Free Web Thanks for your support!! 5px" href="http://videzonn.com/videos/j/janet_jackson/call_on_me_ft_nelly.html" mce_href="http://videzonn.com/videos/j/janet_jackson/call_on_me_ft_nelly.html" target="_blank" class="hov">CALL ON ME (FT. NELLY) (by Janet Jackson)

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May 23, 2006 

I am in the process of gaining approval to have RNY- Gastric Bypass surgery for weight loss. At this rate, I should be able to have it by the end of December, 2006 as I must complete a 6 month physician supervised diet. About me, I am happily married and have been so since 1998.  God has blessed me with a 2 year old little boy who is the most wonderful person and who makes my life worth living, I have a 14 year old step-daughter who has been with me since she was 3 years old – she was my first baby since I didn’t have children for a long time.  She helped to make me into the kind of mother I am today- which I have to say is a great mother.  I have 1 sister (really 2 because my sis-in-law is just like my sister) and 2 brothers and I am blessed to still have both my parents with me.  We are a very close family, my brother in law and sister in law (from my siblings) are too my very own family, they are like my brother and sister.  My mom’s sister and her daughter are as close as you can ever imagine.  I have wonderful in-laws who are more like my own family that raised me.  I truly blended in with these fine people and feel like I have been with them all my life.  I love them like my own.  All of the people that I talk about here are my support system, we all love each other and we all get together and get along.  It is really a blessing to not have drama in your life and to have such a large support system for anything that you might think you want to do in your life.  I have several life-long friends (over 20 years) and a couple of new friends that also feel like family to me- they are all my sisters and I don’t feel like we are just friends, we are family. I have a wonderful job that I love and proud of my life and the things that I have accomplished.  I have to start living again and I have the support and backing that I need to accomplish anything that I want to accomplish.  There is no reason that I cannot get my weight and health under control and back to where it needs to be.

I have high blood pressure and have had it for many years, some years it was treated, some it was not.  Now, it has to be treated because it has become an issue for me.  Some days I wake up and do not feel well. My head hurts, my feet hurt, my back hurt, I lack energy and I am tired a lot.  Some of this is blood pressure, most of it is weight.  I am 5’2 and weigh 235.  I have high cholesterol and a family history of heart problems, high blood pressure and diabetes.  My BMI (body mass index is 43.9) which puts me in the category of being morbidly obese.

My history

I started out at about age 13 on diets with my mom.  We always tried new things- cabbage soup diet, 7 day diet, mayo clinic diet, cutting back, exercising, everything and anything that would net us some results.  I took on my first real supervised diet by joining Nutrisystem.  It was about 1988-1989 and I was about 18-19 years old.  My weight was approximately 180.  I lost about 60 pounds on Nutrisystem.  I was on blood pressure medication then and once I lost the weight, I no longer had high blood pressure.  I moved out on my own at 21.  I started really getting into exercise around that time and would try aerobics, walking/running at the track and any other thing that came out that would help me to maintain a healthy weight.  I was pretty much dieting around that time off and on but consistently worked out.

I had a few personal issues after that, mainly with dating and boyfriends since I was single and decided that I wanted to lose the weight once and for all.  I went to the “fat doctor” on April 1, 1994.  I was given appetite suppressants and water pills.  I lost the weight and kept it off because I was eating right and working out.  The medication gave me the energy to do that and the program of eating worked.  I was not hungry so I did not overeat, I ate when I needed to eat and ate sensibly.  I worked out 7 days a week.  I weighed about 210 at the time I started and lost weight until I weighed about 140 pounds.  I was at that weight when I met my husband, Tony.  It was July, 1994 and he was perfect for me.  We both worked out and really concerned ourselves with maintaining the best possible conditions for our bodies.  We worked out together and we worked out separately but we did it consistently.  I had a partner and support system established.  We were both happy that I looked the way that I did and it felt good to be in control of my weight and my health.

Tony and I got married in May, 1998.  I stopped taking the medication around that time and also adjusted into married life.  Since I was no longer taking the medication and in marriage mode, I started to slip away from some of my healthier eating habits.  In the 2 months from my wedding to my sisters wedding, I gained 20 pounds!  I stayed that weight (approximately 160-170), until about June –July 1999.  I started a new job (the one I have now) after 11.5 years at my previous job and bought a house the same year.  I gained about 50 pounds in 1999.

At this time, I would say that I was not happy with the way I looked.  I wanted to lose the weight and would try different things to help me, I would try to do diets with my friends at work and would work out.  I could not get control of my weight.  I gained about another 20 pounds and they stuck around throughout 2000 and 2001.

The year of 2001 was a very difficult year, my husband's granny died (we were a very close knit family and this was hard), I had not lost anyone since my own grandparents died in 1988-89.  We had Hurricane Allison, our house caught fire, we had a car wreck, September 11 happened, it was a very difficult year that I will never forget.  God blessed us with being able to live with my mother-in-law during the time our home was being rebuilt.  We ate every day and it was a party.  It brought me even closer to my in laws but it was bad for my health.  We had a weight loss contest with me and my sister in law.  A trip to Vegas was at stake.  Needless to say, we lost and had to take my husband and father-in-law to Vegas. 

Near the end of 2001, I felt like once again, it was time to get it together.  I stopped eating so much with my work friends and went to Weight Watchers.  I weighed 241 at the time in December, 2001.  I worked very hard on weight watchers and became somewhat of a Weight Watchers guru.  I learned so much about the program and every aspect of my life involved my weight management so it was very easy to spend hours upon hours tweaking the program and making it work for me.  It worked for me, I started out at 241 and by the time the summer of 2003 came around, I had lost 50 pounds.  It took me about a year to lose the weight but I did it.  I was working out, packing my lunch and being very diligent about how I ate and what I ate.  I weighed and measured everything.  I was usually not hungry but I ate when I needed to eat.

In May, 2003, my husband and I decided to start trying to have a baby.  I got pregnant in 1 month!  I know that it happened so fast because I was looking good, I felt good and that is the best drug anyone could have.  I think the weight loss helped me in many ways.

I had my beautiful baby boy on 2/26/04.  I only gained 25 pounds throughout my pregnancy.  I weight 225 at 7/8 months pregnant.  My husband would take me to eat often because I was never really hungry, I didn’t want to gain weight excessively, but he wanted to see me eating because he felt that was best for the baby.  I wanted my baby to be healthy but I wanted to be healthy too so that I could carry him.  I watched what I ate and had a very successful pregnancy.  I had the baby and when I went for my 6 week checkup, I weighed 214.  By the time I went back to work after 10 weeks of maternity leave, I was back up to 220 pounds.

I went back to what I knew—Weight Watchers.  It works and is an excellent program.  I was on the program since May of 2004 and as recent as May of 2006.  My lowest weight was 214.  I have gained and lost the same 20 pounds. 

My weight in January 2005 was 240.  I wanted January 2006 to be different- and it was – but not much.  Bottom line, I need help.  I can lose the weight and will stick to any program or eating regimen that I need to- I have committed to a lot of things (diets and programs) so I have the stamina to stick it out- I just have to realize that I can no longer do it on my own.  I do best when I can see and feel results- I am very focused and can and will do whatever it takes.  I want to lose this weight once and for all and improve my health and quality of life.  Well, enough about the past. The future starts here.....