Monique S.
Hi, My name is Monique, and I hope to have the Lap Band 
procedure very soon. I have struggled with my weight for all of my adult life. From birth until about 8 years old, I was a "normal" size child. In about 3rd grade, is when I began to gain weight. By the time I was in 8th grade, I was noticeably overweight . I was about 180lbs and wearing a size 18. I was very self conscious of my weight. During my first two years of high school, I was some how able to control my weight. Although I wasn't really gaining much weight, I was still very self conscious. By the time I graduated from high school, I weighed 244lbs and was wearing a size 22. I left for college right after high school, and gained even more weight while I was away. I got a wake up call, when a close friend of mine, said something to me about my weight gain. I knew I had gained, but I had kind of given up on losing it or even caring anymore, and I really didn't care to hear what she had to say 
. I had gained a total of 38lbs during my first year of college, which put me at 282lbs. I began to work out and eat right, and I lost about 15lbs, but became unmotivated. Over the next few years, I continued to gain weight. I got another wake up call when I went to an amusement park. I tried to get on a ride, and could not fit in the sit. I had to do the "walk of shame" while everyone looked at me. I was totally humiliated and embarrassed. Instead of feeling down and sorry for myself, I was finally motivated to do something about my weight problem. In February of 2005, I heard about a Dr. who subscribed an appetite suppressant called Phentermine. I gave that a try and was very successful. I lost 85lbs in a six month time frame, going from 305lbs down to 220lbs. I was finally feeling good 
and had such a positive outlook on life. Unfortunately
, all that happiness was short lived. I found out I was pregnant with my son, and with that came weight gain. My first month alone, I gained 33lbs
. Over the course of my pregnancy, I continued to pack on the pounds. By the time I had my son, in April of 2006, I had gained all the weight I lost, plus 19 additional pounds. That put my at 324lbs. This was a bitter sweet time for me. I was naturally not happy with the gain, but I was so in love 
with my baby boy that I really didn't let it affect me. By the time I went for my six week check-up, I had some how managed to lose 20lbs
. I let that be my motivation to continue losing the weight. I started taking the pills again and the weight continued coming off. I got down to 270lbs and once again became unmotivated. The weight slowly came back on. Over the next couple of years I would go up and down. I finally reached my highest recorded weight of 337 in 2010. I was very unhappy, disappointed and angry 
with myself. I had finally had enough with the yo-yo dieting, so I went to a lap band seminar. I was very excited about the idea of having the surgery and losing the weight once and for all. Once left the seminar, I had made up my mind that WLS was not for me. I really hadn't done any research, so I went into it kind of blind. I decided after that to try something different other than the phertermine. I joined Weight Watchers in April of 2010. I loved the whole point system and I was losing once again. I lost a total of 42lbs going from 337 to 295 and I was feeling good yet again
. I was doing so well with the program and working out, then the dreaded stall happened
. At first, I didn't let it get me down. I continued to do what I needed to do. But after 5 months of hard work and dedication and no progress, it's kind of hard to stay motivated. So eventually old habits started to re-surface, and eventually the whole plan was out the window. The weight gain soon followed and I found myself back up to 321lbs. I had re-gained 16lbs. Afraid of gaining all the weight back, I immediately revisited the idea of WLS and soon began doing research on lap band. I went to the seminar on 8/30/11 and couldn't wait to begin the whole process. I will be submitting a claim to my insurance in a few days and I hope to get an approval letter very soon. In the mean time, I have gotton back into the habit of making healthier food choices and working out. I have lost 7lbs and my current weight is 313.6. I am so very excited about this surgery and can't wait to start this journey. I look forward to sharing my experience with you all. I wish all of you many blessings with your weight loss. I am open to all comments, suggestions, advice, etc. Thanks in advance for everything
.
