Weight Loss Surgery Forums

"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words." Author Unknown

Given that February is a month where love is often on one's mind, I can't help but think about a particular friendship that's been in my life for nine years.

Kelli and I first met on a message board that was geared towards weight loss when I was living in Michigan and she was living in Oklahoma. Over time we grew to know each other better and eventually wound up meeting, and then miraculously lived near each other for a few years. While life has taken us many states away again, this Danish proverb summarizes our friendship up well: "The road to a friends house is never long."

For a vast majority of our friendship, Kelli and I were both over 300 pounds. Through the years, we attempted to lose weight many times, and often had successes, only to regain. About two years ago, I hit a top weight of 380 pounds and decided that I wanted to pursue weight loss surgery. I have since lost over 170 pounds and have been holding steady around 210 for several months now. Kelli has been a member of Weight Watchers for over a year and has lost nearly 70 pounds. While her losses don't come as fast, she has made so many gradual changes towards healthy living that not only have benefited her, but have benefited her family.

It was very important to me to have Kelli's support in pursuing weight loss surgery and we both had a number of fears about how my having surgery would impact our friendship. As many of us are acutely aware, often relationships (even friendships) don't survive when one has weight loss surgery. Fortunately for us, our friendship is rooted in far more than our weight. Right now we're focused on living our best lives and are so thankful to have each other to travel this road with. In my opinion, a big part of why we've been able to "make it" is that we are very open with each other – the good, the bad, and the ugly. While it can be uncomfortable to be honest at times, it's necessary in keeping our friendship strong.

Last year we launched a website called Sangria Sisters, where we blog about our experiences with our respective weight loss tools. Our intent is not to compare the pros and cons of our tools or to be seen as advocates for choosing one tool over the other. We're merely sharing our travels as we work through the emotional and mental health aspects related to weight loss and want to encourage others on their path to wellness, regardless of the tool they select.

We hope that you'll stop by to say hello and share your journey with us! A well-known woman once said, "It takes a village to raise a child." We feel the same about weight loss. Indeed, it takes a village.