Hi Dawn! And welcome to this site. I've always been overweight and can easily remember being sent to see a nutritionist at eight years old. My parents never really put restrictions on us kids growing up. They never bothered us with the fact that we were overweight so I didn't fully realize there was anything wrong until I was in high school. I guess I was a lucky big girl in that I never really got teased about my weight. So, I never really felt bad about it. My father was very over protective when we were young (he had 3 girls after all) so right after school I had to go straight home. If I didn't, he would actually roam the neighborhood looking for me (I guess I was the black sheep) So, because I had to go home, I would ALWAYS stop at the chinese restaurant, go home, eat then fall asleep for a few hours. And that's where the majority of my weight came from. When I graduated from high school, I weighed about 260-270. And that's from 160 lbs when I entered 9th grade!
Suffice it to say, I was 33 y.o. and 332 lbs when I decided to change. I started getting heart palpitations and had mild ischemia (heart attack waiting to happen because of my bad food choices), my blood pressure was beginning to escalate, I eventually got gallstones and had surgery for it, my arms began to fold in on themselves (ugh!), my already huge butt was the butt of many jokes (that just how HUGE it was) and it wasn't even sexy and, worst of all, my ability to have children has been impaired.
I know for a fact I couldn't have lost weight any other way. First of all, I never had any knowledge of what eating nutritious was. I never understood what the hell a carb, Protein or a starch was or anything else for that matter. I made myself learn. I quit ordering out, made salads and any meat I cook is all done through baking and grilling. Sure, it was definitely a big adjustment but my body tells me it was the best decision. My blood pressure is normal and I no longer have chest pains or heart palpitations. I have so much energy that lately I've felt like jogging!! My periods come each month now like clockwork and my butt no longer looks like 200 lb tumor. The only one missing that thing is my boyfriend, lol.
Although I still have a ways to go in this journey, I can't for the life of me ever remember feeling this "thin." I actually thought it would never happen. I recommend this WLS to all and strongly suggest that you go ahead with it. It's one of the greatest tools for a healthier and happier you. And it'll help to educate yourself on the good foods and give you the motivation to exercise. There are plenty of people here on this site who offer great advice, words of wisdom and motivation. Any and all answers can be found here.
Okay, I've written enough (sorry). I wish you the best of luck. Everything will turn out great!