MeganES

My final straw was a series of things. My mom passed from necrotizing fasciitis (non-weight related. She didn't have a weight problem) in October 2012 when she was 53. Losing my mom at the young age of 19, knowing I want children, and experiencing the pain of that loss made me certain that I would do everything in my power to make sure my future kids don't have to go through what I did at such a young age.
A few years ago I tried to ride a roller coaster at 6 flags with one of my many super skinny best friends and couldn't get the belt to buckle. I had to leave the ride. I was HUMILIATED. that was the only roller coaster I haven't fit on, but once was enough to get the point across.
I'm an actor. I haven't done a show in 3 years because I'm so ashamed of my weight that I won't go on auditions for ANYTHING. Not that it matters, because there aren't many parts for an obese 20 year old. My voice teacher has been after me to lose weight, too. She told me a few months ago that I'm, "too talented to throw it away." That was a huge motivator for me. I knew that it wasn't an easy thing for her to say, and she assured me that she wrestled with saying something she knew could hurt me but she didn't want to see me lose a shot at a career. Since then I've been very serious about it.
I'M SO EXCITED TO GET ALL OF THIS NONSENSE BEHIND ME AND START MY REAL LIFE!!!!!!!!

whaaaaat. Girl, you look FABULOUS. I'm 20 years old and 5'3" and weigh more than you did at the start, but if I look ANYWHERE near as good as you when I hit my goal, I think I'll be jumping for joy. I can't tell that you ever even had a weight problem. ROCK ON!!!

Well. This thread has been quite interesting.

Hi! So I was raised Mormon, really have fallen away from that line of thinking. Really don't know where I stand in the whole is there a god, isn't there a god thing. I definitely believe in an afterlife, definitely believe in the power of good thought. Often I'll say I'm praying for someone. The reality is that I'm sending good thoughts out to whatever there is in the universe. Specifically, sometimes, so it feels like prayer. "Universe, please let ____ have a successful surgery and healthy recovery." I'm not necessarily talking to god, but I'm not talking to myself either.
Whatever someone says to me, if it results in them thinking positive thoughts in my direction, I'll take it.

I've spent the last hour reading this thread! What a joy to get to "know" some of you outside of our weight issues!
I'm Megan, I'm 20 years old. Born and raised in Middlesex County, New Jersey. I have a 23 year old brother who is a specialist in the Army (currently deployed to Afghanistan, can't wait to have him home next month!!!). Had a totally normal and perfect childhood til my mom was diagnosed with an unknown auto-immune disease when I was 12. She passed away on October 15, 2012 from Necrotizing Fasciitis. I'm a very different person since she passed, mostly in a good way. She didn't leave without instilling in me the value of a happy and healthy life, and she also blessed me with a wicked sense of humor. We had the most amazing relationship a mom and daughter could ever ask for, and I'm very grateful for that! My parents were married for 24 years and my dad is the most amazing guy in the world. I'm very blessed with the family I have!
My passion is theatre. I've been performing since I was 8. When I graduated high school in 2011 I decided to leave home and up and moved to Chicago for college to get my theatre degree. Didn't know a soul and had no idea what I was doing. Unfortunately I had to come home after 8 weeks because I needed emergency back surgery. Shortly after that my mom was hospitalized, so it turned out to be a blessing in disguise that I had to come home. Never went back, didn't want to leave after losing my mom, but those 8 weeks taught me a lot and I'm very grateful for that experience!
I've spent the past year really focusing on ME. I'm enrolled full time at our local community college and I'm hoping to transfer to Rutgers in the next year or so to double major in Theatre and Social Work. I work almost full time at a local regional theatre. I'm the assistant front of house manager, a box office sales associate, and my favorite thing is in the Summers I'm a teaching artist for ages 5-8 and 9-12 for the theatre's education department. I volunteer as the head of the 18-25 age support group at the NJ Pride center and am a political advocate for the LGBT community. I'm also a BIG TIME animal lover and I spend my free time lovin on my 2 kitties and 2 doggies.
That got a little long! Felt good to ramble for a little bit though! Lol

Found this SUPER cute and healthy Halloween treat on Facebook!! Would definitely be great to bring to a party.

welllllllll my goodness, aren't you handsome! LOL. congrats!! very well done. You look incredible!
ETA:
Also just noticed how you lined your body up with the wall. Not that your weight loss wasn't extremely obvious before, but that really shows what a difference there is. WOW!!

