Daneenee

Hello my name is Denean. I am 41 years old. I am a child of God, a wife, mother, daughter, friend, poet, companion, leader, poet, realist. I weighed 305 lbs when I started and today 6/7/2011 my weight was 290 lbs not a lot but its a start. I decided to have weight loss surgery in 2009 but I didn't follow through and I procrastinated for a year. I finally was tired of my weight and decided to go though Kaisers Permanente bariatric program and it was the best decision I ever made! I started my first class November 15, 2010 and I will complete my last class on February 28, 2011.

I have been over weight all my life. I have realized that food has been used as comfort for me. I can remember when I was younger and playing outside, if I would fall and scape my knee my mom would say "sweetie are you OK, do you want some ice cream. LOL So the comfort of so many different things involved food and that was my way of life. Everything surrounded food, family gatherings, funerals, births, good report cards you name it. So I know this is going to be a long road.

I didn't really see my weight as a problem when I was younger. Culturally it is know that African American women should have meat on their bones as my grandfather would say (this was not a good thing to teach me) I realized when I had children that going to the park, the zoo, amusement parks, out door sports all these activities require walking, running or some type of cardio whether I know it or not. I would get winded quickly and just didn't want to do these activities and it wasn't fair to my kids. I realized I am missing out on a lot of fun family things. I also realize that I am digging my own grave with a fork and if I die from being over weight I will be missing out on the best thing I could possibly experience; my kids growing up, going to school, graduating from High School and College and getting married and having children of their own. So now I am sick and tired of being sick and tired and I want to LIVE!!! So this is my story.

I had surgery on 9/29/2011. Begining Weight 303, surgery weight 280 and to date 2 weeks post op 29lbs down.