diannajean

[size=4][font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif][color=#4b0082]Like so many, my weight has gone up and down my whole life. I've been on and off diets since I was 12. My first yo-yo, well, I was too young too understand. Folks told me I looked good so I should stop dieting. Well, I thought I could eat like everyone else and I would stay at a good weight. Nope. It has taken me many years to finally understand I will never be able to eat like others who do not have a problem with weight. Never mind the emotiona eating.... Three years ago I was doing really well, eating healthy and exercising. I was going to make the life change. I would ache and my muscles would hurt badly after a workout. I thought that was great, meaning I was working out well enough. I caught some kind of virus, never did figure out what it was, and the pain was the worst in my life - worse then labor pains. I hadn't been exercising for three weeks when it dawned on me, this pain is not related to workouts. After many tests to figure out what it was not, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. While not working out, the pounds began to creep back on. Then I started taking Lyrica, which kind of helped my pain, but the weight was coming on faster despite eating the same as I was before. When I finally had enough - at 250 - I looked into gastric bypass surgery. I knew at least two folks who did it with good results. And then I saw the sleeve which appealed more to me as I would still be able to digest nutrients. I startedseeing the dietician a little over a year ago.I would report what I was eating, and she said I was eating well, but we couldn't figure out why I was not able to lose any weight. It happened that I could no longer see my fibro doc, so I weaned myself off of Lyrica. I went though withdrawals and lost ten pounds. We figured that was the cause of my most recent weight gain. And since this has been a life-long journey for me, I decided to continue with the surgery. And I am so happy I did. I lost 90 pounds and have changed my goal weight - I'm still losing a pound or two a week. I feel incredible. The fibro is under control with my food choices and exercise. I can keep up with my 4 year-old. Just on rainy days the aches come, but nothing like it was. This has been the life change I needed. I am rarely hungry which is a first. I'm not able to get to a sleeve support group in my area so I joined weight watchers at work. I am learning how to change my habits for when I get to the maintenance phase. As I know I could wreck everything by thinking I can eat whatever, I plan to be a lifetime member of WW. How many of you who have reached your goal still look in the mirror and see fat? That's me. That's the next thing I need to work out of my head. I feel great so why don't I think that I look great too. Well, thanks for reading my story. I wish everyone the best[/color] :D [/font][/size]