losinit08
Where do I begin?! I'm sure we all have a similar story. I've battled weight ALL of my life. I have lost significant amounts of weight about six times in my 41 years. First time was when I was 15 with my first serious relationship and I kept that off to age 18, where I was the slimmest I have ever been. I was 135 pounds and I am 5'7". After my boyfriend came back from a 6mo stay in Alabama, we began living together and the weight just started creeping on steadily. I was around 260.
In 1990, at age 24, I lost about 35 pounds and began a new relationship at about 225 pounds. It seems that my weight fluctuates with each relationship because once again, the weight started creeping on steadily. I don't know whether or not I believe that if you are in a bad relationship you start gaining weight or if you are in a good, comfort-zone relationship you start gaining weight. I have heard both theories in my life. Maybe it's either. If I could figure it out, perhaps I could lose successfully once and for all. 
In 1995 I was doing the Fen-Phen and took off about 30 pounds for the third time but it didn't last either and I had stopped the Fen-Phen about 5 mos before it was recalled. Anyway, by 2000, my weight was up to 297.5. I started dieting for the fourth time because I was so unhappy with myself and my relationship at that point. This is when I first asked my provider about WLS but she indicated that there were a lol of hoops to jump through and essays to write and we tried another course of action. I've tried Fen-Phen, OTC diet pills, regular low-fat/low-carb diets, Atkins, drugs, Meridia, Slim-fast, Weight Watchers and just about every other trick in the book to lose the weight. Weight Watchers was about the best of all of those. I lost about 34 pounds on the WW diet but was unable to salvage my second relationship so in 2002 I was on my own again. I found the perfect house, it was the first time in my life I really felt like I was "home."
Losing a relationship seemed to be the trick to losing weight! LOL I dropped from 263 down to about 225 and started dating again. It wasn't long before I met my current b/f. I kept the weight off until about spring of 2004 when it started creeping on steadily again. There was a lot going on in my life in the fall of 2004 - I had lost my precious yellow Lab Pete
, thought my mother's cancer may have returned (it hadn't thank God!), was possibly looking at having to move from the house I loved so dearly, and me and my boyfriend broke up. I was back up around 270.
Come December 31 of 2004, my dear friend Crissy and I decided we'd had enough and made a SERIOUS New Years resolution to lose the weight. We ate right and we incorporated regular power walking every day! We were also enjoying the singles life and going out dancing every weekend. I lost over 50 pounds and saw 213 on the scale for the first time since my 20s. My third boyfriend and I ended up back together in spring of 2005 and we are still together and he is more supportive than ever. 
And yes....the weight started creeping back on steadily again. Sigh. I went back up to 289 by the end of 2007 after a couple years of poor health (severe anemia twice and oral surgery and carpal tunnel release on my right wrist).
The good news is that I had ran into a friend and her and her mother had had the RNY surgery done in August of 07 and looked great. She shared her story with me and was an inpiration for me to try again. She even had the same insurance as I did. I approached my PCP one more and this time, after following me for 7 years, she wrote the referral to the Bariatrics Program at Kaiser Richmond as well as a referral to the smoking cessation classes. I quit smoking after 27 years in December 07 YAY ME!! 
I began the pre-op diet (1200 calories) in January 08. It took awhile for me to get really serious on the diet. I had maintained my power walking from 2005 but wasn't eating right. I was walking and following the meal plan but my weight didn't budge. My step-daughter (from relationship #2), who I am still close with, decided to join the program too in March and I followed the diet more seriously then. Well the walking and 1200 cals started working and I began to lose the weight. By the time I saw my surgeon, he said I only had to lose 3 more pounds to be at surgical goal weight, which means he only required me to lose 15 pounds for surgery. Well I reached goal weight and went beyond. I have lost 30 pounds since beginning the program. A lot of my friends have started the 1200 cal diet too even though they are not having the surgery since they saw I was successful!
After I reached goal weight, things started moving quickly. I got my surgery date of 9-2-08 on July 23. The next month flew and now I am two days away from surgery. I am anxious, scared, excited, serene, calm, freaked out all at once and have been for the last two weeks. Two weeks ago, I started having a "last supper" every night with desserts. I did gain about 8 pounds in a week 
but have worked hard again this last week to take them off again. I also had carpal tunnel release surgery on my left wrist two weeks ago and am recovering from that now too. I figured I might as well do the surgeries all at once and recover and be done with it and get on to being a healthy new me! Kinda feel like the bionic woman, lol, "they can rebuild me" - now if they could just replace my tired old knees!
My program doesn't require a liquid diet prior to surgery so I stay on the 1200 cal until Monday night at 6pm. Monday morning I get to do the bowel prep. I will write again then - I'm sure it will be just lovely! lol.
Can't wait to be on the losing side and to get down to my personal goal weight of 150!
