Pixie-Power
My story is like many others. I come from a long line of "fatties." Looking at my ancestors, on both sides of the family, they're all overweight. And I come from solid German and Scottish stock: a family that loves meat and potatoes, emphasis on potatoes (and bread, rice, pasta). I began putting on weight in my teens. Back then, I was pretty active, so I was able to keep it under control pretty easily. However, by the time I got to college, I was less active, and the weight didn't come off as easily. Since college, I have been on the typical yo-yo track of dieting: joining a weight loss program and/or gym, losing the weight, putting it back on plus a few extra pounds, going on another diet, losing the weight, only to regain it and more later, etc. By the time I hit 50, I'd been morbidly obese for several years. It was no longer as easy to lose the weight as it was in my teens, 20s and even 30s. I had become cynical about every diet program -- I'd tried so many and none of them ever lasted more than a year. But, I also saw what obestiy had done to the health of many family members, and I just didn't want to go down that same path.
When I first looked into weight loss surgery, I wasn't interested. Who would want to purposely mutilate their body for the sake of vanity (looking thin)? But the more I learned about it, the more I looked at the alternatives, and the more I found myself creeping toward obesity related diseases (GERD, high blood pressure, bad knees and frequent back aches), it became apparant that I was on a path of self destruction if I didn't make some dramatic changes in my life. So, I finally realized that I was not going to go on yet another failed diet. Rather, I was going to have the sleeve done because it would give me the opportunity to not only lose the weight, but to finally keep it off.
I am 53 years old and 5 feet 1 inch tall. I am trying to keep my expectations realistic and my perspective in check. When all is said and done, I know I won't have the body of Angelina Jolie. But I do expect to be healthier, to have more energy for work and play, and to rediscover some of the activities I used to enjoy (hiking, swimming, horsebackriding, scuba diving) that I have slowly given up over the years because of my weight.