supermom1777

I have always had weight issues as far back as I can remember.  I was the "fat" kid that was picked on incessantly by other kids growing up.  This started a lifetime of crash diets and starving myself for days to lose weight.  Eventually, I did manage to get down to 115lbs my senior year of highschool.  Sure, I looked good, but I felt horrible.  I had constant stomachaches from never eating, and eventually starting vomiting every time I would eat simply because I had starved myself for so long, my body didn't know how to accept the food anymore.  Once I went away to college, I gradually gained quite a bit of weight back.  I didn't just gain the freshman five, I gained more like the freshman 25!  I met my husband in 1999 and knew immediately he was "the one."  We became engaged Christmas of 2000, which again plummeted me into the pits of crash diet hell trying to be the skinny, beautiful bride.  I did lose about 45lbs before my wedding, but was still disappointed that I wasn't smaller.  Even the fact that they were trying to pin me into my wedding dress the day of the wedding because I had lost so much more weight prior to my final fitting didn't ease the disappointment in myself.  Once we decided to start our family, I again started trying to lose weight so I would be able to start a pregnancy at a healthier weight.  I also had infertility issues and I assumed it was because of my size.  I tried Weight Watchers, Slim Fast, and starvation with little success.  Eventually, after taking fertility medication, we became pregnant with our first child.  I became incredibly ill from the pregnancy and lost 25lbs my first trimester.  However, once they had the issues under control, I gained that back plus much more.  I ended up gaining 100lbs during my pregnancy.  I never managed to lose more then 50lbs of that.  I then had 2 more children and continued to gain weight with each child.  By the time I accepted that something serious had to be done, I weighed in at 275lbs. I first starting looking into having lapband in 2007 and was actually approved for the surgery and had my surgery date.  However, I became scared and chickened out and canceled the whole thing.  About 10 months later, I had finally decided that this was something I had to do.  I had ended up on blood pressure medication and I was only 30yrs old!  I had 3 very small children and my biggest fear was not being able to see them grow up or be able to be an active parent.  I called up the dr's office and started the process again.  It didn't take long since I was still approved for the surgery.  Two weeks later, I was in for my initial visit with Dr. Lenz to make sure I was a candidate in his mind.  He did his exam and stated that I definately was a candidate.  I ended up losing some weight prior to seeing the dr, so I weighed in at 245lbs. Three weeks later, on March 14th, 2008, I had my surgery.  It has been two years since my surgery and I have lost 83lbs so far.  I now weigh 192lbs and feel incredible!  I can't remember the last time I actually saw my weight be below 200lbs.  I am trying to step up my exercise now and would like to lose another 50lbs before I'm done.  For the first time ever, I am happy with how I look and am comfortable in my own skin.