What was your turning point?

[M2G 1,836]

I have always been a 'big girl'...graduated from HS weighing about 175, which of course now, looking back, I would have given anything to stay in that weight range. I gained a lot my freshman year in college...most people talk about the "Freshman 15" and mine was more like the "Freshman 30" I had no idea how to cook a healthy meal, and of course didn't count calories or understand healthy eating. In my family food = love and my mom loved to cook, so much that she was a bit of a control freak in the kitchen. She would shoo us out and make a wonderful meal and never taught me how to cook. So I had zero skills when it came to cooking and even knew less about healthy cooking...I used to consider a bag of popcorn a meal.

I met my hubby my Junior year in college and when you gain 15-20lbs a year it really starts to add up. At the time I didn't own a scale and would grow out of clothes and just go buy bigger sizes. Denial is a wonderful island to visit but a very bad place to make a home. I have no idea what I weighed when I met him, but was wearing about a size 18 on bottom. He accepted me as is, we graduated from college and for the first time in my life I started thinking about dieting.

And so began what became an 17+ year battle of the bulge. I have done just about every diet in the book.

WW (more than once)

South Beach (more than once)

Medifast (more than once)

Hydroxycut

Simple Calorie Counting

Chiropractor Diet (was NO SUGAR and NO CARBS)

Meridia (lost 5lbs in 3 months...whoopee!)

Slim Fast

Choices (was a weight loss center, used to have to pee on a ketosis stick...blech)

Diabetic Exchange Diet

Low Fat

Low Carb (not necessarily Atkins plan, but similar)

Magazine Diets (you know, lose -10lbs in 10 days!!!!)

Met with Nutritionist for 1/week for 1 year

Curves Diet

40-30-30 Fat Burning Nutrition Diet

I would always *lose* weight, but it never stayed off for very long. I had tremendous success with my first go-round with Medifast. I did an ALL liquid diet, (remember Oprah and Optifast...yeah, that was me with Medifast) lost about -80lbs in a one year period that was 6 months of liquid, followed with 6 months of transition to liquid/reg. food and finally all reg. food. It was during that time that I met weekly with a nutritionist. I did somewhat well with keeping it off for about a year...bounced around with 15lbs that sort of crept back in the year following the Medifast success. Then got pregnant with DD #1. I gained 60lbs with my pregnancy. I will admit I caved in with my weakness for ice cream and had it just about every night during my pregnancy. Then I had my DD and lost -10lbs in the first 4 months. Oops. Maybe that wasn't all baby weight in there. DUH!!! Then got pregnant with DD#2 when first DD was 10 months old. That is what they tend to call a back-to-back pregnancy, and yes it is hard on your body (in case you were wondering.) With my second pregnancy, I realized that the weight wasn't going to fall off (duh!) and was more careful and only gained about 18lbs throughout the whole pregnancy (but was still playing with the 50+ lbs that never went away from the first pregnancy. Gave birth to a 9lb baby, so my net gain was 9lbs. SO I was def. more "aware" the second time around.

When my kids were 3 and 21 months old (they are now 8 (almost 9) and 10!!!!) I joined Curves. I started out 3x a week and slowly worked my way up to 5x a week. And guess what? The weight STILL did not fall off my body. When I would combine the Curves with "dieting" weight would come off but exercise alone did not = weight loss (for me anyway.) Over the years I would talk to my PCP about bariatric surgery. About once a year at my annual physical I would bring it up (so would my hubby) and we were always pointed in a different direction. We actually took the many suggestions from our Dr. and tried it. And we would lose, fall off the 'wagon', and of course eventually regain. Finally in April of 2010, I just had a lightbulb moment when I came home and told my hubby I wanted surgery. He agreed 100% (although it took him much longer to decide he wanted it too) but he was 100% supportive of my decision. Together we called our insurance and listened to the options. I picked Band. And for about 3 or 4 months (I had a 6 month mandatory wait time) that is all I wanted. Then when he got on board with surgery for himself he begged me to research the sleeve. We had never heard of it but our insurance coordinator had mentioned that it was 'covered' on that first phone call. (I say covered b/c we are on a "high deductible plan" so we shell out $5K per year to hit our ded. and then pay 10% thereafter.) So I did the research, we settled on the sleeve and the rest is history!

