Alisha N.
I have been overweight my entire life. I remember sucking in my stomach at 6 years old because I had a "crush" on a boy. (yes, I started with the crushes early!). Even at my most active, when I played softball and was in pretty good shape, I still wore oversized shirts to "hide" the bulges. Although now I realize they weren't as bad as I thought, I was a size 13-14 in high school, overweight yes, but not as overweight as I felt and I think if I had made changes to my life then, my life now would have been a lot different.
I started putting on the pounds when I hit 18, I remember crying when I realized I was over 200 lbs and then consoling myself with food.
This surgery is not a magic bullet for me. I will likely always struggle with food addiction and will need to make changes to how I view food in order to be successful long term. I also realize that exercise will need to be my friend again and I will need to learn to enjoy being active again if I am going to be the healthy person I deserve to be.