quiltlove

I will be 63 years old in June and for the first time in over 30 years I have been succesful in my weight loss. When I was 41 I lost my 19 year old son to suicide and my world came crashing down. I gained 80 pounds that year trying to stuff my pain. Then diet after diet I yo-yo'd for years. In 2000 my husband had a serious construction fall that left him crippled and me the sole breadwinner. Two years later he was diagnosed with cancer, open heart surgery, more cancer, and more surgery until he died in July 2010. Since eating was the way I handled pain and stress my weight climbed to 281 pounds on this little 5'4" body. I was very unhealthy with high cholestoral, high blood pressure, dibetes, depression, bad back and bad knees and everything else that slowed me down. A year before my husband died we both decided I needed to get myself healthy if I were going to live. My children and my grandchildren needed me and at 60 years old I was too young to be in this shape. I started my doctor visits 3 months before he died so he never got to be here when I went through the surgery. I was determined to change my life for the better and even living alone I pushed forward. I had my surgery in November 2010 and it was a slow start but as of today 18 months later I have lost 125 pounds and I'm only 20 pounds from goal! I went from a PLUS SIZE 4 (28-30) to a size 10-12. For the 1st time in over 30 years I can buy clothes off the rack in any store. One of the best things I can do now is cross my legs!! No one recognizes me when I go places and my children can't remember seeing me this small. It is a wonderful feeling but most important is I'm no longer dibetic, my blood pressure is way down, my cholestoral is way down and I no longer fight with depression. I love life and embrace it with all the gusto I can! I bought a new bathing suit and look so little in it!! It's a wonderful feeling to be "normal" again. When you are obese people treat you differently.........now I'm just a regular person and loving it!! Carol