DrewMN
I am what some people here might call a lightweight...But, in my mind, I am anything but...
In my 20's and 30's I generally weighed in the mid 180's with occasional forays above 190 and back down again. All that changed when I was in my late 30's and had some medical issues that put me on a medication that caused my weight to soar in excess of 40 pounds. At the same time, I quit smoking and that also had an impact on my weight. Over the next dozen years, my weight continued to climb and I finally reached a high of 260 lbs.
Enough is enough...I am 50 years old and I was feeling like I was 70. I am without any medical issues except sleep apnea, which I had when I was much thinner, but I have a family history of heart problems, aneurysms, strokes, etc. I really needed to take care of things before the history came to visit me. By "the chart", I was 100 lbs over my proper weight and at a BMI of 39. I requested a referral to a bariatric specialist to discuss my options.
I lost 8 lbs before I first met with the surgeon. He required an additional 10 lbs before surgery. I met that requirement (plus a couple extra lbs) one month later. Other requirements of the insurance company included 2 visits with the dietitian, 3 visits with the psychologist and 5 phone visits with the insurance company's diet and exercise counselors. Once I jumped through all of those hoops, they were ready to request the insurance approval.
Who would have believed it, but the approval was back in just over 24 hours...Wow... I am tentatively scheduled for the VSG on 12/16/2013. I would love to reach and maintain 170, but would be happy to get back around 180...But, one step at a time.