I was browsing around the net searching for "one month before sleeve diet" and thankfully this site came up, began reading all the wonderful post op and pre -op stories and quickly signed up to share my journey. I was thinking to myself, well since i have no support at home, minus well find some support online from people who are going through the same thing i have gone..

To start off , my name is Fina i am 21 years old and i am currently 236.2 my highest weight ever was 247.. and my lowest weight EVER was 197, which was around Jan-Feb of 2011.. yes i gained all my weight back... like most i have been over weight all my life, even when i was around 2-5, everyone even doctors said " it was just a phase", that i would lose it as i got older, but that never happened.

I don't want to blame my parents for my fatness, but when your growing up in a house filled with Dominican people its pretty hard to be on a diet, and what the heck! what does a 9 year old knows about counting calories, or exercising?..

Well to make things short, i never was a big fan of playing sports, i was more of the science nerd, chess playing, novelist writer and Godly reader, it was around middles school that i really came out and started playing basket ball and volley ball, we even won district undefeated and went to the finals, but we lost the second round and went home.. but it was the best time ever, i played 7Th and 8TH grade.. i was around 176, and in nine grade without sports, my weight went uuuuuup!!! bouncing every summer from 205-220... n then never really weighing myself 237-247...

My family, my father is very tall 6'5 n my brother was blessed with height, as well as my sister whom i should say stuck to my dad side, she is 14 and is taller than me 21.... she is around 5'6 and i am 5'4... she is around 135-140.. she is tall and thin.. flat belly.. i cant compare to her, so here comes mommy!!!... 5'4, weighing in guess what around my same weight shes probably less, 230-237, i feel shame every time we go out people think we are twins, she even looks younger than me!!!!

Point, i am tired of being fat, not wearing pretty clothes, having hugeee "fat handles", and two big roles of fat on my sides, and omg my thighs are like big o elephant legs!! with fat arms.. i have tried everything, hcg, cabbage diet, grape fruit, diet n exercise, slim fat, special k, n loads of pills, fruta planta, jillian, omg a lot of weird eBay pills, i lost weight yes, but did not kept it off..

co-workers, and friends... i would kept this a secret from them because people are so judge mental, especially at my job whom i can say either ur fat or u just had a baby lol.. and then stayed with the baby weight n gained some more.. the minute i was losing weight last summer, everyone was on top of me, oh ur Hispanic u should be proud of being fat y are u trying to be someone else.. hello are u for reallll!!! lol.. just because i want to improve my health, not have high blood pressure, no diabetes, no cholesterol, you think i am trying to be someone else, that i don't like my own skin, or self?... oh Ur losing weight too fast, Ur too skinny 197 u were fine the way u were, wow 197 too skinny? imagine when i get down to my goal weight 130 Ur going to think i have some type of disease!..

So guess what, for my future, my future children, i am going to use the aid of the gastric sleeve to lose the weight for ever, and totally change my lifestyle for the better!!! my mother still eeffy about it, just talks about it like its the most nastiest thing ever... and always adds negatives for me to change my mind, my dad thinks i am Crazy!!!... and i pray to God that he approves it!... my best friends tottally support me.. everyone else its still a secret..

what will i do and tell them when i start losing the weight... well right now i was on the lemonade diet, brought it to work shared it with everyone, did 3 weeks lost 11 pounds got some butt, lol.. loads of exercise.. so they see i am losing.. i talk about about p90x n how good it is, they know it works since i did it last time around i lost weight..

so this time around, i dont want any drama, my goal my dream.. i don't want to be obese and pregnant!! with loads of health conditions.. i want to have abs and show off my sexy thighs lol..

for the last 5 month i have been struggling to lose the weight, gaining instead of losing, last check in with the nutritionist is on Jan 19, got my scans done, hoping everything will go fine, cant wait for this summer, i got my goal jeans ready size 8 hoping to wear them before April.. i would love to be a size 6.. right now i am a size 16-- lowest being a 10.. so ugh i have been bad this year.. everyone deserves a new start!!!

Well this is it for now,, Blessings to all!!!!

ooh, january goal weight is 220.. i am 236.2 right now so i am hoping to lose 5 pounds a week by 1200 cal n burning between 800-1000 cal... a day!!,... got my elliptical machine and my Zumba PS3 move game!!!.. awesome!

im a 23yr old rican chick! i can relate a lot to your story but one part stuck out to me...

you said you are 5'4 and earlier this year, your weight was 197. that leaves you at a BMI of 34.

now your next step is to find out what your insurance requirements are because some insurances require 2-5yrs of weight history. if they do request that, you will not qualify & will strugglewith appeals to be approved. mine required 2yrs but i provided 6yrs.

i am 5 days post-op.

Welcome and congratulations on your weight loss, your doing great! Keep up the excellent work. . . together we can overcome obsesity!

Welcome chica, I'm also a Latina and know that our culture has yummy but fattening food!! Im three weeks post op and like you only shared this experience with my family. I just feel that this is a personal choice for me and honestly don't care to share with co workers who truly don't care about me. Im just another gossip topic to them! I love this website, very informative and supportive! I wish you luck with your journey and welcome!

