Hey everyone,
This is my first time on the forum and I'm excited to be here my name is Mark and I turned 20 years old in May. I start my Graphic Design major at an online university in September after taking 2 years for myself after high school.
I would say it has been a long term struggle for me as far as my weight goes. i don't remember being skinny except for pictures of myself when I was four years old. Since then I've always been heavier though never felt like it matched who i was inside. I can see now that in wanting people to get past the heavy image of myself, I tried tuning it out and sometimes over-being myself (if that makes sense) in hopes I would come across as exactly who I want to be. I was never really teased for being heavier though my dad was extremely hard on me growing up not allowing me to eat as much as my younger brother (we are adopted and he is a 6'2 very skinny athlete) which hurt a lot.
Healthwise, my doctor has always said I am healthy but notes that there is concern about the future if i keep gaining weight. I'm not much of a binger but do not like vegetables and only like to swim/dance as a workout. i also had mild asthma when I was younger (has been around 3 years since I had a wheezing incident and needed a nebulizer). In February I had a very weird experience as my feet got extremely swollen and pale for a month, along with me gaining 20 pounds - they thought it was lymphedema but it ended up going away. It was then when I began taking my interest in the lap band a lot more seriously as a wake up call that I was tired of being overweight.
Have been researching the lap band on-off since about August 2010, though it wasn't until pretty recently that I began admitting it to myself and to my close family/friends it is what I really want. My BMI definitely qualifies and as does everything else except that I do not have much of a history of dieting. However, i do feel that with the lap band it would be a constant reminder and motivator to make a complete lifestyle change.
So far I have told my mother, brother, best friend/roommate, a cousin who had the surgery done 3 years ago, and two other best friends. Most of my friends, my brother, and cousin have been extremely supportive. My mom wants to know a lot more information about it (she has had her own weight issues so I can relate to her) before being completely approving which is fine. However, my best friend since kindergarten (who is probably around the same weight as I am) reacted very negatively when i told her I was researching it, saying that I should lose the weight on my own/it is major surgery and knowing me i think it is care free (that hurt me)/she would have a heart attack if I did it. I have no idea how to go about this as I want to fix my health and feel more alive but i really don't want to lose her as a friend.
Sorry for making this so long... hope it was a good read haha. I hope to be an active member and make some friends!
Mark
