Hi Friends, My name is Kimberly and I'm 43 years old from Chicopee, Massachusetts. I grew up in Mass, came from a loving home and had a good life. I've been heavy as long as I can remember. I was always much heavier than my girlfriends in high school who wore a size 4 to 6 I was wearing a size 13. As time went on I put on more and more weight. I'm the mother of 3 beautiful children and I always fell under that age old expression "I'm eating for two" So ultimately I put on quite a few pounds after the birth of each child. I found myself making excuses for my poor eating habits and lack of exercise, I convinced myself that I was just "big boned" and I don't look that bad. Until the day my grandson who is a blessing in my life called me "Big Grandma" that's how he distinguished his grandma's. I was big grandma and his other grandma was little grandma. God Bless him, that planted the seed to seek out help, I had to get honest with myself and take control of my life, before it was too late. I entered the Bay State Weight Management Program in Spfld, Mass in Sept 2012. I'm 5'2 and at the time I weighed 275lbs and and It's been the best decision of my life. I've elected to have the Gastric Sleeve and finally after much waiting I've received a surgery date, It's August 5th, 2013. The staff I've encountered on my journey have been fabulous, I've learned how to eat healthy foods and correct portions, to date I've been able to lose 57 pounds and quit smoking, which for me was one of my biggest challenges. I'm so very grateful for every step of my journey. It's been a wild ride and I know I have a long way to go. I'm super excited about the surgery, but admittedly a little scared. I'm glad there is a site I can go to share my thoughts and feelings and see other's experience's and journey. I look forward to getting to know some people here and hopefully making some new friends who can relate to this experience. Thanks for taking time to read this.
