Stef_L

Well, here goes nothin'. This is my first blog entry, I've honestly never written a blog before but I thought I would give it a shot. I have quite a bit to say and I feel safe saying everything here. Let's start off with my weight loss journey and where my weight problems stemmed from. I was always a yo yo'er. I would be thin, fat, thin, fat all my life. I was into sports then I would stop and balloon back up. In highschool I was a 18 and thought I was fat, little did I know, by the time I was 23, I would be nearly 400 lbs and a size 30 in jeans. I was miserable, I got married young, at 22 and before then I was on a steady incline of weight gain, after the marriage, it got out of control. I was eating my feelings and I didn't know how to stop. The topic of surgery came up when I had blood work done (i'm anemic) and my doctor told me that I was borderline diabetic and when I saw the # on the scale say 394#... I knew something had to be done. He referred me to the Bariatric Institute of Wisconsin. With my insurance I was required to do a 1 year treatment plan and several times within that year, I nearly gave up and thought it wasnt worth it. Boy, I'm glad I stuck it out. My gastric sleeve surgery was May 16,2013. The day that changed my entire life. The surgery was good, the next day in the hospital was torture but again, It was 100% worth the struggle. I spent my time looking at before and after photos and watching youtube videos of people who had the surgery and wondering "will I ever be this person with these kind of results?" and the answer is yes. If you want it bad enough, it will be you and I am living proof of someone who changed their life with one struggle at a time. The first few months are the worst, your life is basically taken on a rollercoaster with no seatbelt. You have to learn slowly what you can and cant handle, how to count protein, and slowly get into a work out regimine. At about 3-4 months, everyone besides me was noticing the weight loss. I honestly thought I was at a stand still and scared of developing body dimorphic because I wasn't seeing it but everyone else was. I just thought everyone was being nice knowing I had this surgery done. At about 8 months, it hit me. I looked through old pictures of myself where I thought I looked great and to my own self, I was unrecognizable, thats when things started to really hit me. The hard work, the 5-6 days a week at the gym, the sacrifices were all making sense and I was ecstatic. It's a strange feeling. okay.... at 10 months, my personal life started to take a bad turn. Before my surgery, my husband told me he would be supportive and was excited for me to go through this and better myself and he promised to take the plunge with me with changing eating habits and working out....that didn't seem to be the case. I was more active and wanting to experience life because well, I got my life back! and all he was concerned with was going to buffets, ordering pizza and laying in bed playing video games. Our sex life (tmi) was non existant, We started to only speak a few words a day to eachother. I was going out with my friends constantly because he would never want to go anywhere. Well.... a month ago I filed for divorce and am moving into my own place tomorrow. It's really liberating to have the strength to do this, I was unhappy for at least 2 years but this surgery gave me the confidence I needed to break free. I'm only 25 and yes, I got married young and I understand, marriage is a commitment but a person can only give so much until they break and try to work on things so much before it becomes a lost cause. I never knew I had this strength in me and I owe it all to the gastric sleeve surgery. It saved my life in more ways than one. So if you're on the fence or not sure about it... think about all the doors it can open in other aspects of your life. I'm now just over 1 year out, almost 190# down, went from a size 30 to a size 14 in jeans and i wear a size small/medium in mens tshirts, when I used to wear a 3x. it's a pretty amazing feeling! thanks for reading

yeah, agreed. ill see my sister for the first time in April 2014 since she moved to australia a year ago... she hasnt seen me since surgery and all my life she made fun of me for being bigger than her, but now she's gaining weight and im losing, it'll actually be kind of gratifying to see the look on her face. It might sound mean, but i honestly hope she's jealous...her and i have always been competative and as much as she tortured me about my weight growing up--- it'll make my day that's for sure

For years, ive been the "fat" friend in the group- a lot of my best friends are a little on the hefty side but no where as big as I used to be, so i think they felt a sort of comfort around me cuz it made them seem smaller, but now that i'm thinner than all of them, some make snide remarks about "but you have loose skin" but most of them have actually be surprisingly supportive, to my face at least..but like someone else said, your real friends will support you no matter what. I'm a real sarcastic person, so the ones who like to judge me and make rude comments they think are funny, i just reply with "oh---- well i have some old clothes that are too big that you can have if you want?"

i cheated on my pre op too and felt really guilty but now im 5 mo out and over 100 lbs down, just stay focused on the goal ahead, we all have road blocks but just keep your eye on the prize! its all in your head. There's going to be a lot of head hunger in your future but just make sure you are constantly drinking it'll help surpass it! and if you can have any protein water in your diet, try that cuz like someone else said, the protein will definitely help curb the appetite

yeah, i used to be embarrassed by having to sit in the "double" seats in waiting rooms and always wanting to ask for a table instead of a booth. Isnt it an amazing feeling to not have to be scared to basically live life? congrats to you guys too!

So, my husband and I decided to invest in some 6 flags season passes that go through fright fest this year and next. I went to fright fest this past Saturday and was terrified and have an underlying fear of being turned away from rides (since it happened at my highest weight) but now that im over 120 lbs lighter than my highest I thought id give it a shot and guess what? I rode all the rides my heart desired without any issues or embarrassment. it was probably one of the single greatest moments of my life. To someone who has never had to worry about it, it would seem silly, but to me it was like winning the lottery. I loved it so much that a friend and I went back to six flags on sunday for a few hours so I could experience it all again. (we're actually going again the 26th!) This is definitely my greatest NSV--- why don't you share some of yours that keep you going when things get tough?

I know the feeling, with my insurance i was told i had to do either 1 year physician supervised diet or 6 months multi disciplinary plan...which at first they told me was my physician and psychiatrist. so i completed the 6 months and was told in order to use the multi disciplinary route, i would have had to have seen a nutritionist as well, i was livid and about to give up...but i ended up just sticking with my doctor another 6 months to do the 1 year physician diet and it flew by, before i knew it, i was scheduling surgery and trust me, its WELL worth the wait. Insurances are gonna have you jump through hoops, its what they do (i work at a hospital, battling insurance companies for their lack of payment and cooperation) But everything good in life is worth fighting for and if you have dealt with the struggle this long, you can hang on a little longer. Dont let a little road bump like this set you back. you'll get there! and good luck with everything!

thanks guys ive been working my butt off (literally) and I am so glad I did this surgery. My surgery date was May 16th. the time has flown by.. cant believe i'm approaching 4 mo already!