I was a “chubby” child from the age of 8. I started on my first diet when I was 9 years old. My mother and sister were both trim and beautiful and I was …. NOT.
My journey through diets led me to eating lots of lettuce, celery, and carrots. It also led me to eating lots of chips and candy to be honest. I went on the latest fad diet -for years and years a few months at a time. I never felt full. No matter how much I ate I felt like I was dieting my whole life. All the books on diets and nutrition that lined my shelves eventually ended up in a donation of over 1000 only read once books that I gave to my local library when I moved across the country.
My health had been good for most of my life in spite of my weight gain. It was only after 40 something that things started to decline. By the age of 50 I was walking with a cane due to severe knee pain, riding around in the motorized scooters in the supermarkets and unable to walk up a short flight of steps without being out of breath. I had high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, depression and breast cancer. I weighted in excess of 300 pounds and I was shrinking in height to 5 foot 3inches. My legs were swollen and painful to touch. My feet hurt when I stood on them for more than a few minutes. If I stumbled and fell down I was not able to get up on my own. I was hard pressed to get to the restroom before wetting my pants. I had problems wiping myself. I could not tie my shoes. I was not able to buy clothes to fit me in a regular department store. The list of humiliating conditions goes on and on…. In short I was a real mess and I wished I was dead.
By this time I was eating very little in order to stay at the weight I was without gaining even more. Not being able to exercise and years of slowing down my metabolism had a major effect on what I could eat without ballooning up even more.
I'd work hard at loosing 10% of my body weight only to gain it back in half the time it took me to loose it.
THEN I DID SOMETHING DRASTIC! Two years ago I went to a presentation on Gastric Bypass Surgery at my local hospital. I saw many people there who were a lot like me. I heard their testimonies on how their life had been and how different it was now after surgery. While I had heard about this method for years, I knew only of those for whom it had been a failure. Stomach staples that had come loose etc. Now I was learning that this surgery had been under constant improvement for the past 30 years and that many of the problems of the past were no longer the norm.
I was encouraged. I started a six month process of screening for various health risks etc. I choose to have an open gastric bypass procedure. It went well and I was on the road to recovery and drastic weight loss within days. I lost quickly and for the first time in my memorable life I did not feel hungry! It was like a miracle. In less than 9 months I had lost 75 pounds and I was no longer diabetic, no longer had to sleep with a Cpap machine blowing air in my face, and no longer walked with a cane. Most of the health problems that caused me discomfort and embarrassment were gone!
Now I wanted more. I wanted to loose more weight so I could be active with my family again. I wanted to get up and get moving. So on my doctor's advice I joined the YMCA. I started out slowly and built up to doing 1 hour on the recumbent stepper and lifting weights that worked all my muscles for another half hour. I did this faithfully two to three times a week. I got a quality self-hypnosis tape that I listened to which helped me focus on positive thoughts to overcome my unhealthy eating patterns. I ate healthy foods in small quantities, added protein supplement drinks and took my vitamins every day. I got a good quality pedometer and started keeping track of my steps and aimed to increase steadily. I lost another 50 pounds in the next year and have been keeping it off by staying on track. I bought a recumbent bicycle that I use at home on days I do not go to the YMCA for my workout. I get outside daily and work in my garden and I walk freely around the stores and malls adding steps to my pedometer.
This is my honest weight loss story. I want to share it because many people are out there feeling like they are the only ones that have to struggle with excess weight. My story is one of making major life changes and of staying with the program. Losing 130 pounds did not come easy. Keeping it off is a daily commitment I make for myself and for my family. I do it with regular exercise, vitamins, protein supplements, healthy eating and positive thinking. I want others who are resigned to a miserable life with obesity and all the physical problems it brings to know that there is a way out that leads to a happier healthier life.
