Ladyblu
I am 52, 5'2" tall and have been overweight most of my life. There was two short periods when I was an ideal weight. When I was 3 years old and when I was 17-19 years old.
My family's unspoken motto is/was "If you love it, feed it!". So it was ingrained at an early age that food was special, a reward, and treating yourself or others to special meals and food was a good thing and a sign of love. When I was in my twenties, I went for counseling and realized the pitfalls of those lessons. However, by then I was addicted to food. Mmmm... a whole box of rice-a-roni for me! Italian sausage... Mmmm. Give me a plate of pork chops and I was a happy camper.
I used to hit multiple fast food restaurants so no one would notice that I was ordering multiple meals. If I did order two sandwiches, I would also order two drinks so I could "fool" the employees that I was ordering for more than one person. I would eat myself into a food "coma". So I packed on the pounds. I would lose weight when I wasn't in a relationship, but as soon as I was comfortable and in a committed relationship I would again balloon up.
Over the years, my top weight limit increased. First 200, then 225, then 275, and so on until I finally reached a top weight of about 585LBs. I have bounced between 475 and 550 for the last 5 years. I considered bariatric surgery several times, but my company discontinued coverage about 10 years ago and had a rider that specifically prohibited any type of treatment for obesity. Even if I wanted to pay for it myself, they had a clause that stated that any complications would be out of pocket for me. My husband is self-employed so my job provides the insurance benefits and a substantial amount of our income so I couldn't (wouldn't) risk it. I ended up with severe lymphodema after I contracted Vibrio Vulnificus during an excursion to the ocean. I almost died. I survived, but after that time, I was in a motorized wheelchair as I could not walk due to the large lymphadema lobes on my legs.
Finally, my company, (for reasons quite unknown and perplexing) began covering bariatric surgery on June 1, 2017. Out of the blue. In the middle of a plan year.
And the timing was impeccable. I was working the day before I was scheduled for gall bladder removal surgery and my assistant was on the HR website. She asked me if I had seen the announcement for the change in coverage. I immediately contacted my surgeon (whose specialty is actually bariatric surgery... imagine that!) and asked her if we could postpone and do both at the same time. She cancelled the OR reservation and got me in her office instead so we could being the process. So I went on the fast track. I completed all the prerequisites in about 45 days and was sleeved on 9/29/17. I started the final phase diet on 7/13 so by the time I went for surgery, I had lost 62 pounds.
I know this is not going to be an easy journey. I found this site and did some lurking. I look forward to both getting and receiving support from this group while I travel the path back to a "normal" lifestyle where I only take up one airplane seat and can again walk and sit in a movie theatre.
I am Ladyblu1 on MyFitnessPal. Feel free to ping me.