This wasn't something that I woke up one day and wanted to have. It was a culmination of many years of trying to control my weight on my own, and succeding temporarily and then failing. I had no co-morbidities, but in Nov. 2008 my mother was diagnosed with Diabetes (type II). And in 2007 my hubby was diagnosed with hypertension. I sort of felt like a ticking time bomb, and was maybe lucky due to my age (I'm 39 now) and the fact that I worked out regularly.

Now I no longer fear what the future may bring in regards to my weight. I may still get sick or have issues or cancer or you-name-it, but I can do everything in my power to make sure it isn't due to my morbid obesity.

[lsereno 2,525]

When I realized that I would be overweight for the rest of my (shortened) life if I didn't do something else. I tried hypnosis, Weight Watchers, and hiring a personal trainer. I learned lots of good, healthy, eating habits, but I could not achieve meaningful and permanent weight loss.

I wanted to live into my 70s. Look around: there's not too many morbidly obese 70+ year olds.

Lynda

[SKCUNNINGHAM 298]

I came into this world a 9 pound baby, and have been heavy most of my life. I was always the "fat" kid in gradeschool, and thought I was fat when I graduated highschool at 135 pounds (I'm 5'4"). I gained weight during throughout college and when I started working (although would lose 30 pounds with Weight watchers occasionally). I married at 24 weighing 175 pounds. Even though I was too heavy, I was healthy for amany years. Then I started gaining weight every year. Finally - in the 1980's - before Oprah lost with Optifast - I lost 90 pounds with Medifast - lost to my lowest adult weight of 118. Even though I was a regular gym rat and watched my food intake, I couldn't maintain 118. My weight crept up, and I felt like a failure again. I did Optifast again in 1990 before my hysterectomy - to get to a healthy weight before I underwent surgery. By then I was on bloodpressure medicine, and cholesterol medicine. In the late 90's I did a doctor supervised (weekly) program where I took ~ 85 pills a day of Vitamins, minerals and supplements - along with folowing something similar to the south beach program.By now, I had a heart they wanted to "watch" for future problems. Never felt better - and got to a nice size 12 - but taking 85 pills a day is a BURDEN and I finally stopped them. (cold turkey - BAD IDEA - threw my immune system into a severe downturn and I got shingles as a result). I gained weight for the next 3 years, and finally in 2002 at 237 pounds I started a weight loss program with a hypnotist. Best way to lose weight except for the sleeve! I lost 103 punds in 9 months and kept it off for about 2 years - during which time I watched my intake, exercised and listened to my hypnosis CD's. Then, I was in a car accident and screwed up an ankle and foot (couldn't exercise), started travelling 80% of the time for work, not listening to my hypnosis CD's and eating on an expense account. Hello - weight gain! Since then, I continued to gain weight and get more health problems (sleep apnea, shortness of breath, worse blood pressure and higher cholesterol problems). WIth my family history of serious heart problems, I was a heart attack waiting to happen. My absolute highest weight was last September (263) - on a trip with my two sisters and my 85 year old mom. We were hiking up a hill in a park to go to a balloon fest. My mom was out-hiking me. My chest hurt so badly I thought I was having a heart attack right then. I guess I had an epiphany that I really needed to do something.

When I got home, I seriously started pursuing the sleeve. I had been working to get certified before that (because my insurance would pay for the surgery) - but wasn't "serious" about it. I am absolutely serious now! Three months post surgery, I have lost 54 pounds. Best thing I ever did for myself.

[fatBgone 6]

I was caring for my mom full time, she lived w me and has Alzheimer's, I realized I shoveled in the food to relax and take me away. When she came to the point of needed more skilled nursing care and we decided a nursing home was the safest and best place for her I took a hard look and just went and did it! I was stressed, overweight and had about a 0% chance if losing on my own, I viewed as my only option, and I still think it was. I'm losing now, I love to visit my mom because I visit (not bathe or toilet or feed or whatever, i can just sit w her and talk!)with her so I'm much happier. It s been a long time coming and I'm so glad I just did it.

