Describe your behavioral and emotional battle with weight control before learning about bariatric surgery.

I have always been "thick." I had a sporty body as a child because I was so active. It wasn't until middle school (when i stopped being so active) that I started getting chubby. I was teased, mocked and laughed at, even by my own family. My older sister has always been a skinny minny (shes a size 0-1) and my mom would introduce me to people as the "big, little sister." Coming from a mother who wasn't skinny either, this made me hate myself. I started taking hydroxycut when I was 13. I took about 12 pills a day and the ephedrine messed up my heart and metabolism. I lost about 30lbs in two months. Was it dangerous? yes! but i didnt care at the time, I was being noticed by boys, my family wasn't teasing me anymore...life was good, but only for a couple of years. At 17, I fell in love for the first time. My mom put me on birth control and I gained about 30lbs in a couple of months. Nothing I could do would get rid of the weight, but I was only an 11 and didnt mind it too much. A year and a half later, my boyfriend was killed in Iraq. I went into a severe depression and food was my best friend. I gained about 40-50 lbs in that first year alone. Later on, I fell in love again and married. Gained more weight. Had our first son. gained more weight. Immediatly had another baby (whoops!) and gained even more weight....and well a year later here I am. The heaviest I have ever been, 240. My husband is in the military and he has to stay in shape as a part of his job...I've tried diets, working out with him...everything makes him lose weight...it does nothing for me. So i went to my doctor and they diagnosed me as pcos and told me it will be hard to lose weight. We tried medications (metformin etc), food journals, nutritionalists....but the most that came off was 5-7 lbs. Thats when she recommended the surgery and here we are! I will hopefully be having surgery at the end of april or early may.

What was (is) the worst thing about being overweight?

my health! i cant even play with my boys without being winded! diabetes runs in both sides of my family and i do not want to be included in that club! i used to want to be skinny, but now i just want my health back. I want to run without stopping to catch my breath. I want to be able to go a whole day exploring without having to stop and sit down constantly. I want my legs, feet and back to stop hurting from all the excess weight they are being forced to carry.

If you have had weight loss surgery already, what things do you most enjoy doing now that you weren't able to do before?

I havent had surgery yet, but I will be so excited to shop at normal clothing stores! Plus size clothes is so expensive!