I have had a weight problem all my life. I gained and lost for years, most successfully in 1989 when I dropped 130 lbs. by counting calories and moderate exercise. And, of course, it came back. It took about 13 years for it to make its full return but return it did … and with a few extra friends.
So here I found myself at age 50, over 330 lbs, taking a big handful of pills every day to control blood pressure, cholesterol, blah blah blah. Leg and ankle joints always hurt. Always tired and with less energy and strength than my older friends.
My first choice was that I could just continue what I was doing with the certainty that I’d be dead by age 60. Or, I could somehow figure out a way to lose 100 plus lbs once again the way I had before. But there are plenty of statistics which indicate that even if I was able to do it, the weight would almost certainly come back within a few years. I am living evidence that those statistics are correct.
Just to clarify, the first choice was to do nothing and be dead at 60. The second was to diet and exercise away the weight in which case I would probably be healthy and happy at 55, back where I started by 60, and shopping for funeral homes at 65. The only choice I had left was gastric bypass because with surgery, I am sure I can get the weight off initially and because there is a much higher probability that after I lose the weight, I’ll be able to keep it off.
That’s why I’m here!
