Well, like most obese people, I've been heavy all my life, ever since I was a lil' chunker of a girl. I was always the heaviest girl in my classes during elementary school, but I was also always the tallest girl in my classes. I just thought it was pretty cool to stand in the back row during my class pictures since I was tall. But then in middle school, other kids started catching up to my height but I still stood with the tallest. In the high school years, others grew taller than me but I saw my heaviness as being muscular. I was a lot stronger than most of my friends. When college came around, I packed on the "Freshman 30" instead of the normal 15 pound gain. I yo-yo'ed on diets for many years starting in college. South Beach Diet, Weight Watchers, etc etc. I lost about 35 lbs. on the South Beach Diet but like all diets, they are temporary and not permanent unless you really desire to eat only certain foods for the rest of your life. Then my dad passed away on December 18, 2004 (I was 21 years old) from cancer....and the South Beach Diet flew out the window! All sorts of comfort foods were around and I indulged in everything I could get my hands on. Needless to say, I packed on the pounds I previously lost, and then some, all within about six months. Talk about depressing!

I found out I had hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) in March 2007. I started taking the medication to help my thyroid act in a "normal" range so I could metabolize food and not pack on pounds, no matter how much I exercised. I thought this "magic" pill would cure my obesity! Boy, was I wrong. It felt like that "magic" pill made me want food even more! Needless to say, since I didn't see much improvement from my medication, I got more serious about weight loss surgery. I did all the research I could and then I finally attended my surgeon's pre-op class. My weight loss surgery adventure began in May 2007, at which time I had my first appointment with my nutritionist for my supervised weight loss visit. I had surgery on March 5, 2008 and it's one of the best decisions of my life that I've made so far! I am excited for everything in my future and can't wait to see how much I lose with this new tool!