[fern 195]

I can't say I was comfortable at 230..... but I resigned to the fact I would be big for the rest of my life. My daughter (who would have been 3 or 4 at the time) had to come in the bathroom stall with me at the mall. I pulled my pants down and went to sit....... only to have my daughter scream that I was going to break the toilet with my big bum!!! That hurt so bad because kids really do tell it as it is.

I realized I had to do something about it and started researching and saving. I'm now 3 months after surgery, I'm 60 pounds down and my daughter can give me a great big hug and touch her fingers on either side of me. LOVE IT!!!!!

[Kassie B. 1]

I love reading everyone's responses to this... great topic!

I haven't been sleeved yet, but I've been considering it (or some other form of WLS) for 10 or so years... I have known a lot of people who've gotten one form of it or another, and had great success... but ultimately, I've always been afraid. Before I learned about VSG, I was simply too afraid. I didn't want the "gut rerouting" of bypass, and didn't want a foreign object in my body with the band... so I've always wussed out. Also, I think I was kind of waiting for a doctor to just mention it for me... I wasn't aware that they often wouldn't recommend anything of the sort...

BUT... a plethora of things finally came together, making me realize that this IS for me...

1. My daughter, who is on her way to overweight, was diagnosed with a thyroid condition, but not severe enough for medication. The doctor said to me, "You know, you could BOTH benefit from diet and exercise."

2. My son (who is 4) said, "Mom, you have a big ole butt!" followed shortly by, "I love your two stomachs" (referring to my dual rolls. Ugh)

3. My grandmother, who was always heavy, died last year after battling heart disease and ultimately kidney failure... while her weight didn't CAUSE her heart condition, it certainly didn't HELP it... and while she was 82 when she passed away, I refuse to battle MY ENTIRE LIFE like she had to...

4. I have high blood pressure. I'm pre-diabetic. I can't breathe when I exert myself hardcore... no sleep apnea, thank heavens, but... I could see it going that way.

SO, here I am... in the pre-op stages of the good ole sleeve. I'm learning so much from all of you, and thank everyone for sharing their experiences!

[juliarh 35]

It's really interesting and enlightening to read everyone's "aha" moments -- mine doesn't differ much from everyone else's, but here goes . . .

I had always been a slim person up until I went to college -- I weighed 145 going to college and was oblivious about weight or how much I ate. My mom was very controlling about food and so I just ate what was in front of me, not really knowing much about Portion Control or healthy food. (Not blaming my mom, just stating the facts -- she's much better now.) I started gaining weight my freshman year, about 15 pounds. Lost it in the summer, only to gain and lose and gain . . . you know.

I met my husband my sophomore year and we dated all through my weight fluctuations -- by the time I graduated from college I weight 185ish. I thought I was humongous. ha.

After school, my husband and I moved from Wisconsin to DC -- it was a huge change for me -- I didn't know anyone, didn't have a job, had a horrible apartment. So I ate. I remember eating whole containers of ice cream and whole pies by myself. I gained a lot of weight and weighed around 210 pounds then.

We moved to Venezuela in the late 1980s and that was another stressful time for me -- I didn't know Spanish (learned pretty quickly) -- and again, didn't have friends. So I gained again, weighing at least 250 lbs.

We came back home and I went on WW -- lost 70 lbs (I was very proud of myself) -- and I soon became pregnant -- well, that gave me the excuse to go off the wagon and eat -- and I did -- I gained back that 70 lbs during my pregnancy and gave birth to a 10 lbs. baby boy (the 19 year old now). (I'm gonna throw in here that I have also been battling PCOS and this pregnancy was a "miracle," that would not happen again . . .)

When Daniel (my oldest) was 5 months old, I started law school (I know, I know - crazy) -- because of the stress with a new baby and law school, guess what I did? I ate. I think by the time I graduated from law school 3 years later, I weighed well over 270 lbs. I lost some and regained, you know the drill.

I always expected to be able to lose it and have self-control and be normal -- but it never seemed to happen.

About 2 years after law school, we were sent to Guatemala (my husband is a diplomat) -- I couldn't work as a lawyer overseas (can only work in the States as a lawyer), so I began teaching school (6th grade at the time). It became THE most stressful job I've ever had (but I loved it - type A personality). So I ate. ha.

