PSJ71
Well, let's see. I was born weighing in at 5 pounds and 5 ounces and being 18 inches long. How small and short. :) Unfortunately, by the time I turned 6 my weight gain had started. I really started gaining a lot of weight after the age of 9 or 10 after having a slipped capital femoral epiphysis and was limited in activity due to fear of reinjury and an another occurance of the same on the opposite side. So, there was a course of about 2 years I was not real active.
My father was/is overweight. My mother was always thin until she had all 4 children. Then over the years she gained weight, but she was never considered obese. I was the only one out of the children who ended up with such a severe weight problem. I tried many diets and of course lost weight only to gain back what I had lost plus some.
In 2000, I decided to stop smoking and joined a gym to become healthy once and for all. I was successful and lost a great deal of weight and felt wonderful. Then my husband and I decided to have a baby in February of 2001. In April, I found out our little bundle would be here in December. Throughout the course of my pregnancy I gained 50 pounds. On the arrival of my son, I weighed 250 pounds. I dropped 25 pounds right after having him, only to regain over 30 pounds in 2 months.
I joined weight watchers twice in the last 2 years. The first time I lost 17 pounsd in 5 weeks. Yeaaahhh me!! Then, in May of 2006, my mother had an exacerbation of COPD and was put in ICU for three months, at which time she was put on a ventilator and moved to an extended-care facility in Eufaula. You guessed it!! After spending all my time at the hospital with her, I fell off my diet with WW and gained my weight back. I joined WW for a second time this past February and went until June of this year, losing 13 pounds. I became frustrated and also stressed about my mom that I just stopped going and have only gained 3 pounds back. So, I guess that's not too bad. A few years ago, my mom had told me that my aunt and cousin had the lap band surgery and had lost some weight. At the time, I was not interested and thought I could be tough again and lose the weight on my own. It wasn't until this year that I really realized that for me food is an addiction just like alcoholism or drugs. When I do try to diet I ALWAYS feel hungry, which sets me up for more failure. So, I decided to research the lap band and have decided this is what I need to do.
My mom passed away on August 2, 2008, at the age of 64, before I could tell her of my plan to have the surgery. She would have been so proud. She was always worried about my weight. She wanted me to lose the weight not only for me, but for my son. So, I can be around to see him grow up. So, here we go, I guess. I know this is going to be a struggle for me, probably even with the band, but it's going to make it much easier once I hit that "sweet" spot! I look forward to sharing my journey and reading about others' and making new and lasting friendships.
Thank you for reading my story.
