7 months, 67 pounds down....what's next?

[BlackBerryJuice 349]

I've surpassed my goal by 5 lbs as of this morning, so I figured it was time for a success story post!

I had my VSG done on August 9, 2010 by Dr. Alberto Aceves in Mexicali, Mexico. I was 25 years old at the time. I had been overweight or obese since I was about 11, although even as a kid, I was always a tad bigger than other girls. I was raised by my mother, who always had a weight problem and got me to be her diet buddy. In high school, I recall constantly doing the cabbage Soup diet with her and never getting past day 4, when we'd have massive binges. As a teenager, I hit my all-time low weight of 145 lbs (I am 5'5") due to bulimia and excessive working out. Unfortunately, the weight came back, plus more. I hit my all-time high of 216 lbs at the age of 21 after falling from a horse and injuring my back. In 2009, I buckled down and lost 40+ lbs, getting down to 165, but maintaining my weight took up ALL MY TIME and I was constantly denying myself everything. Eventually, school got so busy that it was an issue of either exercising or studying 10 hours a day to pass, so obviously, I opted for passing. The weight came back on rapidly, and once I met my boyfriend who likes to eat out a lot and has a super-fast metabolism, I started packing on almost 10 lbs a month!

I decided to have surgery in June 2010, when I was about 195 lbs. I paid for my surgery out of pocket - I used my student line of credit to cover the expenses. The surgery cost me about $9500 with the airfare and related expenses. I weighed 208 lbs the day of my surgery. To my knowledge, I had no comorbidities except lower back pain. My surgery went great and I had a fairly uneventful recovery save for a trip to the emergency room about 2.5 weeks out for nausea and lightheadedness. My 3-month bloodwork and upper GI were all stellar. While my health numbers were good before, they've become even better since - my BP used to be about 120/80 and now it's 105/65, and my resting heart rate's gone down from 80 to 50.

My original weightloss goal was 145 lbs, as I'm pretty big-boned and have lots of muscle mass. I'm at 140 now and I wear a size 6, sometimes 8; size small shirts, although as I'm still a DD cup, sometimes I have to wear mediums just because of my chest. I still have knee pain that I developed after a sports injury over a decade ago, but my back pain is gone. I'm not sure what's next for me, I'd like to do a bodybuilding or figure competition, and there's one in my area this June, so depending on how my skin is tightening, I may sign up for that.

Some pix from before the surgery:

[BlackBerryJuice 349]

And some pictures from March 9, 2011 - 7 months after the surgery

[suzylou 1]

And some pictures from March 9, 2011 - 7 months after the surgery

[suzylou 1]

Great Job! Really happy for you. Any words of wisdom on your success.

[coops 1,790]

Blackberryjuice,

WOW!! What an amazing transformation... Did I say WOW!!!!

You certainly have transformed your body!!

WELL DONE and Congrats on a fantastic weight loss and transformation.

How does it feel to hit goal?? =]

[ldydrgnkpr 49]

Amazing!!! Just amazing!!!!! I thought losing 12 pounds in just 5 days was great but that is truely amazing!!!! What in an inspiration!!!!

Deb

[Ibejjo 47]

You looke amazing. I am almost 2 months out and I pray that I look half as good as you when I get to my goal weight. You are an inspirartion to me.

Jenn

[chilo1 62]

Great job, you must be so proud of yourself, congratulations!

[swizzly 901]

You look great, what a fab job you've done.

[Margaret 4]

ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!

And some pictures from March 9, 2011 - 7 months after the surgery

[Tiffykins 672]

Amazing results ! ! ! Congrats on your many successes ! ! !

[Kimmes 38]

WOW!!!! Your transformation inspires and and it is so wonderful to see the results in pictures! Congratulations to you - job well done! You should be proud of yourself! Cheers to the healthy new you!

[hopeandfaith 6]

WOW that is WONDERFUL!!! GOOD JOB!!! THANKS FOR SHARING!!!

[feedyoureye 3,087]

Fantastic job, you look great! So glad you took the bull by the horns at a young age, so you don't have to go through all the crap of overweight into your later years.

[M2G 1,836]

BBJ, AMAZING results and I know you have worked hard for them. You look wonderful and it must be great to be "below" goal....I will be so happy to just make it TO goal, much less be below. Congrats on your success, and thanks for sharing!