Hello everyone! I joined a few days ago and lurked. (Sorry, just wanted to know what I was getting myself into!) I'm ready to be smaller (I personally hate the words "thin" and "skinny") and healthier so I can get on with my life the way I should have been for years.

This is my third time pursuing bariatric surgery. The first time was interrupted by a family challenge, the second by insurance (they are putzes!) and now, I have made friends with everyone I can who determines my insurance approval fate and I'm sure some are ready to tell me to quit calling and asking the same question over and over again to make sure I am doing everything right!

My tale, like many of yours, is of being "chunky", "heavy", and "thick" all my life. I never minded being the "big" girl since I was tall and carried my weight evenly. I have PCOS that was not diagnosed until I was in my late 30's. I have four four-legged children but God did not bless my husband and me with any of the two-legged variety.

So, let's make this interesting ...

Please reply with your favorite "you would be so ________ if you would just lose weight" story.

My favorite is: I did a great deal of theatre in college and loved being on the stage,doing both standard plays and musicals. One day, during a break in rehearsals, a young man came up to me and said "you have such a beautiful face, you could be a great actress if you would just lose weight!"

My reply: I just smiled and said "You have a great face, too. And if you would lose the a**hole attitude, you could get a date with a woman who has more going for her than a great face and a tiny waistline!"

Hope is always with us ... make it your friend!

Jen

Ok...here goes...(and I can't get this thing to STOP underlining my words!!! Still figuring this site out! I would be so HEALTHY if I would just lose weight. The weight and my food choices, of course, are what got me in this mess, not watching what I put in my mouth is what helped my Diabetes come out in full force, and now...I just told my husband last night, I am learning to eat to live, I no longer feel that I live to eat. Food was my buddy, my pal, exercise was my enemy for two reasons, 1 because I couldn't breathe when I did it, and 2 because even with a trainer I didn't drop a pound in 6 months and I was in the gym all the time. Now that I look back, yes I was working out, but I wasn't watching what was going in my mouth. Hmmm...you think THAT might have been the issue!!! So now, I don't really enjoy eating, it's hard to eat when you aren't hungry, and I am exercising, and I think(judging by my clothing) that I am losing inches because the darn scale isn't moving, at the moment!!! But my clothes are fitting different. I want to be a healthy person, make the right choices and live a lot longer than where I was headed. I used to be athletic, back in the day, and when I work out with people they are surprised at what I actually CAN do...yep the chunky girl still has it!!! I just have to realize that and work to get that back!!! I want this tummy gone, I hate NOT being pregnant and people asking when the baby is due, when I reply 7 YEARS AGO, they look at me confused then stick their foot in their mouth!!! Makes me chuckle a bit!!! So, onward in this journey we go!!! Replacing the love affair with food with a new love, a healthy love...a love for ourselves because we have realized that we ARE worth it!!!

I love your statement! It is sort of like this You know I can lose weight but you can't fix stupid!

Ohhh, I think I love you. With your 'tude, you'll fit right in here.

If I lose weight, I might be "here" longer (as in alive).

Hi Jen, I'm sorry you hate the word "skinny" but be ready cos I would be one of the first people to call you that when the weight starts melting off you. Sorry but it will happen eventually.

Thank you all so much for replying! I prefer the term healthy over anything else. I am a thyroid cancer survivor, T2 Diabetic, and (per my husband and friends) crazy as a loon! I love life and want to be around and enjoying life for all it is worth for a long time. Huggzzzz to you all!