We adopted our daughter, Susana (now 15 years old), and I think I weighed about 250 lbs. Then 2 years later, we adopted our son John (now 12) -- and then 2 years later I became pregnant only to discover it was an ectopic pregnancy (thank you PCOS) and I hemorrhaged, with very little time to undergo surgery. In Guatemala (and many other countries), surgery to remove a pregnancy (even not viable like an ectopic pregnancy) is against the law and you have to have a court order to have the surgery to save the mother's life -- I had about 2 hours before I would have died before they were able to get the order. So that was a little stressful . .

After my surgery, I determined to lose weight and I began WW and running every day -- I got down to about 190 and felt awesome. But then my oldest son, Daniel, was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder (after already having ADHD) and Asperger's Syndrome (a form of Autism) -- so that sent me into a tailspin. I ate. And regained everything.

After Guatemala, we returned to the States where I resumed my legal career (read stress). Then we moved to Nicaragua where I lost about 45 lbs just from the heat (seriously -- you move, you sweat) -- I began teaching again.

Then we moved back to the States, and I went to get my Master's in Education because I had been out so long from my legal career and I really did enjoy teaching. Meanwhile, my husband was sent to Iraq for a year and I was a single parent, teaching, going to grad school, AND putting an addition on my house (the contractor skipped out on me too -- that's a whole nother story) -- so suffice it to say, I WAS STRESSED OUT. I ate.

By this time, I didn't care how much I weighed. I knew I had gained but no longer really cared. My aunt told me that she had been diagnosed as pre-diabetic and we had diabetes in our family. At the time, though, I had no co-morbidities -- my blood pressure was a little elevated (for me) but still within normal ranges. The only thing I *think* I might have had was the beginnings of sleep apnea.

So I had come to a mental acceptance that I would never be thin again. I was very sad for myself because despite my emotional eating, I had tried every diet under the sun, been active and still not lost enough weight or even gotten the right eating habits. It was very sad, but I was ready to accept being obese for the rest of my life.

Finally, my husband was sent to Paraguay -- my oldest was a senior in HS and I just didn't want to remove him for his senior year, so we stayed in the States for another year. During this time, I started to think about WLS. I went to a Lane Bryant store to buy some clothes, and one of the sales clerks and I started a conversation. She had recently had the Lapband and she could not say enough good things about it. She had been over 300 lbs and I think was about 200 lbs. at the time I talked to her. I was really encouraged by her forthrightness and honesty. It gave me hope and kind of sat at the back of my head for a while.

Last July, the rest of us moved to Paraguay, and I decided that I had to take action. We went to visit the best bariatric surgeon here and he said that he did not do the lapband (thank God!) but that he would do the gastric sleeve and then the bypass if I didn't lose enough weight. He didn't think the sleeve would be sufficient because I was now over 300 lbs (I hadn't weighed myself in over a year). I was determined that the sleeve would be my ONLY surgery.

So in September (2 months later), I had the sleeve and the rest is history. I can't believe that it's been as easy as it has been (albeit the first month or so was pretty hard) -- but I've been very pleased with how much my eating habits have changed and how the weight has steadily come off.

Sorry this was so long -- it seemed like there were so many different things that contributed to my obesity, that it seemed only fair to write it all down.

I figure if I can do this, anyone can --

[Bryn 3]

Well, for me it was end of summer in 2010 and I had just come back from my beach vacation with the bf. I put on my bathing suite thinking i looked decent, and he thought i was gorgeous (as always )

anyhow, when we got back home and i looked at our pics from the vacation, there were very few of me, and the ones that were of me, i was mortified!!!!!!! I had no idea what i looked like. my perception of me was skewed. I thought I was smaller than what I appeared. It was weird because during that summer, i lost maybe 15 lbs, started the gym etc. and i got nowhere. I also wanted to be able to have kids and be healthy when i had them in the future. I kept struggling with my PCP on me losing weight and we were both at a stand still when i went to visit her, first asking her about lapband.

