My name is Heather and I am 36 years young. I have 2 mini-schnauzers and was in the military (USN) for 15 years and this is my story:

I was 'fat' my whole life, got the name calling from family members and avoided any sort of camera if possible. My mother was always referred to as fat by my father even at the whopping weight of 120-125 and post 2 kids. My grandmother (Mother's mother) was an Army nurse in WWII and died diabetic and HUGE. I joined the Navy at 18 weighing in at 141 and stayed that weight for about 2 1/2 years. I got a boyfriend, and the pounds started to pile on. I got out of the Navy, and re-joined in 2000 at 151. On my paperwork it was listed that I was "heavy" and "obese".

I struggled to maintain my weight over the next 11 years. I worked out like a nut case and could barely maintain, let alone lose 5-10 lbs. I always struggled with my semi-annual PT test and never ever made the weight limit and always had to have the tape (rope n choke). I strained my left SI joint in 2003, making my life immobile and miserable. It finally got better with proper treatment and I moved on. Evenutally I made it to Italy and sprained an ankle and slowly got bigger and bigger. I recovered from the sprain and never got below 170 lbs. I was under extreme scrutiny for not fitting the "mold" of the ht/wt standards. Basically, my life was a nightmare because I was fat. I later had further injury to my feet, right SI joint and was basically a blob of pain. Because I could not keep up with the PT routine (and other issues with the military),I opted to get out. On my way out, over the following 4 months I gained about 50 lbs.

Right now, I'm at 247 (zoiks) and opted to pay cash vice deal with the VA clinic and restrictions on weight loss surgery. My surgery date is May 16th, 2011.