AimeeCakes

My name is Aimee & Im 37 years old. I've gained about 60 pounds in the last year and a half. I'm 5 feet tall and I weigh 229 pounds. *****This is a major setback in my life because when I was 26 I weighed 240 pounds. I decided I didn't want to be overweight anymore and I took steps on my own to lose my weight - I'm not sure where I found the willpower but I was able to lose the weight by dieting alone basically changing all of my eating habits and forming a new lifestyle. I started working out and incorporating exercise & was able to lose more .... After being heavy from age 12 till 28 I was extremely proud of myself. I had finally done the impossible. I can't tell you how many nights I would lay there in bed thinking tomorrow is the day that I'll start my new diet and just never did. I was able to maintain a weight of 150-165 for years. About three years ago I hurt my back my L5 disc showed signs of compression and began to cause issues with my sciatic nerve. I went to therapy I did everything I was told to do but working out became harder and harder for me and even a low to moderate exercise routine would cause such unbearable pain that would last for days. I continued to watch my food intake and my healthy eating habits but about a year and a half ago I had a huge change in my life which caused me to become way more laxed in my eating habits, then I found a new job that allowed me to work from home and it all went downhill from there. My daily routine was gone no more forced exercise just me the couch and my laptop. In the last few months I've noticed that I have completely reverted back to the eating habits I had before I lost my weight. I've tried many diets over the past couple years and have not been able to stick to any many cause could ketosis and allow for quick weight loss, but when I go off of the diet I tend to gain double what I've lost. I don't know what to do anymore - I know I need to make a change now not later! I have always believed that no one needs weight-loss surgery because I found the willpower to do the impossible I assumed anyone could do that as well. I know I've gotten older and my body is changing and things are different now my metabolism is just not the same and it's so much more difficult to lose the weight now than it was before as much as I try I fail and it's a vicious cycle. My sister got the lap band about seven years ago and I've watched her constantly struggle with it it's never worked properly she throws up when it's too tight and when it's too loose she can eat too much and gain weight and it's never really worked. Of course that puts a huge red flag in front of my face and makes me think look what she went through and look how she struggles it didn't do her any good why would a gastric bypass's help me? I realize there's a huge difference between the surgeries and what each of them do. I'm terrified that the worst will happen I will have countless side effects and regret my decision to take the route of irreversible surgery. I'm proud of what I was able to accomplish years ago and I want that feeling back again I'm just scared of the unknown and if this is the right path for me? I'm still in the very early stages of considering this is an option. I am truly a skeptic and I've done nothing but be very closed minded to weight-loss surgeries in the past and I thank you for allowing me to share my story. I wonder if anyone else has a similar situation to mine and any advice or opinions good or bad? Thank you Aimee

I appreciate the responses so far and your stories I am trying to become more educated on what this means physically emotionally and any other way it would affect me. My sister has been doing research on this for years and has a couple of good friends that have had the gastric bypass surgery done. I have hesitated to talk to anyone who's had it done because it's just not something I believed in. I agree that I do need to do more research and truly educate myself and continue to allow myself to be more open to the possibility that this could be an option for me