freedomquest
So I used to be a skinny kid. I remember one day playing with my friend and my siblings came up arguing about which of the two of us scrawny red headed kids were skinnier... They decided my friend was a little skinnier, but that I had a bit bigger guns (bicep muscles)! I was cool with that even when I was that young (like 5 or 6 or something) being skinny is good but being strong is better.
I got in to softball when I was about 10 years old and loved it. Then the summer after my eighth grade year, I was 13 that summer, I was in a championship game and we were tied in the bottom of the 7th inning (we only had 7 innings in little league at that point if I remember). Someone got a hit and I was on third base headed for home. The ball was coming in fast and hard to the catcher at home plate. I knew I had to slide into home. Theoretically I knew how to do it but it was something that never seemed to come up in practice. Our family was always scraping by in the financial department so my shoes were a bit tattered. I had the sole duct taped to the shoe. (Duct tape is an Alaskan cure all of sorts). Well the very tip of the sole was not taped down and the very tip of home plate had a little space under it. The slide felt good but I heard something crack and then I suddenly found myself on the ground my back to first base looking up at an Umpire who told me I needed to get up.... Well, it seems I broke my ankle and still wasn't safe so I didn't make the game saving point for our team. We lost by 1 run. And I got fat.
Well, at least it seems that was the start of it. When they removed the cast I was diagnosed with Arthritis in my knee. A (now) 14 year old girl with arthritis in her knee. And since the cast had been from toe to hip and never was a walking cast I learned how wonderful it was to be waited on hand and foot and fed wonderful food while laying in bed!!! Mom had a catering business so she knows how to cook. So, the arthritis, the adolescent hormones kicking in, the abrupt halting of activity and the long dark cold winters up here are all contributers to my rather large junk filled trunk. And we didn't have an overly affectionate family but we always gathered around food, so it was a major comfort in our home. So even though I was a skinny kid, I don't think I have ever weighed less than 150 pounds as an adult. I was only able to achieve 150 for 3 months one summer working out in the heat of summer just outside of Wichita Kansas on a horse farm... scooping tons of poop really burns the fat and builds the muscle!!!
So like so many others I tried diets... all sorts. I'm not so good at the "just have a little bit." I'm better at the extremes. (10 day wheatgrass cleansing fast lost 25 pounds!) but I also gain back at a steady pace.... I like all or nothing. I hate counting calories, grams, points etc. But I've done it and even when I was very strict with myself I saw minimum rewards.
4 years ago I began to look into bypass surgery and I was half way through with all the tests when a family crisis hit and that sapped all my interest in anything else away for a while, then my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer a month later one of my chilhood friends (there were four of us that have been friends since grade school and are still very close) was diagnosed with breast cancer as well. My mom was 65 my friend was 35. 6 months later another of the 4 muskateers (4 childhood friends) was diagnosed with a rare (less than 50 cases in the USA) agressive and in all cases fatal cancer form. Talk about everything hitting at once. Wow.
SO, I just completely quit thinking about surgery and tried to concentrate on LIVING my life.
Now I am ready to renew my quest. I am just now (end of May) finishing with my 6 month supervised diet, as per my insurance. My insurance will cover the surgery if I meet all their requirements... I have to have a psych eval... hopefully the Dr won't realize I am a psycho!!! LOL!! I stumbled upon Dr. Alvarez's site, I've called them and I have decided on them. Now I just need to pull all the strings at once and try to get everything to fall into place so I can have a more powerful tool to help me on my little quest!
