Need help and encouragement!

Hi everyone

Let me introduce myself and apologize in advance for my english skills. My name is Carina and I am a 29 year old mother from the Netherlands. I have a wonderful loving husband and a 18 month old great son called Brent. I am currently pregnant, 6 months, with our second boy. His name will be Vince. So far, so good, my life is GREAT!

Except... I am SMO, my BMI is 51 something. Have been obese (and on diets!) since age 2. No co-morbidities, I am surprisingly healthy for my weight (i don't know pounds but it is now 149 kilograms). But a heavy future in front of me. Mom is 61 with severe health problems like diabetes type 2 due to her weight (and was never as heavy as I am)
I always told myzelf: If I have not succeeded in losing weight before I am 30, I will either stay big of just have WLS. 30 is fast approaching, and staying big is NOT an option...

I HAVE to do something NOW, want to be a granny one day and be healthy for my family and myself! Want to run with the boys, want to feel halfway normal.

I looked into GBP and dismissed it (a lifetime without any sugar or alcohol, no thanks. If I do that NOW I also lose weight) I am really leaning towards the DS. BUT can not be operated untill 6 to 9 months after delivery! And then a big moveing house is in store. So I figured:
MAYBE, just maybe, I can do this on my own. One last ultimate attempt, not to diet, but to change my lifestyle. I really DON'T want to have surgery and all the complications that come with it. Maybe this will scare me enough to make it work this coming year!!!

I am so glad I found this board, maybe you guys can tell me that it CAN be done! Is it doomed to fail, like all my previous attempts? I don't have any choice, I think, am with my back againts the wall. It is this or surgery in a years time. :"

Hoping for some encourgament from you guys.
Love from Holland
Carina

PS my pregnancy is, as the first one, great! No usual problems associated with obeisty. I always lose wiehg tin pregnancy, went from 158 to 148 kilograms and maintaining there. This is because when I am pregnant for some reason my metabolsim spurs up and I can eat what I want (and am less hungry)
I know from experience though, that as soon as the child is out, my system crashes down and will regain weight super fast So I need to get a plan in place before then. Might try weigh****chers as soon as I deliver!

Welcome to you and congrads to your new baby. The most important is to be heatlhy. Exercise along with good quality foods is a great help. Leaning this is not new I know but start now and heopefully it will stick with you after the birth of your son. Every day, yes daily grab yourself and your son and walk even if it is around the corner and then the next day go alittle bit farther. Spend time out and about and not inside with no activity and around food. Take snacks that are good for both of you if you must but make it healthy. You can do this and you and this baby deserve a healthy Journey.................Sharon

Welcome to the board.... I wanted to ask if you plan on nursing.... I know I nursed and worked out after my daughter and I dropped 40 pounds.... but of course as soon as I stopped both the weight started to creep back.... but at leat then you can jump start things....

Thansk so far!
I want to nurse the baby, but with my first son I did not have enough milk, so it did not work. I hope this time will be different, that would indeed be a great start!

Hi There!  Welcome to our little corner of cyberworld! I think you are due to be successful...i laughed when you said you gain after babies, so did I , so did my daughters. All of us had a terrible time gaining until about 2 years after the babies.  i think we are hormonal messes. Some lucky ladies lose more than ever before after babies...why oh why not us.  Both my daughters nursed til babies were 1 year old, did not make a bit of difference. Weight hung on stubbornly. My older girl is now 31 and FINALLY is losing weight fairly easily, just by watching her portions, not ruling out any food groups.  She tries to do something active most days, like a bike ride or long walk with the boys, who are now 4 and 7 years old. She says it is like her hormones have finaly settled down. You girls are SO smart to get on track now while you are young enough to make a difference.  Trust me, when you finally wake up and stop foolish diets at age 40 like i did, it is an uphill battle all the way. Jump in here and help us all stay sane!

Welcome, Carina! Glad to have you at this board.   Since you cannot make a decision on surgery now due to your pregnancy, why don't you go to the surgery boards in this forum to see what they are going through to help you make your decision for later down the road.  You will hear pros and cons, but maybe then you can make a more wise decision for YOU and your lifestyle. Good luck, stay with us.  You'll also learn alot here as well. Bren

Bren, thank you for welcoming me. The thing is: I have researched the boards for a year now and I was doubting between a DS and giving it one last big try myself. But now that decision is out of my hands as I would have to wait at least a year from now to get surgery. So I will have to go for it myself anyway, and might as well try to do this so weel to avoid the surgery alltogether.

Neecee, thank you also. I hope my age will be my benefit here, although I have been obese all of my life. I decided the age limit of 30, BECAUSE I have seen my mom and other relatives sturrgle for 60+ years and don't want to do that...

I'll stick around and hope to do my best!

Can you say to yourself how hard you have tried to live healthy to date? I only ask because if the answer is not very hard, then do give yourself more than a year! In my mind, most people should not seriously entertain surgery til at least age 35 and can honestly declare trying consistently.  I see WLS as a positive thing for most people, and like you, agree that why put off your life for much longer???? Time to live.

You might try looking at some of the profiles of the posters. Some inspirations that I had were DonnaMarie, Neecee, Dee Mackie, and more (sorry if I left others out...these are the only ones I can think of now). Click on their pictures to find out how they did it.  Some have lost over 100 lbs.! Very inspiring to me!

what about me?  :(  sometimes i claim success....