she said she had many patients who had WLS (all kinds) and i was shocked as to why she never mentioned WLS to me before but she told me she wanted that decision to be brought up by me, not by an influence on her. she saw me lose/gain/lose/gain and she truly thought i could lose it on my own as well. but she also saw me gain it back and then some. she also told me i was quite healthy to be morbidly obese; at that time i had my high bp controlled, no diabetes and mild sleep apnea and all my labs were on point. no high cholesterol etc. but she was happy when i mentioned it and she said, "yea, maybe it's time we took that road"

and here i am today, having chose the sleeve and i could not be happier. it's weird because i haven't been back to visit my PCP since feb 2011. she knows the date i had my surgery and my family sees her as well so they mentioned me to her and she's happy. i can't wait to see her!

but now i look forward to my future, hell, I look forward to everyday lol. everyday i find something more i like about myself. i finally have control of my food. before surgery i would go to 7-11 and not think twice about picking up a soda, ice cream bar and a bag of chips and have that as my lunch. WTF was I thinking??!! I can easily go into mcdonalds for my sister or mom and not feel a craving to order anything for myself. it's no longer appealing to me. i look at a soda and realize, it may taste good, but then i come to the realization that i just want flavor. so i reach in my purse to get a packet of crystal light and put it in my Water and i'm satisfied.

only regret in my life til this day, is that i did not get WLS sooner. Although i am 25, i wish at 20 i had discovered this. I don't know how different my life would have been in this span of 5 years but i'm happy no so that's what matters. I would do this 10x again in a heart beat. I am so lucky to not have any complications after the surgery

[Viola 15]

I'm 43 yrs old with a 7 and 5 yr old. I could feel my body giving out on me and I knew if I didn't do something quick I was going to have more severe health problems than the ones I had. I prayed about it and talked with my husband and I found this site. In less than a month I was sleeved and have not had one complication from the moment I was in the hospital to present. I feel better about me and it has improved my relationship with my kids. We have so much fun. I hope to be here as long as God allows and that one day I can hold a grandbaby or two or 10 and dance on the beach with my husband.

[abby 0]

i think for me it was the collection of tiny reasons which made me think about it

ive always been heavy but when i started med school i went crazy with food

i just eat through those 6 years,, and gained almost 80 pounds, it was crazy

people kept telling me to loose weight in every social occasion, i felt isolated , less going out

every time i diet i only manage 10 pounds and i give up

ive been dieting for the past 4 years , not being able to enjoy food neither loosing weight =(

i felt horrible about food , it was my best friend , my comfort .. almost sound like i was bulimic ( i had pinged alot )

and i had to take control over my life

i wanted to look healthier , happier, younger

enjoy a day at the beach ,, eat till am full without the constant nagging guilt

and not being super sensitive about what people think about me

[S311kyra 1]

I have experienced almost all of the above and, although I knew they were bad, it still didn't do it for me. I was 26, over 400 lbs, and dealing with all the comorbidities. Still, I was talking myself out of "needing" surgery help.

Then, I married my childhood sweetheart. I went to a routine ob/gyn appointment and he told me we couldn't have kids because I was too heavy. THAT was what did it for me. Yes, I want to be healthy and spend a long, happy life with my soulmate and as a nurse I know I was headed towards a very early death. Most of all though, I want to be a mom.

[mina 27]

i've always been fat (at the age of 14 i was 210) but it got worse during college, of course. i didn't start dieting until medical school. i lost 70 pounds in med school and i saw how life was on the other side. i was ecstatic. 4th yr medical school, i was away from my routine, working nights in a different state (texas), wearing scrubs and eating mcdonald fries and mcflurries. i put on 20 pounds in one month. then my yoyo dieting started. residency was extremely difficult physically and emotionally (i was dealing with racism). it took a lot of prayer from my mom (cause at that time i was too angry at God to pray) that prevented me from going into full blown clinical depression. i did everything: monitored weight loss program, weight watchers, south beach,personal trainer, adipex, hypnosis tape, calorie count. i would lose then gain it back. i was so ashame of myself. i hated traveling. i hated taking pictures. my knees were hurting me. i did everything to avoid going home to see my family because i was fat (relatives can be cruel with their comments about your weight... eventhough my parents and sisters were supportive). one of the nurses i worked with had the sleeve and that's when i decided i wanted surgery. now 3 years (because of financial reasons) later the time is almost near. this year my father got diagnose with type 2 diabetes (he's already had the hypertension and sleep apnea). my family don't understand why i can't just lose the weight again like i did in medical school. my "skinny sisters" feel like i'm beautiful big (i carry my weight well

[swizzly 901]

This whole thread is just wonderful, I've read through it twice already.

