My tale of losing almost 150 pounds, the slow and healthy way.

So about me…. I was thin growing up, that was until puberty hit. Initially it was great, I grew boobs when the boys were first starting to notice that boobs existed, I got lots of attention. I was fairly active, played soccer two seasons a year, walked to and from school. Then in middle school (about the time of the boobs) I started staying home by myself after school. There were no limits on the TV that I could watch, and I became a TV watching snacker on the days that I didn’t have soccer.

Then on to High School. I played two sports a year, but was still gaining weight. I was easily one of the heaviest girls on both my field hockey and soccer team, but I was still practicing 5 days a week. I weighed about 180 lbs my first year of school, putting on about 10 lbs each year. I remember thinking “I’ll never let the scale hit 180″; “I’ll never let the scale hit 190″; etc.

In college I had a great group of friends, granted, yet again, I was the biggest one of the bunch, but everyone loves the funny fat chick. I never had problems dating per say, but I was never the first one picked up either. I had a roommate that was an ex gymnast who had an eating disorder. Try being the fat chick with the 5’2 roommate who weighs in at a whopping 90 lbs. It was torture. I was going to the gym my freshman year of college 5 days a week for an hour or two at a time, I managed to not gain any weight my freshman year without changing what I was eating, because of all of the gym time. I was 220 lbs by the time that I graduated from college. I’ll never forget the day that I saw a message that my male roommate left for the ex-gymnast “skinny XX {same name as mine} she wants you to call her back.” All that I could think was that everyone refers to me as “Fat XX” when I’m not around to hear. I’ve known that male roommate since I was four years old, I still see him sporadically, and I still think of that message every time I see him.

Diet History: I started my first Atkins Diet my freshman year in High School. I believe that I stuck with it for about a week. I went to my first Weight Watchers Meeting my senior year in high school and I lost 20 lbs. I kept that 20 lbs off for my Freshman year in College (no Freshman 15 here, it’s a miracle…I know.) I graduated college at 220, and moved home for about 4 months, where I packed on another 10 lbs. Went back to weight watchers in 2001, lost 15 or so lbs, quit Weight Watchers. Long list of diets later, I’ve done South Beach 4 or 5 times, Atkins probably 4 or 5; Slim Fast a handful of times; I’ve tried Trim Spa; I was bulimic on and off for 10 years; I’ve gone to nutritionists; I join Weight Watchers AT LEAST twice a year; the list goes on and on. I’ll admit, Weight Watchers works…I lost 50 lbs with them in 2003ish, but like anything else, you’ve got to stick with it.  At the beginning of 2009, I weighed in at 305 pounds (aka the scariest time I EVER stepped on the scale.)

Through all of that, I had always contemplated weight loss surgery.  I’d research the heck out of it, and then put it to the back of my mind.  I rinsed and repeated that schedule until Spring of 2011.  I stepped on the scale and had gotten myself back to 305 lbs.  I interviewed surgeons, read tons of reviews, and learned as much as I could about all of the options out there.  I finally decided on the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy with Dr. Moazzez of Blue Point Surgical Group and started the process in May 2011.  There were what felt like never ending hurddles to jump through in order to be approved for the surgery, you can read more about them throughout the blog, but I did all of them.  August 22nd, 2011 was the day of my surgery, the start of a new life for me.

Whoever says that Weight Loss Surgery (WLS) is the easy way out, has never lived in the shoes of a morbidly obese person for any length of time.  Nothing about being morbidly obese is easy.  I had not gotten to the point of diabetes, asthma, or other weight related diseases or illnesses yet, but they were coming for me.  It was just a matter of time.  Everyday with my sleeve is an adventure.  It is still up to me to chose to put the right foods in my mouth, to chose to exercise, to chose to live a healthy and clean life style.  It’s no easier now than it was before surgery, except now I have this amazing tool that helps me control my portions.  I have a tool that I personally feels forces me to make smarter choices (protein first, keep the carbs low, etc.) through out my day, so that I can continue to be healthy.

While this isn’t easy, I know that its possibly one of the best decisions that I’ve made in my entire life.  I will one day know what it feels like to be a healthy person, at a healthy weight.  I will one day be able to walk into a store like Ann Taylor Loft and pick something up off the rack and not wonder if it was made for a barbie doll stick figure.  I will be able to have a healthy pregnancy when me and the Hubs are ready to have children.  I am finally excited for all of the adventures that life has in front of me.

Should you have ANY questions at all, please feel free to comment or send me an email at scalewarfare@gmail.com I’d be more than happy to help in anyways that I can while you are on your journey towards being a healthier you.