WOW....you look phenomenal!!!! Congratulations!!!! I'm sure that last 12 lbs is frustrating but you look so great, just focus on your success and keep up the good work. You're so inspiring!

I'm pre-sleeve but lost about 35 pounds a few years ago before a back injury. 35 isn't that much but on a small framed person like me it made a huge difference. I held onto my favorite outfit from when I was at my biggest. Unfortunately that outfit fits me just fine now...Lol. But when I was losing and dropping sizes it was a good inspiration...especially if I had a day where I didn't "feel" like I was being successful. Fully intend to hold onto it again. and good for you on such an awesome and exciting NSV!!!

My final straw was a series of things. My mom passed from necrotizing fasciitis (non-weight related. She didn't have a weight problem) in October 2012 when she was 53. Losing my mom at the young age of 19, knowing I want children, and experiencing the pain of that loss made me certain that I would do everything in my power to make sure my future kids don't have to go through what I did at such a young age.
A few years ago I tried to ride a roller coaster at 6 flags with one of my many super skinny best friends and couldn't get the belt to buckle. I had to leave the ride. I was HUMILIATED. that was the only roller coaster I haven't fit on, but once was enough to get the point across.
I'm an actor. I haven't done a show in 3 years because I'm so ashamed of my weight that I won't go on auditions for ANYTHING. Not that it matters, because there aren't many parts for an obese 20 year old. My voice teacher has been after me to lose weight, too. She told me a few months ago that I'm, "too talented to throw it away." That was a huge motivator for me. I knew that it wasn't an easy thing for her to say, and she assured me that she wrestled with saying something she knew could hurt me but she didn't want to see me lose a shot at a career. Since then I've been very serious about it.
I'M SO EXCITED TO GET ALL OF THIS NONSENSE BEHIND ME AND START MY REAL LIFE!!!!!!!!

I'm pre-sleeve but lost about 35 pounds a few years ago before a back injury. 35 isn't that much but on a small framed person like me it made a huge difference. I held onto my favorite outfit from when I was at my biggest. Unfortunately that outfit fits me just fine now...Lol. But when I was losing and dropping sizes it was a good inspiration...especially if I had a day where I didn't "feel" like I was being successful. Fully intend to hold onto it again. and good for you on such an awesome and exciting NSV!!!

Hi! So I was raised Mormon, really have fallen away from that line of thinking. Really don't know where I stand in the whole is there a god, isn't there a god thing. I definitely believe in an afterlife, definitely believe in the power of good thought. Often I'll say I'm praying for someone. The reality is that I'm sending good thoughts out to whatever there is in the universe. Specifically, sometimes, so it feels like prayer. "Universe, please let ____ have a successful surgery and healthy recovery." I'm not necessarily talking to god, but I'm not talking to myself either.
Whatever someone says to me, if it results in them thinking positive thoughts in my direction, I'll take it.

Aaron holy moly dude
you look great!!!
btw.........are you busy tonight??
i'm a "little" older than you, but i'm not dead
ooooops, i forgot, i'm happily married!!!
kathy
congrats

WOW you look absolutely amazing!!!! it looks like we're somewhere around the same age too, so that's cool to see how much success you've had. Keep up the good work!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! It sounds like you've had so much success and this particular success is massive....life-changing!!! Congratulations to you and keep up the good work!!!

I'm feeling that fear too, love. A statistic that was helpful to me was remembering that you honestly have a greater chance of dying in the car on the way than you do dying during the operation. I know it's scary. Especially when you read and research everything as much as possible, it makes it so much easier to focus on the complications that might happen, when the reality is that the odds of that happening are SO minuscule. Whereas if you remain obese, your chances of premature death become almost definite. I know it's scary. I totally get it, that thought has kept me up at night! But weigh the odds. The odds are in your favor if you choose to go through with the surgery. The unknown is scary and I'm sure that you feel like me, you just want someone to tell you you'll definitely be okay and there's no way you're going to die. Unfortunately no one can guarantee that, but according to statistics, you will probably be just fine. Express these concerns to your doctor and anesthesiologist. They'll know what to say to make you feel better Do what you really believe is best for you!!

