Describe your behavioral and emotional battle with weight control before learning about bariatric surgery.
All of my life I dieted; I was the chubby kid in elementary school, and I hated being made fun of. I remember being on a "cabbage soup and hot dogs only" diet in the late '70s when I was in elementary school. I think my mom was on it and allowed me to do it, too.
In middle school and high school nothing took more precedence in my mind than my weight. I hated being overweight (though, really, the heaviest I got then was in the 170s. But in the '70s and '80s you didn't see all the children and teenagers you see now who are super-morbidly obese, so my weighing 170 seemed huge to everyone). My weight never left my mind.
In college, I continued the battle.
I got married, and on my wedding day weighed 173. I felt huge. We had three children, and with each one, I gained 40 or 50 pounds. I tried Formu-3 Weight Loss center, Weight Watchers, eDiets, nutritional supplements, and more. I would lose some weight, then gain it back, with extra added on.
My ob/gyn told me, when I was 38, that I was on the verge of having diabetes, which runs in my family like wildfire. He asked if I'd ever thought about WLS. I had thought about it, but didn't know if I was brave enough to do it.
What was (is) the worst thing about being overweight?
Being made fun of, trying to fit in in groups of women, knowing I was standing out like a sore thumb. Feeling undeserving, and invisible. Feeling like I took up too much space, but not being able to do anything about it. Thinking I looked pretty in a new outfit, then seeing a picture of myself in it, and hating what I saw.
If you have had weight loss surgery already, what things do you most enjoy doing now that you weren't able to do before?
Buy clothes almost anywhere I want to (except places like Abercrombie & Fitch, where an XL is actually a M.) lol Have a new job I love that requires that I be on tv sometimes, and I'm ok with that. Actually, I LOVE that. :) Many more things, too, like jogging up stairs instead of dragging up them, breathless. It's so wonderful. I am blessed!
StephanieF.
