Hey Deeno - how great to see you here!! I can't believe your little guy is going to be one! It sounds corny, but time sure does fly! I hope to see you around more often while you are trying to drop some weight. I too am trying to lose, and I find checking in here really helps. Hugs, Nancy

Hi Pam! I stuggled with infrtility. Had the HSG test done (no picnic, but I've had worse tests, too--good news is pain didn't last too long. Unfortunately didn't solve or find my problem). My little one turns one this week (adopted). He's a real joy--best thing that ever happened to us. I wish you luck with your infertility journey--not an easy one, especially when paired with weight loss. All those hormones....yikes. I couldn't lose weight at all during that time despite tons of exercise and a 1500 calorie diet. Stick to it though. Eating right will fell better, be better for your future baby, and be a good role model for your daughter. Deeno

Obesity runs in my family...on both sides. Genetically, I'm predisposed to it. As a child, my mom tried to keep us thin. We had to ask if we could get a glass a milk, soda was a no-no, and when my parents got take-out for dinner, we might sometimes get a biscuit or a tiny corner of a piece of pizza. It became such an issue for me, that when I got older, I learned to sneak food to make up for what I was never allowed to have. When I got my own job and car, I went nuts buying whatever food I wanted. That was the springboard for my food problems. Then comes the emotional stuff. As I started to gain weight, my mom made a big deal of it daily. I was always compared to my thin sisters (one now weighs what I weigh, one weighs even more), and I never felt loved. The middle sister was kind of a mess (anger issues), so a lot of time was spent on her, and I couldn't understand why they loved the mean daughter more than the fat daughter. I was ostracized by my peers, including the boys, and I was picked on all the time. That, or course, didn't make me try and lose weight...just helped me develop my binge-eating tendencies in reaction to anxiety. I would have been bulemic, but I couldn't ever throw up, no matter how hard I tried. There's a lot at work here, and I don't know that a therapist would help me see more clearly. Now that I'm older, I realize that my perception of things as a kid was way off. I wasn't any less loved...my mother was just trying to keep me from the painful life that she had led, and that I had ultimately found myself in. She just went about it in the wrong way. At any rate, I don't really have demons to work through. I just have to learn to deal with stress and anxiety in a better way. Pamela

hugs nancy i think you hit it right on the nail head

As many of you know, I started seeing a therapist about a month or so ago to try and get to the bottom of my eating compulsion. We haven't worked on that particular subject - I realize that there's a lot of digging to do in order to get there, but it kind of got me wondering. There are so many of us in this country with the disease(?) of obesity. Do any of you have any real insight into how you got to be obese (aside from the obvious overeating)? I know I have an addictive personality (I'm a recovering alcoholic and I quit smoking 7 years ago). I have a hard time with moderation - it's all or nothing with me. I really don't know why that is, and I guess that's part of what I have to find out. Do you think you were predestined to be obese? I tend to think there are a lot of factors that caused me to eat myself into obesity. What I hope to find out through therapy is what triggers my overeating and more importantly, how to control it. I hope this doesn't come off as me being too nosy. We've shared a lot with each other since our surgeries, but I also understand this is a public forum, so we don't have to get too personal. Love ya all! Hugs, Nancy