Dear Friends,

Recently I read on a major Twin Cities (MN) hospital's website - bariatric division that it was widely accepted in the medical field that people who are obese do not have any chance at all of loosing enough weight on their own to do them any good. It also said that if they were that one in a million to loose the weight they would not keep it off. Even people that are not considered obese or morbidly obese can not keep weight off.

I was so pleased that the medical professionals finally figured that out! And said so.

I think that alot of my issues with weight and dieting began when I began going to various "clubs" or "Weight Loss Groups".

Tops, the Pig Pen and more...

<HR style="COLOR: #d1d1e1" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->I'm fat for so many reasons - all self inflicted.

In my family - food is love. Love is food.

I LOVE to eat!

Contributing factor - as a kid I didn't have much to do except eat. I was SUPER PAINFULLY SHY - and when I didn't have friends - I always had food.

I gained 40 lbs in the summer between 5th and 6th grade (already 140 in 5th - started 6th at 180) - buying sweets (secretly after choir practice) and laying in bed reading comics and eating!

Then Mom put me (and my sisters) in TOPS with her and all of that dieting really made me even more fat and I developed absolutely horrible habits from that experience. If you gained you would sit in the "Pig Pen" and sing (to the tune of My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean): "I am the Pig of my tops club, I am the cheater this week, I am the pig of my tops club - I've cheated and now I must squeak, oink, oink, oink, oink, ..." and it ended with: "I won't cheat till I'm slender again". Then you would have to put a sign in your front yard that said "I am the pig of my tops club". It was given to the biggest gainer. - I LOVED those women - in those days no one knew any better and they did what they could and it really was fun - but it was the start of horrible things for me. We would starve two days before the meeting then eat a million calories when we got home from the meeting. I would take laxatives and Water pills the day before - etc. etc. Diet pills too were the norm off and on for many years.

Later in my life I became bulimic - laxatives were my choice of weight control. Got over that when I married at the age of 27 and couldn't hide the mad dashes to the bathroom from my new husband - he thought I was really ill and insisted that I see a doctor - so end of that.

Had a few years of success with WW - probably 10 total years of "normal" weight in my 50 years of life. Oh yea - I had 2 years of success with Phen Fen too - but we all know how that ended.

Besides TOPs and WW - I did Jenny Craig, Personal Physician, Phentermine alone, Phen-Fen, Atkins, South Beach, Starvation, Water Diet, Diet Center, Nutri Systems, Slim Fast, Spa Petite, Curves 5 Week Plan, Overeaters Annonymous, and more that I can't even remember any more.

The last 10 years - all bad. Up, up, up - sad, sad, sad.

I'm 49 y.o. and have made a decision that I will not face age 50 in July with the same probs that I've had all my life. Life is too precious for that - a gift that should not be wasted!

LB Surgery by Dr. Kuri (Mex) if all goes as planned - in January.

Love to all who post here - what would we do without the encouragement and support of those who understand only too well?

Patti

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Sigh, its insane isnt it? I decided that after a lifetime of dieting my way from normal weight to obese I was going to do it once and I was bloody well going to do it right. I'm never ever ever going on a diet again. I'm so glad too that my daughter is 2 years old and will only ever remember a healthy mother who does not indulge in insane dieting behaviours.

I've lost so much weight in my life on diets only to gain the weight back and more, that I've given up on that. I too was on Phentermine for years off and on, only to lose the weight and gain it back. I hope the band will not only help me lose the weight but help me keep it off. I'm anxious to know how long people have had their bands and if it has exceeded or met their expectations.

i am stunned by your story about TOPS and the "biggest pig song"... ugh. how sick are people? best wishes on your journey, and know that we're here to help...

angie

Well, gluttony is one of the 7 deadly sins. So some people feel justified in treating the overweight worse than you would treat a dog.

WOW I am sorry to hear about the harsh experiences you had with weight. I never really did the weight loss groups because I saw them as a gemick. I didn't have money to throw into stuff like that. I had seen people loose weight on their own so I knew it could be done but I just wouldn't do it.

I am currently a member of TOPS and have been for the past 3 years. Our chapter is excellent. TOPS over the years have changed their way of thinking and have been working on changing anything negative into positives. We have the best loser but not the biggest gainer. We are encouraged to get a buddy and call each other for support. Even the TOPS pledge has changed to reflect positivity. The last verse is We Will Take Off Pounds Sensibly. I love TOPS and because they do not desciminate against people who have had surgery it is even better. I felt guilty when I first got banded thinking I took the easy way out. They told me it is not easy no matter what. I didn't want to accept the best loser gifts and they told me I should and I deserve them. I was thinking I was going to be the best loser all the time, shot I think I was 3 times since I got the band. So this is not the easy way out, I still have to learn about nutrition, portion sizes and exercise.