Describe your behavioral and emotional battle with weight control before learning about bariatric surgery.
I was very active during my childhood and teen years--being a track runner and cheerleader kept me pretty much in shape. When I graduated high school, I weighed roughly 115 - 120. After I started working full-time, my weight crept up to 135 in my early 20's. After I had my first son at the age of 27, my weight went from 135 to 214. After giving birth, my weight dropped, but immediately ballooned back over 200, and its been uphill every since, with short dips in weight lose from being on Weight Watchers, but I could never break that 200 mark. The toughest thing for me emotionally was knowing what my life was like prior to the weight gain. I knew what it was like to be thin, and in my mind that's all I knew was being thin, and I could never reconcile the two--once being thin, and now being overweight. Therefore, I could never accept the fact that I was overweight. I heard many of times, "You're beautiful and you have to accept yourself, then others will accept you" That was so far from the truth for me, because I could not accept being overweight, and if I didn't accept it, surely I wouldn't expect anyone else to accept it. So here I am today, after making a final decision to do something about my weight.
What was (is) the worst thing about being overweight?
The worst thing about being overweight for me was not being able to walk into stores and choose the styles of clothing that I liked. I'm only 5, 2", so trying to find clothes in Lane Bryant, whose styles are cut for long bodies, or taller, broader women was not working for me. Then there were other stores such as the Avenue and Ashley Stewart, but again, their clothes were not of the styles I would wear.
The second worst thing about being overweight was that it affected my social life. Because I couldn't find clothes that I liked, I would not go out. The only place I would go was to work and church, and that was because I could wear conservative clothes, matronly-looking clothes and fit right in. I couldn't wear the the "fun" outfits for going to parties and other social gatherings, therefore, I didn't date. I would meet men all the time, but I would reject them because in my mind I thought "who would ever want to date someone who is overweight", so I didn't date.
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 am only 2 days post-op, and I could pretty much do everything now that I did before. I had no health issues, such as high-blood pressure, diabetes, joint problems, etc. Prior to surgery, I climbed two flights of stairs daily, I could still run, lift my legs, and bend over and touch the ground. So when I decided to have the VSG, it was to prevent the health issues so I could continue to do all those things, and to keep the health issues from occurring, but most importantly it was to change my appearance, so that I could feel better about myself.
Jus1nita