Thank you so much, i see thus far that this will be my second family!!! yes i also believe that its a personal choice, and u are totally right about being the gossip topic lol.. even in church girl lol.. i choose not to to tell my pastor because i feel that he slips out a lot about talking to other members about someone else's personal problems.. prayer is everywhere, and with God, family and close friends is enough.. i have not told my brother because his gf is too nosy lol,, n my sister would tell everyone in church when i am gone, because she "doesn't like to lie to church members" lol soo hoping this will be my secret to them, n a surprise for the future ..

welcome to vst... the good thing about this site is you will have a lot of support!!! just remember to take it a day at a time.

And congrats on the already lost weight and just know that you will have the support you need right here... My family was not so keen on the idea either but they are slowly and surely coming around.

Hey there girlie- I'm a white girl but man o man let me tell you I enjoy food from every freakin culture there is lol (well, minus the spicy). Welcome to VST- it has been a life saver for me! Good luck on your journey and don't be afraid to ask questions.

Welcome! As you can see I am not Latino but I can relate to your story. I live with two guys (my husband and my son) who are what I call String Beans. Both are 6' tall and weigh 135 to 140 lbs. They eat like there will never be another meal! My plate is litterally 4" in diameter and sometimes I can't finish what's on it while they take large dinner plates and usually get seconds.

One thing I would highly recommend for you is a change in how you refer to yourself. I use to always refer to myself as the "Fat Lady" or "Fat Girl". You referred to yourself as a "Fat Spanish Chick". I would recommend "Spanish Chick" because you will be FAT NO MORE! I have said that I "divorced" the Fat Lady when they took out 85% of my stomach and I am no longer allowed to call myself that. My husband pointed this out to me and said that I had to stop thinking of myself as fat and start seeing myself as he does - Hot, Sexy, Beautiful, etc.

Good luck on your journey.

Shae I love what you wrote! Our minds are powerful!

Enerfina welcome! You will love it here. I love your positive attitude. Keep reading a ton of old posts. That helped me greatly!

Guess what I was able to eat yesterday? Pasteles en hoja! Granted only a 1/4 of 1, but it was delicious and I was completely satisfied. How cool is that? You sound very mature, you will do great! Welcome!

Welcome to VST, we are so glad to have you join us. I look around at all the younger people getting the sleeve now and am so happy for you. If only I had this option available to me when I was in my twenties, I can only imagine how different things may have been for me.

Thank you guys for all the support, i am literally tearing up right now!!! I can truthfully say i love you guys already! Yes i cant wait to finally be able to go shopping n fit into the "Junior size" lol no more 1x, 2x lol... "One day at a time" i need to remember to breath lol... Thank You All!!!

i cant waaaaait to eat pasteles!

Shae I love what you wrote! Our minds are powerful!

Enerfina welcome! You will love it here. I love your positive attitude. Keep reading a ton of old posts. That helped me greatly!

Guess what I was able to eat yesterday? Pasteles en hoja! Granted only a 1/4 of 1, but it was delicious and I was completely satisfied. How cool is that? You sound very mature, you will do great! Welcome!

i soooo know the feeling. i cant wait until i get out of these plus sizes!

Thank you guys for all the support, i am literally tearing up right now!!! I can truthfully say i love you guys already! Yes i cant wait to finally be able to go shopping n fit into the "Junior size" lol no more 1x, 2x lol... "One day at a time" i need to remember to breath lol... Thank You All!!!

Enerfina :

I'm puertorrican and I'm loving my sleeve so far . I had puertorrican pasteles too and I'm 1 month out. I had 1/2 of one small and it was chicken I made them with no oil or fat Congrats on choosing getting a VSG , I think is the best gift you could give yourself Adelante y buena sue rte!

Longer life I love pasteles too lol

I'm puertorrican and I'm loving my sleeve so far . I had puertorrican pasteles too and I'm 1 month out. I had 1/2 of one small and it was chicken I made them with no oil or fat Longer life I love pasteles too lol. Congrats on choosing getting a VSG , I think is the best gift you could give yourself Adelante y buena suerte

Thank you! Same to you!

Oh girl, let me tell you my story. I have been shopping in the plus sizes since I was 18. I am now 45. I have always love Kohls. I will never forget about a year and a half ago when my daughter and I went shopping one evening there. She headed for the juniors department, and as always, I headed for the plus size department. I picked out a few outfits and when I tried them on, they were too big. So, I went down a few sizes and they were still too big. Then I realized that everything in the plus size section was too big for me. I panicked because I just knew everything in the "normal" size section would be too small, and I love Kohls and was afraid I wouldn't be able to shop there anymore. But, for hoots and giggles I wandered on over to where the "normals" get their clothes, picked out a few things and headed for the dressing room. OH MY GOSH!!! I couldn't believe it, they fit! My daughter came looking for me and found me sitting on the floor of the dressing room balling my eyes out. She was terrified something awful had happened. Then, when I told her I was crying because I was so happy about finally being able to wear regular sizes, she was so happy for me she cried too. I remember calling my son, my parents, anyone who would listen, because I was so excited. That is a moment and a feeling I will never, ever forget.

Thank you guys for all the support, i am literally tearing up right now!!! I can truthfully say i love you guys already! Yes i cant wait to finally be able to go shopping n fit into the "Junior size" lol no more 1x, 2x lol... "One day at a time" i need to remember to breath lol... Thank You All!!!