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Found Obesity Is Biological For Me



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I'm adopted. I've known my birth mother for 20 years now, but the last 10 of those we have been out of touch. When I met her, I didn't notice that she was terribly overweight. I just noticed she was plump and chalked it up to just getting older.

Recently, a death in the family brought me back to that side of my family (my family tree is more like a family square in the middle). To my surprise she was so tiny! I felt huge. She confided in me a little secret- she had gastric bypass a few years ago. She had been battling her weight for most of her life. She and I carry our weight very compactly and right in the torso. Think of a sausage trying to put on its shoes.

I find it fascinating that two people who've never discussed weight problems before and connected only by biology (on this issue) came to the same conclusion.

So, while my adoptive mom doesn't completely understand (tho she tries), I am comforted that I have a cheerleader in my corner who knows what I'm going to go through (for the most part).

Just an interesting development

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Yes,nature versus nurture!

I have two adopted kids and always thought I could nurture them so much that nature wouldnt make much of a difference..lol

Now my teeny tiny little 20 year old is built like a little pear and my tall 11 year old is athletic and muscular.(11 year old is taller than the 20 year old)

Biology plays a bigger role in us than I ever thought.(my mom,grand mother,cousins are all overweight) In fact,As I'm getting older it is my mothers face looking back at me in the mirror...scary sometimes..lol

Good luck with your journey!

O and remember,people who dont struggle with weight does not really understand it at all,they try but its like I dont know what its like to have an olive coloured skin and black hair..I'm blonde and fair with freckles.

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

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        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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