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Obesity & Me

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

As a child and teenager, weight was never an issue for me. I always maintained a pretty slender figure and up until I got pregnant with my first child right out of high school, I never weighed more than around 130 pounds. At 5' 7", I was not considered fat. I begin slowly gaining weight after my first child, but still was okay with myself because I was not yet into double digit clothing. Horrible logic I know. 4 years later, I became pregnant again and suddenly, the weight began piling on and it wasn't slowly this time. I found myself hugely overweight, unhappy and in a perpetual state of self sabotage. Anytime I got depressed, I would just eat more. Happy?? Eat more again. You get the idea, I was an emotional eater. When my husband begin pulling away from me as I approached close to 300 pounds, I decided I had to make a change. Not for him, but for myself. I knew that because I wasn't happy and comfortable with myself, I was pushing those closest to me, away. The last thing I wanted was to be overweight AND alone.

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

The relationships with friends and some family that I ruined. I was so incredibly miserable, that quite literally, people got sick of being around me.

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 can do everything I want now. I can go to the trails and run or walk and not get winded in 2 minutes. I can play baseball and football with my boys. I can tie my own shoes without struggling to breathe while I'm bent over. I can walk into any store with my friends and not stand in the corner ashamed, because I can't fit into the clothes. I am a better person. My attitude has done a complete 180 degree turn around. Friends, family and co-workers have all commented on how much they love the new me and I know they aren't talking about my size.

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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