GeekyChicLa

I can so identify with a lot of what you've written. With the exception that I haven't been big all my life - quite the contrary. Four months after my third child, I was in a size 2. I've gained the majority of my weight over the past 8 years. It just keeps climbing and doesn't stop. Your paragraph on how you've sat on the sideline for years and think, "I used to be fun, too" and how your weight has kept you from going to the water park and missing out on memories because you are uncomfortable, etc - that rang deep with me. I have hidden myself basically. I don't perform in community theater anymore. I can't fit into my martial arts uniform, so I've stopped going to classes. I LOVED canoeing but haven't been since getting really heavy. I live in an upscale apartment complex with a resort-style pool; have never been to it. When I exclaimed to my daughter recently, "I'm over 200 pounds!!", she said, "but you're still very pretty in the face." So yea, I get it, girlfriend. A few of the chosen few I've shared this with give me that, "Wow, are you THAT vain?" look or they quip up with "maybe you should just try changing your diet and working out." Takes everything I have not to scream. Is it scary to me - having 8/10ths of my stomach removed? Heck yes. But, I, like you, am tired of living life on the sidelines. Being overweight has caused me to become an introvert. Something I am not by nature. I want to date again. To dance again. To go out with the girls and not be 'the fat girl" in the group. I'm with you! Let's take the reigns and go confidently in the direction of our dreams and live the life we've always imagined! Is it scary to me - having 8/10ths of my stomach removed? Heck yes. But, I, like you, am tired of living life on the sid