Hello my name is anita. i"ve been married 25yrs in july. i"ll be 50 yrs old in nov.  but fell like 30 something [ in my head]  [body wise, old ]  growning up, i was average weight not skinny but not over weight. in my 20's i had my 2 babies. then i started gaining weight and never stoped.  i would try all the new diets  jenny craig  weight watchers  phenphen  cabage soup u name it i tryed it.  i love to ski [water] hike, camp, ride a bike, snow shoes,love working in my yard. anything outdoors i'm there. about two yrs ago i started to reliaze that my weight was starting to stop me from doing the things i love to do. the boat would not pull me out of the water to ski, the seat on my bike got really small, hiking,  my kneens ankles and back could not take it any longer my breathing was out of control,. felt like i was having a heart attack.  same thing with snow shoeing i would sink farther into the snow and to walk was twice as hard. so i started to make excuses i would say i was sick when it came time to go hiking. i was to embarses to admitt my weight has gotton to the best of me.  i can't  get a handle on it . so at 267 lbs  I WANT MY LIFE BACK   they put me on high blood pressure med. and my sugar is boarder line.  when i found out the military hospitals were doing the surgery, it was the greatest thing besides apple pie  i mean  protein drinks  so i started my pathway feb 27 2008  to the new me