Becky B.
My story...hmmm. I'm guessing that means the story of me and fat. I was not an overweight child. I think things changed around puberty. Even then, though, I was just chunky not fat. By the time I was 19, I think I weighed around 175. Not huge by most standards, but starting to see it as a problem. The poop really hit the fan after marrying my first husband. I was so excited to be a wife and wanted to impress my husband with my culinary prowess. The problem was that I REALLY enjoyed my own cooking. I ate my way to 220 pounds I believe within the first year. Then my husband at that time said, "You'll never lose weight. You'll always be fat." It was a heinous comment and it hurt. It ended up challenging me, though, and I set out to lose weight. Through diet and excercise over the course of two years I was able to get down to 148 pounds!!! What an exhilarating experience. I threw out all my big clothes and decided I would never be fat again.
Then my life changed course. There was a crisis in my marriage and we moved to another state. I was really confused and depressed and started turning to food again for comfort. Slowly but surely the weight crept back up to 220 again. I tried the Atkins diet and lost thirty pounds in two months, but that didn't last. I gained the weight back again. My husband and I then separated and I moved back home. There, through diet and excercise again, I lost down to 195. Much water went under the bridge as I went through a divorce, a remarriage and the birth of two children AND the addition of a high stress sedentary job. The stress was monumental and I packed on the pounds until I peaked at 321. My sister, who has also always struggled with her weight, came out for a three week visit and she and I both lost 10 pounds. I've managed to keep that off for a year now, but big whoop. It's a drop in the bucket.
Now my struggle is getting started again. I have SOOO much to lose, and I know the work that has to go into it, that I feel overwhelmed. So overwhelmed, in fact, that it has paralyzed me. I feel for the first time in my life that I might never be a healthy weight again.
ENTER LAP BAND:
Nearly two years ago, my sister had the Lap Band procedure. She was only at 246, but it was an all time high for her. With a thyroid problem being diagnosed, her doctor pretty much let her know that without surgery she would likely never lose the weight. So here she is now and she's lost 66 lbs so far. I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but remember she's fighting an uphill battle with her thyroid. So it's actually great!!! Well, I just turned thirty-seven last Sunday and she called me up. To make a long story short, she wants me to get a Lap Band and will pay whatever insurance doesn't pick up as a birthday gift to me. How cool is that?!
Now I'm just barely beginning the process. I've called and registered for the mandatory seminar so the ball's rolling now. I'll update my blog whenever there's anything newsworthy.
