I apologize for the lenght of my story. Just something that was on my heart.

When I made the decision to have the band it was a personal one...it was all about me. I never thought about what the effects would be on my family. You see for most of my teenage years I actually was more on the anerexia side of things...I came from a skinny family and I learned quickly at the age of 10 (the baby fat year) that being chubby would quickly make me the outcast in the family...I remember my mom talking my sisters shopping at the mall and me shopping at the goodwill...always followed by the comment.."if you can just slim down a little I will take you to the mall as well" to say the least it messed with my head. So I went the other way....I actually remember counting out the number of grapes and crackers I would let myself eat in a day.....thats it...nothing else...and behold the attention that was showered on me. It wasn't until I was 14 when I met my now husband that I started excepting myself. I rememeber his mother not letting me go on a date with him unless I would eat with them....it still took a few years, but by the time I was 18 I figured "why do I care what they (family) think of me" my now soon to be husband loves me the way I am....what else matters. It wasn't unitll years later when I had 3 of my own children that the food issues came back. I just couldn't bring myself to tell my childen no to healthy foods (for fear of doing to them what my parents had done to me)....I figured is healthy... let them eat what they want....I remember seeing my eldest daughter be overweight at the same age I was...but just couldn't bring myself to limit her foods.....repeat pattern with youngest child....so other that my middle daughter who has always been a specimen of fitness... Me,my eldest daughter and son were on the bigger side and my husband was overweight by 15 pounds but nothing awfull.

Advance forward to the last 4 months....I always knew my family would support me...but I had accepted that this was my journey not theirs. Boy was I wrong. Over the last 4 months a transformation has happened!!. I (40 and 5'6"--190lbs) have lost 47 pounds, My husband lost his 15 pounds, My son (13 and 5'9--198lbs) has lost 25 pounds!! and my eldest (18 and 5'3"--200lbs)....she is trying so hard (found out she has the PCOS like me) but she too has lost 18 pounds!! And my middle daughter (16 and 5'4"----120lbs)...well she is our cheerleader the whole way!!---she actualy wants to be a nutritionist/trainer. Even my mother in law that lives with us and is huge has lost 30 pounds!! I never thought that me getting the band would do all this!! That's 130 pounds----its like we have Lost a whole peson from our family! If Ididn't loose another pound I'm happy...we are back to hikng and exercising together its awesome.--I'm just left with a little guilt....Apparently, they were just waitng for me to take the lead....I wish I would have been strong enough to have done it sooner.

So we are even having some friendly competitions! We all weigh about the same so

When when my son and daughter gets to 180 I will give each of them $100......If they beat me there I will get them a person frig for their room. My son was up and running the nighborhood at 7am the next morning.!!

I think...we might have broke the cycle!! I hope so....Good luck to eveyone on their journey...Maybe your family will be transformed like mine!!

Did getting banded result in a unexpectent tansformation in your life?

I am so glad to see that this thread is about weightloss, and not a death in the family.

Way to go guys!

Wow.... I can relate. Even as a child I was always the fat one in the family growing up. I love my mother but her constant prodding to lose weight (always for superficial reasons) only broke down my self esteem further and fueled my emotional eating as a teenager. Now I am learning to break the cycle and do this for the right reasons!

Your story almost brings tears to my eyes because I am so happy for your family. How amazing to be able to get healthy with your loved ones by your side. Thanks for sharing!

Amazing... Congrats to you all!

What a wonderful outcome to your journey! It's great that everyone is participating and getting healthy!

Congratulations to you ALL!

Congratulations! And, what a wonderful accomplishment for you all. Nice story.

Stephanie

That is just wonderful. You really changed your children's lives as well as your own. Great job!