Aries331

Where do we begin huh? I started gaining serious weight freshman year of college. So for over half my life I have been overweight. As a kid and teen, I wasn't too overweight, but wasn't small either. I was teased in middle school for being "fat". If only some of us could look at ourselves back then as we do now, we'd know we weren't anywhere near as bad as we thought. I played soccer my whole life so that kept me in good shape. The search for perfection is a disgusting trait in westernized culture. 
So here I sit, ready to do something about it. How many times have I said that? Just ask the dozens of people I've documented my weight lost history. I could write a novel on the number of diets and pounds gained, lost & re-gained. 
To get to the heart of it, in 2008, I started running. My nephew was 4 years old and he wanted a playmate. His parents, My sister & b-i-l, were both active runners & bikers and I joined them. I lost over 40 lbs through diet & exercise. I thought I'd never gain it back. Then life changed. I had neuropathy from diabetes, despite having lost 40 lbs & running; I took a break from running and never truly got back into it. In August of 2011 I did the sprint Chicago Triathlon and it was hard. I could have been so much better at it if I'd worked harder.  I had started a job in California and regardless of the beautiful weather, I was depressed. I was away from my family & friends, my father was sinking deeper into Alzheimer's symptoms and I was allowing my depression to take over. I ate with complete abandon. This continued for years until I got tired of the yo-yo.
I researched bariatric surgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital (Chicago) and learned of an eating disorder program. I felt strongly that there's no reason I could maintain weight loss if I didn't re-train my brain. I spent a full year working on my diagnosed binge eating disorder, lost about 20 pounds, brought my A1C down from 10.7 to 7.2 to qualify for surgery, and made a go of it.
I had surgery on Monday, November 20th. I'm only on day 3 post-surgery, but feel great, other than the physical pain. I am able to keep all liquids down, no nausea, and finally came home late Wednesday. I'm very tired, but I think that's the pain meds. I'm very excited for this journey.
FF to 6 weeks post-op and 27 lbs gone I feel very much that this is an individual journey, mine being very different than anyone else I've heard from. So one day at a time.