I just thought I'd go in depth a little more about my life and struggles with weight.

I was born into a southern family who equated being large-sized to being 'healthy'. If one weren't slightly chubby, they would somehow believe that something was 'wrong' health-wise. I think this and other factors contributed to my early-life weight gain.

I lived with my mother and grandmother most of my childhood. My mother tells me that my grandmother used to feed me cornbread softened with 'pot liquor' (the juices left from some sort of cooked vegetable or bean) when I was a baby. As a child, I lived on tons of junk food (potato chips, candy, pastries, fast food, etc.) because I didn't like many healthy foods. I never really exercised outside of gym class at school since I would be so out-of-breath and tired from moving around. I also didn't get much physical activity in since I was teased mercilessly by children and the teasing would increase if I did try to get some exercise in around them. The last reason was that I lived in a particularly bad neighborhood that was buzzing with shootings and drug activity. I preferred reading books, watching television, writing stories, and drawing.

 Since I was eating like this and leading a sedentary lifestyle, the weight piled on very quickly. Doctors warned my mother that I was heading towards a life of obesity if I didn't stop what I was doing wrong, but she didn't particularly listen and neither did I. I knew what I was doing wasn't exactly the best for my health, but I was a child. I was more interested in what was on television than what my life would be like when I became a 'grown up'. I sincerely wish I would have payed attention then since I am paying for my actions now, but I can't really change the past.

The weight continued to pile on in my late childhood and teen years. I believe that I started eating even more around 1998 when my grandmother died. I didn't know how to cope with the death of someone I lived with for a decade, so I turned to my 'best friend'--food. My grades also started to decline a bit after her death, which in turn made me even more depressed and even more attentive to eating. I didn't really get any sort of counseling until age 14 and that helped me a bit. I lost 28 pounds and my grades went back up to their usual A/B status. However, I gained that weight back and then some. I tried dieting and that didn't really help. Once I started eating 'normally', the weight just piled back on. I had just given up on trying to lose anything and prepared for a life of being morbidly obese.

In 2006 I moved to Pittsburgh, PA. (I'm originally a Florida girl. :D) I went to my new doctor and he suggested gastric bypass surgery. I was shocked to have someone suggest something so terribly drastic and laughed it off at first. After some research, I finally decided that I would give it a shot and went to my first appointment. However, I wasn't exactly ready to change my life and ignored the pre-op diet and exercise regimen. It wasn't until December 2007 that I finally decided that I needed to get serious and vowed to go through all the required pre-op testing and 6 month diet during 2008.

It's nearly July now and I'm nearing the sixth and last month of my pre-op diet. (The diet wasn't so successful in the beginning, but I've lost 14 pounds in the past few months after finally sticking to all the guidelines.) I still have to go through Psych testing and have my blood drawn, but I'm almost there. I can taste it now.

Some people may say that I'm too young to have the surgery, but all I have to say to the nay-sayers is that I am fully aware of the risks and benefits of going through with this surgery. I'm not doing it to just be able to fit into cute clothes (even though that is a definite perk. :D). I want to be healthy. I

'm tired of not being able to walk up a hill without feeling like my lungs and heart are going to burst out of my chest. (This is a severe disadvantage since Pittsburgh is insanely hilly.)

I'm tired of having my knees and ankles ache when I walk even the shortest distances.

I want to run and be active without feeling like dying. I want to do many things that I can't do because of this weight.

Here's hoping for the best.

About Me
Pittsburgh, PA
Location
49.9
BMI
RNY
Surgery
06/08/2009
Surgery Date
Mar 19, 2007
Member Since

Friends 5

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