I'm sorry. I know it's hard. a big part of this surgery is to learn to eat to live rather than living to eat. food is meant to be a fuel to us, instead for many of us it's become a driving force in life. It'll take time but you'll learn to change that way of thinking. Good luck to you!!

Found this SUPER cute and healthy Halloween treat on Facebook!! Would definitely be great to bring to a party.

That's EXACTLY how I feel about myself now [pre-sleeve]. All of my issues with my weight are completely mine. I've been very lucky to never have had to deal with any bullies and I've managed to make friends in all situations because of my personality, I've even dated people. I definitely don't hate myself, I don't even hate my body - how can I hate the thing that allows me to live this life? I'm just not happy with how I've treated it and not happy with the health risks of staying obese, and that's why I want the surgery.
Sorry, that was such a threadjack. I just haven't seen another person who shared my feelings so I wanted to comment on that!
Like I said, I'm pre-sleeve right now. But at one point I lost about 35 pounds and I immediately noticed a difference in who talked to me and what was being said. I also noticed the difference when I gained it back. It didn't bother me that much that I knew they wouldn't have been interested if I was at my highest weight. If I don't like the way my body looks at this weight, why would I expect someone else to? and if they don't know me yet, what else is there to assess? It's human nature to be more open to meeting more attractive people. It doesn't make us fat people any less lovable, we're just perceived differently!!
I have a theory that a big part of who talks to you or is interested in you before/after your surgery is in how you feel about YOURSELF. If you are full of self-judgement and you're tearing yourself down, that's reflected in how you carry yourself. If ALL of your body language is saying "don't come near me, I don't like myself, I'm not comfortable in my own skin" then how could anyone really break that barrier? Sure, some do, but if we're talking just running into people on the street, chances are they'll pick up on your body language and not talk to you.

Found this SUPER cute and healthy Halloween treat on Facebook!! Would definitely be great to bring to a party.

Found this SUPER cute and healthy Halloween treat on Facebook!! Would definitely be great to bring to a party.

That's EXACTLY how I feel about myself now [pre-sleeve]. All of my issues with my weight are completely mine. I've been very lucky to never have had to deal with any bullies and I've managed to make friends in all situations because of my personality, I've even dated people. I definitely don't hate myself, I don't even hate my body - how can I hate the thing that allows me to live this life? I'm just not happy with how I've treated it and not happy with the health risks of staying obese, and that's why I want the surgery.
Sorry, that was such a threadjack. I just haven't seen another person who shared my feelings so I wanted to comment on that!
Like I said, I'm pre-sleeve right now. But at one point I lost about 35 pounds and I immediately noticed a difference in who talked to me and what was being said. I also noticed the difference when I gained it back. It didn't bother me that much that I knew they wouldn't have been interested if I was at my highest weight. If I don't like the way my body looks at this weight, why would I expect someone else to? and if they don't know me yet, what else is there to assess? It's human nature to be more open to meeting more attractive people. It doesn't make us fat people any less lovable, we're just perceived differently!!
I have a theory that a big part of who talks to you or is interested in you before/after your surgery is in how you feel about YOURSELF. If you are full of self-judgement and you're tearing yourself down, that's reflected in how you carry yourself. If ALL of your body language is saying "don't come near me, I don't like myself, I'm not comfortable in my own skin" then how could anyone really break that barrier? Sure, some do, but if we're talking just running into people on the street, chances are they'll pick up on your body language and not talk to you.

WOW....you look phenomenal!!!! Congratulations!!!! I'm sure that last 12 lbs is frustrating but you look so great, just focus on your success and keep up the good work. You're so inspiring!

Does anybody else here, besides me, think that pokey and big country are the same person?
I mean they are never on at the same time.
And she keeps posting his pictures and promoting him???

Pokey I can totally see that you and schmootzy pants over there have a great thing going. But girl, some of us are starving over here. Less of the butter, biscuits, gravy, beans, franks, pies, milkyways etc? An articulate and ladylike person such as you no doubt has a lot of non-food love-nothings she could call someone like your hunka burning lurrvvee.