Since I didn't use this blog for the happenings of my life, I will use it for my weight loss journeying. So welcome to my weight loss journey blog. Let me first start off by saying this is my journey and I am not making any recommendation for anyone. It is up to you to find your path and discuss weight loss with your doctor. What I feel is right for me, although you might not agree, it is my journey.
So I'll begin with a bit of history. Growing up I had always been "chubby." I was always the tallest in my class and one of the biggest. Thankfully I had wonderful friends and was not the target of bullying. There were a handful of times, someone said something about my weight that hurt my feelings, but from hearing about other experiences, my encounters with bully's was very minimal.
Most of my issue around my weight was in my own head. I was well aware that I was bigger than my friends. I wasn't able to share my clothes and because of my size I wasn't comfortable doing some activities.
During high school, I believe my weight keep me from being as out going as I would have like to be. Those that know me now, know that I'm a go-getter and outspoken. A month after graduating high school, I found out I was pregnant. Needless to say the pregnancy changed my body and weight became more of a struggle. Where during my teens, I was probably 20-30 lbs over weight and after having my son I struggled with 50-150 lbs.
Through my 20's I did all the fad diets, tried every diet pill, including doctor prescribed pills, and bought every exercise contraption on the market. Now here I am at 34, I realize the you don't need a "diet" or exercise torture devices. You need a HEALTHY lifestyle. This includes good wholesome (no processed) foods, and some kind of daily activity to move your body.
Now comes the part I drop the bomb… I am in the process for qualifying for gastric bypass surgery. Before you say it, "well that's taking the easy way out," hear me out first.
There is NOTHING easy about opting to do gastric bypass. I have been vegetarian for the past 4 1/2 years and mostly vegan for the past 9 months. I work out regularly, I have pretty much maintain my weight at 250-255 lbs over the past 4 years. In October of 2007 I was probably at my highest nonpregnancy weight ever. I'm not sure how much I weighed, but I'm sure I was over 300 lbs, my best guess was 305-310 lbs. I saw a photo that was taken of a trip I went on and was mortified!
From October to December of 2007 I dieted like crazy and got down to 280 lbs. In January 2008, I began running everyday and working out an hour a day. I got down to 265 in April 2008. There I stalled for several weeks. I went to see my doctor and she prescribed Fastin and within a month I dropped 17 lbs. I continued Fastin throughout the summer of 2008 and ran twice a day and worked out for an hour a day. In August of 2008, I moved 4 1/2 hours away from home. I continued taking Fastin until September 2008, and continued running, by October I was down to 203 lbs. My reason for moving was a job, a job which was extremely stressful, I was driving in a truck for 10-12 hours a day and was on call 24/7. I managed to keep my running schedule until late November, but when the snow came it was very hard to run. I should also mention I met my boyfriend at this time as well, so my workouts became very limited. I continued to workout but my time was cut down to 1 run a day and 30 minutes of a workout. In February of 2009, I moved in the my boyfriend I continued to run over the summer of 09 and maintained my weight around 220-225 lbs. But work became increasingly stressful and I was left with very little time to workout and I began to eat out more and not eat as well.
Needless to say over the course of 2 years my weight began to steadily incline back to 255 lbs were I stayed for about a year. In November of 2010, I went to see my doctor for my yearly check up and we discussed my weight. Although I know that taking Fastin was not good for me and I would eventually gain the weight back, I asked. My doctor suggested that I have the gastric bypass surgery. I had never thought of doing that, because I too thought "that is the easy way out." I also felt that meant I couldn't do it myself and that I was weak.
I spent 4 months researching the topic and decided to attend an informational meeting. On April 19, 2011 I spent an hour listening to a surgeon explain the procedure and how that is safe. He also explained that people predisposed to obesity, no matter how much the workout and eat healthy, weight loss is rarely successful. It made think of my own family. My mother side of the family all struggle with weight. The women are obese, including my mom. I decided to have a consultation with the surgeon and was schedule with an appointment for April 25th.
After meeting with the surgeon and going over my history, he explained that I was a perfect candidate for this surgery, since I already healthy lifestyle and ate well. At this appointment I weighed 265 lbs, had a BMI of 40, and had 112 lbs of excess weight. So after much soul searching and researching I decided to go ahead with the process to get qualified for surgery. I'm now on the downward slope of the process and thinking my surgery (if approved) will be planned for sometime in July 2011.
I still have the feeling of being failure for not being able to get a handle of this on my own, but I'm also relieve this could be the solution. Gastric bypass surgery is only a tool, and I will still need to workout and eat a healthy diet in order to loss the weight. And I'm not doing this for vanity reasons, I'm doing it so that I can finally do the activities I wanted to do for years, like rock climbing, mountain climbing, roller skating, and many others. I want to be an athlete! I also want to be healthy and live a long strong life, and see all of my son's successes and enjoy having grandchildren someday.
Bright Blessing and Good Health to you all,
~Jen~
