Describe your behavioral and emotional battle with weight control before learning about bariatric surgery.
I was the "thin" one out of me, my mom and my sister. My mom and sister were always over 250lbs and always dieting. I never had the problem. Until I turned 18 and my Freshman 15 was more like the Freshman 80. After that, it was impossible to lose it in a healthy way. My sophomore year of college had me losing all of it in 1.5 months...not good and not the greatest time of my life. It came back on steadily until I was about 26 and I was over 200lbs and working my way into the 2-teens. I was a size 20-22. I was depressed. I was 3 years married, wanting to have children and knowing that at this weight I would NEVER be healthily pregnant.
So I started trying in earnest. I tried Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, Nutri-System, South Beath...nothing worked. Finally I paid $2,000 out of pocket for a doctor monitored weight loss program which I followed to a T...and gained and lost the same 5 pounds in a year.
I was ashamed, depressed, embarassed. I felt like a complete failure. My mom and sister recommended bariatric surgery to me (they both by now had had RNY and were much happier). I was adamently opposed. I could do it myself. My mom suggested OH.com and begged me just to explore options. As a good daughter I listened and that's when I learned about the gastric band.
What was (is) the worst thing about being overweight?
The worst thing about being overweight was not "seeing" how overweight I was and looking back on it now. Since I was thin the whole first half of my life, I didn't get how some of the things I liked to wear, I really probably shouldn't wear until I saw pictures of myself and it was embarassing to me. I still did ballet, then was mortified at the video showing me on stage in a leotard. Who was that girl? I didn't recognize her. To this day, I still have body dysmorphia issues. Now I see myself as fat even though I am 145 lbs! My brain is slow to catch up I guess!
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 most enjoy the ability I have to move. I don't have a lot of weight to carry around so I feel more free. I no longer feel trapped under pounds of excess fat.
Stacy T.
