MagickalMom
Where I began this journey~ written January 2005
I am a twenty something mother of one and Army wife. I have struggled with obesity all of my life. All through my youth, I was a competitive swimmer, diver, and track & field athlete but I remained overweight. I remember reaching 200 lbs and a size 16 when I was in 9th grade but no one ever really saw me as overweight because I was a successful athlete and "carried my weight well." I continued to gain weight slowly throughout high school and into college, no matter what kind of diet, exercise program, or nutrition program I tried the numbers continued to creep up the scale. My husband and I tried to get pregnant for 3 years before I finally found out that we had succeeded. For a long time I lost weight during my pregnancy and my doctor was supportive. Unfortunately, during my third trimester, I was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and was put on bed rest. Before I knew it, I gained over 50 pounds in less than 6 weeks. After my son was born, I figured I could lose the weight but I never did. Several years later, I peeked at 257 pounds and I found myself taking medications for blood pressure, allergies, asthma, joint pains, insomnia, etc… I had tried every prescription drug, every miracle pill, programs, nutrition programs, etc… and nothing had been successful for me. A turning point in my life came when my six-year-old son looked at me and asked me if I wanted X miracle pill (weight loss drug advertised on television). “I want you to be skinny so we can do karate together.” I just cried right there since I had just finished yet another medically supervised weight loss program, that day, with the label of “morbidly obese.” I thought back to all those bottles of medication my mother has to take for her various illnesses (related to her own weight problem) and I vowed right then and there, that I did not want this to continue, it was time to take more drastic measures. I WANTED to be healthy; I wanted to live life for me and for my family! I wanted to stop the obesity legacy our family was leaving for future generations with me! And so I did it. After much waiting (and fighting the Army healthcare system), I managed to get myself approved for gastric bypass surgery. January 19, 2005 now marks the first day of the rest of my new life as a healthy, young, & vibrant ME!