A couple of things really spurred me on -- getting diagnosed and put on meds for hypertension, which doesn't run in my family so it was all on me. Wow, that made me feel old and fat and on the beginning of a decline. And I've also been watching a friend have all kinds of awful experiences with diabetes (also not in my family...yet?) and it scared the crap out of me.

However, I think the thing that actually finally made me say YES I'm doing surgery was learning about the sleeve. It's the first one that made sense to me, though I'd toyed with the idea of GBS before, there was no way I could go through with it. The sleeve procedure itself was like a lightbulb moment for me, it just clicked. It's been a great experience so far, I would do it again in a heartbeat.

[settebee 11]

It's really interesting and enlightening to read everyone's "aha" moments -- mine doesn't differ much from everyone else's, but here goes . . .

I had always been a slim person up until I went to college -- I weighed 145 going to college and was oblivious about weight or how much I ate. My mom was very controlling about food and so I just ate what was in front of me, not really knowing much about Portion Control or healthy food. (Not blaming my mom, just stating the facts -- she's much better now.) I started gaining weight my freshman year, about 15 pounds. Lost it in the summer, only to gain and lose and gain . . . you know.

I met my husband my sophomore year and we dated all through my weight fluctuations -- by the time I graduated from college I weight 185ish. I thought I was humongous. ha.

After school, my husband and I moved from Wisconsin to DC -- it was a huge change for me -- I didn't know anyone, didn't have a job, had a horrible apartment. So I ate. I remember eating whole containers of ice cream and whole pies by myself. I gained a lot of weight and weighed around 210 pounds then.

We moved to Venezuela in the late 1980s and that was another stressful time for me -- I didn't know Spanish (learned pretty quickly) -- and again, didn't have friends. So I gained again, weighing at least 250 lbs.

We came back home and I went on WW -- lost 70 lbs (I was very proud of myself) -- and I soon became pregnant -- well, that gave me the excuse to go off the wagon and eat -- and I did -- I gained back that 70 lbs during my pregnancy and gave birth to a 10 lbs. baby boy (the 19 year old now). (I'm gonna throw in here that I have also been battling PCOS and this pregnancy was a "miracle," that would not happen again . . .)

When Daniel (my oldest) was 5 months old, I started law school (I know, I know - crazy) -- because of the stress with a new baby and law school, guess what I did? I ate. I think by the time I graduated from law school 3 years later, I weighed well over 270 lbs. I lost some and regained, you know the drill.

I always expected to be able to lose it and have self-control and be normal -- but it never seemed to happen.

About 2 years after law school, we were sent to Guatemala (my husband is a diplomat) -- I couldn't work as a lawyer overseas (can only work in the States as a lawyer), so I began teaching school (6th grade at the time). It became THE most stressful job I've ever had (but I loved it - type A personality). So I ate. ha.

We adopted our daughter, Susana (now 15 years old), and I think I weighed about 250 lbs. Then 2 years later, we adopted our son John (now 12) -- and then 2 years later I became pregnant only to discover it was an ectopic pregnancy (thank you PCOS) and I hemorrhaged, with very little time to undergo surgery. In Guatemala (and many other countries), surgery to remove a pregnancy (even not viable like an ectopic pregnancy) is against the law and you have to have a court order to have the surgery to save the mother's life -- I had about 2 hours before I would have died before they were able to get the order. So that was a little stressful . .

After my surgery, I determined to lose weight and I began WW and running every day -- I got down to about 190 and felt awesome. But then my oldest son, Daniel, was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder (after already having ADHD) and Asperger's Syndrome (a form of Autism) -- so that sent me into a tailspin. I ate. And regained everything.

After Guatemala, we returned to the States where I resumed my legal career (read stress). Then we moved to Nicaragua where I lost about 45 lbs just from the heat (seriously -- you move, you sweat) -- I began teaching again.

