Newbie from North Texas

Hello everyone! My name is Laura, and I from Denison, TX... born and raised. I've been preparing for my lap-band journey for a couple of months now, and just had my first one-on-one visit with the doctor. 6 months or so from now I will be ready to have the surgery. I am 5'8.5 inches and weigh in at a whopping 299 lbs. My goal weight is 150 lbs, but if I lose more that's fine too. But I will be happy with 150.

I haven't been really fat my entire life, I was a chubby little kid but after I started growing taller I lost the baby fat. When I graduated high school I was slim, but I started gaining weight, about 20 lbs in college then 30 after I had to drop out. I gained a lot of weight after I started getting Depo-Provera birth control shots in 1998. I gained about 40 lbs in 4 months. Then I started working a night shift a couple of years later and that's where I've gained the last 60 or so lbs. I kept thinking I'll get around to it... join a gym, start eating better... but all of a sudden I looked up and 11 years have passed by in the blink of an eye. Sure I've done all kinds of diets, but I'm very headstrong. I'm a grown woman if I want to eat cheesecake or a cheeseburger Imma gon' do it, no matter what the consequences may be. So I don't stick to diets for very long. I don't hold myself accountable when it comes to food. But I'm ready to start, and I know that I will need the help that the lap-band and the doctors office will provide me. I'm ready to eat whatever they tell me to eat and not eat what they tell me not to eat. I'm ready to start getting the exericse I need. I'm actually looking forward to that part, I love to excercise. I'm going to start that during the next six months. It's been awhile since I've actually exercised on a regular basis. I have psoriatic arthritis. I've had psoriasis for most of my life, and the arthritis started about 8 yrs ago. I was diagnosed 6 yrs ago, and have been on medication for it since then. My rheumatologist is almost as excited about this as I am, he says I'm carrying an extra person around with me with all this extra weight. He thinks I might be able to stop the meds or at least lower the dosages when I get healthy.

I'm glad this forum is here, I've learned a lot just reading the posts. I hope to get to know more people soon...

See ya,

Laura