LaToya S.

Send Message

Block

Add Friend

Monday December 26, 2011 Words cannot explain everything that is going through my head right now. We spent less than $100 on Christmas this year for the kids and did not get anything for ourselves. Now, I can say that is was one of the best Christmases I have had. Friends (that we now consider family) invited us over for dinner and it was not a big deal that I had limited food choices. There were HUGE brown and serve rolls and I passed on them (I couldn’t believe I didn’t even touch them). I actually had time to enjoy the company I was with. I also spoke to my grandmother for a while Christmas Day. She helped me realize something that my husband had been telling me; to STOP spending so much time on the websites for weight loss. Now, I really love the sites I am on and appreciate the tips and information. On the other hand I am reading horror stories and other items that are making me doubt my decision. A few days ago I found myself looking into a revision for a Duodenal Switch. When I decided on the VSG I was committed to it 100% and was going to be one of the ones who got to their goal with just one surgery! I see that I am losing the pizazz I once had. So I have decided to limit my time on these sites and only post and comment once a week. Deep down I know that it is what’s best for me. The other day I read a post where the author stated that you have to be militant to be successful with weight loss with bariatric surgery. That post really struck home for me. I realized that I am not doing everything I could be doing in order to be successful at this. So now I am refocused and know what I need to. It is funny that I am going through all of these emotions and I am only 26 days Post-Op. Bariatric Surgery really takes a toll on you; I see that now. I felt like I was pretty prepared for this but I’m still thrown curve balls and know that there are many more to come. But I will keep on swinging. I have started tracking my measurements so I have another way of measuring my success and I am also going to start tracking my percentages of weight loss not just pounds. I know I can do this! Yes I Can!

Tuesday October 25, 2011 Today is my first time officially writing my first BLOG post. I have been in the process of getting weight loss surgery for several weeks now and am currently still in the PRE-OP phase of bariatric surgery. I am going to go backwards and catch everyone up on my journey. I have been the “BIG” Girl for as far back as I can remember. Always being called ‘chunky’ or ‘chubby’ and that I have a pretty face; I did not let my weight bother me. When someone did say something about my weight I was able to intimidate them by my size (I must admit I was a little bit of a bully as a child). Now I could go into all the gory details about how I was molested as a child and that the only boyfriends I had growing up were men way older than me who could easily prey on me due to my insecurities but that is not what I want my BLOG to be about. Like I stated previously, I really was not giving my weight much thought…until….July of 2011. Now- please don’t think that I was not heavy prior to this. My highest weight has been 404lbs. I have done WeightWatchers several times and loosing 70lbs at the most. Needless to say, when I lost the 70lbs I was taking adipex and once I was off the pills, the pounds came back with a vengeance. I have always battled my weight. When I was 19 I was finally diagnosed with PCOS (PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome). It was such a sigh of relief to know there was a medical reason behind me constantly craving carbs and my neck and eyes being shades darker than the rest of my skin. My grandmother was constantly asking me if I was washing my neck! When she use to ask me this I would feel so hurt, but now I can laugh about it. For those of you who do not know what PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome is I am going to give you the Readers Digest Version. PCOS is when there is an imbalance of hormones, it can cause insulin resistance, skin discoloration, infertility and other issues. PCOS for me was one of the reasons why I was having such a hard time losing weight. My endocrinologist put me on a regimen of metformin. I started off with 500mg and eventually worked my way up to 2000mg a day. When I still was not losing weight he started me on adipex. The adipex and metformin worked for a little while. I remember asking him about weight loss surgery. He stated that it was an option but he felt that I was young enough to try and get the weight off myself. So I spent the next several years loosing and gaining and then just saying the heck with it regarding my weight. In January of 2009 my job had an advancement opportunity for me that resulted in me relocating from Georgia to Illinois. I had just met this wonderful man and on a leap of faith we relocated with my then 5 year old son. Me and my now husband LOVED to eat. We would check out the restaurants we had seen on Man vs Food or read about in Sauce Magazine. We really and truly enjoyed eating. And all that eating just added additional pounds to my 5’4” frame and being in a new area (especially so close to St.Louis) we had even more places to eat at and new places to try.