Then we moved back to the States, and I went to get my Master's in Education because I had been out so long from my legal career and I really did enjoy teaching. Meanwhile, my husband was sent to Iraq for a year and I was a single parent, teaching, going to grad school, AND putting an addition on my house (the contractor skipped out on me too -- that's a whole nother story) -- so suffice it to say, I WAS STRESSED OUT. I ate.

By this time, I didn't care how much I weighed. I knew I had gained but no longer really cared. My aunt told me that she had been diagnosed as pre-diabetic and we had diabetes in our family. At the time, though, I had no co-morbidities -- my blood pressure was a little elevated (for me) but still within normal ranges. The only thing I *think* I might have had was the beginnings of sleep apnea.

So I had come to a mental acceptance that I would never be thin again. I was very sad for myself because despite my emotional eating, I had tried every diet under the sun, been active and still not lost enough weight or even gotten the right eating habits. It was very sad, but I was ready to accept being obese for the rest of my life.

Finally, my husband was sent to Paraguay -- my oldest was a senior in HS and I just didn't want to remove him for his senior year, so we stayed in the States for another year. During this time, I started to think about WLS. I went to a Lane Bryant store to buy some clothes, and one of the sales clerks and I started a conversation. She had recently had the Lapband and she could not say enough good things about it. She had been over 300 lbs and I think was about 200 lbs. at the time I talked to her. I was really encouraged by her forthrightness and honesty. It gave me hope and kind of sat at the back of my head for a while.

Last July, the rest of us moved to Paraguay, and I decided that I had to take action. We went to visit the best bariatric surgeon here and he said that he did not do the lapband (thank God!) but that he would do the gastric sleeve and then the bypass if I didn't lose enough weight. He didn't think the sleeve would be sufficient because I was now over 300 lbs (I hadn't weighed myself in over a year). I was determined that the sleeve would be my ONLY surgery.

So in September (2 months later), I had the sleeve and the rest is history. I can't believe that it's been as easy as it has been (albeit the first month or so was pretty hard) -- but I've been very pleased with how much my eating habits have changed and how the weight has steadily come off.

Sorry this was so long -- it seemed like there were so many different things that contributed to my obesity, that it seemed only fair to write it all down.

I figure if I can do this, anyone can --

I really enjoyed reading your story! Good for you and good luck!!

[ahoy 3]

I gained all my weight quickly, thanks to a rare and horrible side effect of depo provera, the 3-month-lasting birth control shot. Sure, my lifestyle contributed, but I went from being a totally healthy size 8/10 to being a size 26 in a year and a half. I've struggled to lose that weight ever since, but I just didn't have it in me. I went thru a period of radical acceptance (and embracing) of reality, and myself, and learning to love myself, so the weight hasn't made me feel *bad* about myself for a long time. I figured that if I didn't force it, when I was ready, I'd work up the dedication to do it, but the guilting wasn't going to work.

I never did, though, and now it's 11 years after the weight gain. (I was 16; now I just turned 27.) This year has been a big one for accepting my needs & limitations, and one of the big ones has been "I'll never be able to lose 120lbs on my own... and that's okay, because I'm not superwoman."

The turning point was when I developed chronic fatigue syndrome/fibromyalgia after I came down with mono in July 2009, and my life has been one hellish rollercoaster ever since. Most days I am too sick or tired to exercise, and if I do, I suffer for DAYS afterwards. Since April, when I discovered that it is CFS/FMS that I have, I've been able to start treatments that really help. But I still am much lower energy than a normal person and my muscles are easily "damaged."

I can pinpoint exactly when I decided to have surgery: I have chronic sinusitis, and because of the CFS, my body just won't fight back, so my sinus cavities are almost swollen shut. As you might imagine, that's no way to go thru life! So I saw a great surgeon for it, and he looked at me and said, "I can operate on your sinuses, but unless you lose a lot of weight, you're going to be back here in 2 years." He told me about one of his nurses who had the lapband done -- like me, she had recurring pneumonia and sinus infections and so on, and losing the weight cured her. So i started researching. That led me to the sleeve.

That was October of 2010, and as of today I'm 1 week out from having the gastric sleeve done.

I hope he was right!