Post by AELdoesRNY on Aug 7, 2018 21:52:25 GMT
Hello!
I'm 31, originally from New York City but now living in Minnesota with husband and my pup (who's 11).
I've been overweight my entire life. I recently uncovered an old family video of my parents doing some gentle fat-shaming of me as a three year old, and it only got worse from there. I was over 200 pounds by 9th grade and have never been below that since. I attended a weight loss camp one summer when I was in college and returned the next year as a counselor, and lost significant amounts of weight, but immediately put it back on. At the end of my summer as a camp counselor I was down to 217, by far my lowest weight as an adult.
I've always been active and healthy. I love hiking, biking, cross country skiing, swimming and jogging/running, but my weight often inhibits me and prevents me from doing those things. Especially swimming, my insecurities about myself in a bathing suit have meant that I never ever go swimming, even though I live in a city with a million beaches and have always adored being in and on the water. Working out in the gym makes me feel great as well, but it's another area where my weight has often held me back.
I yo-yo quite a lot. I am generally able to stick with a workout and eating plan until I lose 20-30 pounds, and then I always gain back. For most of the last decade, I've hovered between 240-260 pounds. Last year was pretty intense - I finished my masters degree, found a new job after 10 years teaching at the same place, sold my condo and bought a house all within the same month or two. Add on top of that some very intense relationship issues with my husband that led to us living apart for a month or two, and you can probably guess what all that stress and chaos led to...yup! Weight gain! I hit my highest of 280 between June and September, and nothing I've tried has helped me budge below that number all year. WLS was something I'd considered in the past, but never had insurance that would cover it so I had kind of written it off as an option for myself. This fall a coworker of mine was 3 years out from bypass and I learned a lot from her about her experience and what it looks like "in real life", and I found out that my new job's insurance would cover the procedure.
I started the process at the end of January/beginning of February and had surgery last week on July 30. Since the pre-op liquid diet (2 weeks), I've already lost 23 pounds! I'm so excited to continue on this journey and see what I do/what I try without my weight holding me back!
I'm 31, originally from New York City but now living in Minnesota with husband and my pup (who's 11).
I've been overweight my entire life. I recently uncovered an old family video of my parents doing some gentle fat-shaming of me as a three year old, and it only got worse from there. I was over 200 pounds by 9th grade and have never been below that since. I attended a weight loss camp one summer when I was in college and returned the next year as a counselor, and lost significant amounts of weight, but immediately put it back on. At the end of my summer as a camp counselor I was down to 217, by far my lowest weight as an adult.
I've always been active and healthy. I love hiking, biking, cross country skiing, swimming and jogging/running, but my weight often inhibits me and prevents me from doing those things. Especially swimming, my insecurities about myself in a bathing suit have meant that I never ever go swimming, even though I live in a city with a million beaches and have always adored being in and on the water. Working out in the gym makes me feel great as well, but it's another area where my weight has often held me back.
I yo-yo quite a lot. I am generally able to stick with a workout and eating plan until I lose 20-30 pounds, and then I always gain back. For most of the last decade, I've hovered between 240-260 pounds. Last year was pretty intense - I finished my masters degree, found a new job after 10 years teaching at the same place, sold my condo and bought a house all within the same month or two. Add on top of that some very intense relationship issues with my husband that led to us living apart for a month or two, and you can probably guess what all that stress and chaos led to...yup! Weight gain! I hit my highest of 280 between June and September, and nothing I've tried has helped me budge below that number all year. WLS was something I'd considered in the past, but never had insurance that would cover it so I had kind of written it off as an option for myself. This fall a coworker of mine was 3 years out from bypass and I learned a lot from her about her experience and what it looks like "in real life", and I found out that my new job's insurance would cover the procedure.
I started the process at the end of January/beginning of February and had surgery last week on July 30. Since the pre-op liquid diet (2 weeks), I've already lost 23 pounds! I'm so excited to continue on this journey and see what I do/what I try without my weight holding me back!
