being married to a crazy person and ending it, too.  I went to OA for like 4 years, interwoven with Al-anon, to try to deal with my breaking marriage. He wasn't JUST a simple drunk - really truly crazy, bats in the bellfry...but i digress. It was great advice to begin to heal myself. I was not there yet til i was 40-42 years old. It took me that long to not actually walk into the bathroom and not lean over and seriously consider barfing up my last binge. VERY simply stated, i taught myself not to binge anymore. That action was what triggered the insane behavior. I dumped the loser i was married to, quit all drugs, was single until I married the sweetest man in existnce five years ago.   We had a LONG engagement and had lots of committed fun years to get to know each other. Now I am a grandma, successful businesswoman (got a BA in business during my divorce years), and struggling with my weight.  I am at 189 at this writing.

that was my workout for the day!! LOL reading your post I am tired...  V

Lol yeah!  Sorry about that! I'm long winded when it comes to typing.. In person though, I don't say a whole lot! weird eh?

I am long winded talking but don't like to type, You are cute and fun don't change LOL

Ahh yes.. I left out all of the recreational drug use. :) How could I forget those years!!  Uhh.. Wait.... I can't seem to remember those years!   Finally quit smoking pot when I met my wife. I think I was 22? Neecee, you've had a life full of accomplishment! Congrats on all your hard work! It has paid off!

I was going to skip all that recreational use stuff, ummmm or maybe, I just can't remember......LOL

Here we go:

My name is Janina (Ja-Nina).  I'm 27 years old. I was born in Pescara Abruzzi Italy, and raised in Venice until I was 5.  We moved to Long island and have been here ever since.  I was the perfect child to a parent (never cried, slept a lot, didn't fuss, understood rules, etc) and was rewarded with food. As I grew up, I was an 'A' student, was first violinist and again, rewarded with food.  Over time, I learned that the feeling of accomplishment came with food, so I ate to feel good about myself (sounds ridiculous, but it's true).  And along this path, I went right into obesity.  I spent only two years on a bachelors degree in Management technology.  I dropped out because I found my job I have now.  I'm a buyer for a sister company of Honeywell called ADI.  It's for saftey and fire security.  Stuff like fire alarms, CCTV, and saftey alarms.  I intend on finishing college when I lose my weight.  As you know, I'm scheduled for lap-band surgery on April 25 (one week after Christa's B-Day).  Right now, my weight is my priority.  As far as relationships go, I've been engaged twice, both fell through because I found out that what I had attached myself to was a *******  I have an on/off relationship with someone right now (He lives in London, so it's not solid with that far of a distance) and I'm dating another guy on an infrequent basis (he's a fireman and works a lot of 24 shifts, so our schedules don't match often).  I race on circuit tracks (the same tracks as F1 racing).  I have a supped up Mustang GT (picture of it is on my profile). I have one puppy named Max (again, picture on my profile). I'm not sure what I want to be when I grow up, or where I want to go (and yes, I'm 27 but I don't consider myself a grown-up yet). 

And that's me. :)

so i'm andrea. i am 28 years old. i live just outside of DC in arlington, va. tomorrow i will do a presentation that will be my LAST assignment ever in getting my PsyD (Doctorate in Psychology). yay! i've been in school forever. of course i still have that damn dissertation that i haven't touched in years. its about binge eating in adolescent obesity. next school year i will go on internship at Clemson University where i will be working in the counseling center.  i too was fat my entire childhood. there are definitely genetic factors as much of family have struggled with these issues. it had a huge impact on the way i interacted with the world and how i saw myself. i became a secret eater (which still is bad for me now since i live alone, so its always in secret!) i spent many summers going to fat camp where you'd work out all day, lose 40 lbs and then come back to real life and gain it all back. soon, the up and down was more traumatizing than just being fat in itself. i played on the tennis and squash teams in high school which helped me feel like normal person (although i could never run and was always last). i was pretty active but since it was boarding school, food was everywhere. the cafeteria food was bad enough but then you'd go on 7-11 runs or to the general store and buy candy etc. i remember every weekend i'd go the mall and get at least a pound or more of jelly beans which would be gone before monday. my highest *recorded* weight was 280, which was the summer between my soph/jr year in college when i went to a doctor to get Meridia. I lost about 20 lbs that summer, but gained half that back soon after. I was 270 when i went to the Duke Diet and Fitness Center. i was very resentful that my parents wanted me to go - i had decided i was okay with myself and just wanted to move on, which of course was just denial. anyway, i lose about 110 lbs in about 2 years and decided i was "done" so i started having reconstructive surgeries. i've had a lot of work done! that's originally how i can to OH - i discovered the plastic surgery board there. anyway i still struggle with food issues and motivation, however, i can't imagine that i would ever let things go back to how they were. i feel like i'm on the constant lookout for some sense of balence with all this stuff. i go back to DFC whenever i can spare the time and money and feel that i need a boost. i don't think i was an emotional eater back when i started but i'm definitely more of one now. funny how that works. that's a lot to swallow, so i'll stop there!

My name is Candy,26 years old, married for 9 yrs this year to the guy I met in 7th grade. We have 3yr old son named Chandler who was born on New Years Eve.  I don't work which I don't mind, I love the time that I have to be with our son.  My weight problems began when I was 12 when I moved in permanently with my great grandmother. Her answer to everything was with food, and still is. At 14 I was put on Birth Control pills(for uncontrollable mentstrual cramps) and the weight really started to come on. My highest weight ever was 273 in May of 04. I had lap RNY in May of 05 at a weight of 263. I float now between 148-152.  I believe it was the best decision I ever made and now wish I would have done it sooner. I still struggle with eating demons on a daily basis. I am a sweet-a-holic.  My parents are divorced and have been since I was 5. My dad has been married twice since then and my current step mother is 5 yrs older than me which is a little wierd but after the 12 yrs they've been married now I am use to it. We stil get a kick out of public reaction when we are all out together. I am not really close to anyone in my family except my great grandmother who practically raised me all my life. She is 92 now but I still see and talk to her on a daily basis. Everything else about me is pretty much ordinary. I am a gemini, b/d May 21st. I'm not a very social person, I like read magazines, watch scary movies, I enjoy cooking(especially new recipes).  Candy