celticfaery

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Obesity & Me

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

It was a constant battle between the mind and body when it came to dieting. It's just so sad how much suffering that you go through just to succeed and lose 10 pounds in a month on the latest fad diet, only to eat wrong for one day and gain it all back plus some within a matter of days. You end up dieting your way to your highest weight. How is it that we can diet all our lives and still end up Super Morbidly Obese? I know I am responsible for the bad choices that I have made in the past, but you would think that in the eyes of society, the hundreds of pounds that you have lost in the past would count for something. Yet you're still overweight... You finally get to the point where all seems lost and it's hopeless to even try again. There was no light at the end of my tunnel.

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

Everything. Everything was a constant battle and struggle. From getting out of bed to getting back in and everything in between. But I think the absolute worst would be the effect it had on my children. Seeing my oldest constantly ask me if she's fat - even though she is normal weight. Seeing my youngest struggle with a few pounds that doesn't want to budge no matter how much she exercises and makes good choices when she eats. Seeing her cry when her jeans won't button. Seeing her compare herself to her thinner sister. My heart breaks when they feel insecure.

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 was sleeved in 2007 and added the Duodenal Switch in 2012. The thing I enjoy most now is looking to the future. At one point in time, my future was dark and grim. But I see light at the end of the tunnel now. I enjoy living and being alive. I don't want to take anything for granted anymore.

ARE YOU READY TO PAY IT FORWARD & SHARE YOUR JOURNEY? Your journey will help highlight the many ways weight loss surgery improves lives and makes a difference in our families, communities and world. EACH JOURNEY COUNTS as a voice towards greater awareness.

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