My Story

[AnneAC 5]

My name is Anne. I am a 32 year old married mother of 2 small kids (ages 5 and 2). I teach part time at a university and own/design a children's clothing line. I have an amazing, supportive husband who has no weight issues. My Mom has no weight issues either, but my Dad, sister, and Dad's family ALL have weight problems. My first memory of being weight conscious was in the 3rd grade when the nurse weighed me and said out loud (in front of my whole class), "WOW Anne, you weight 95 pounds.". From that moment on I was regarded as a fat girl.

I graduated high school weighing 212 lbs and got married at 216lbs. I got down to 190lbs and did an Ironman right before I got pregnant with my son in 2005. I gained 80lbs during pregnancy and settled at 240 after pregnancy. Between 2006-2008 I gained 35lbs. My highest weight ever (not pregnant) was 286 and that was 2 weeks ago. I had enough.

I work out and am active, but tend have an insatiable appetite and can eat huge amounts of food. My body hurts, I can't bend down easily, can't play with my kids easily, and have no energy. My health insurance does not cover any form of weight loss surgery, counseling, or nutrition, so I am self pay and will travel to Mexico to have the procedure done. I live very close to Houston and looked into self pay Houston physicians, and they were all upwards of $15K and that is very far out of reach for my family.

My parents are incredibly supportive as is my husband. I have told one friend who is tall, thin, and beautiful and she has been so unbelievably supportive that it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. I'm hoping for a speedy recovery. I have had 2 c-sections, an appendectomy, my gall bladdr removed, and a ventral hernia repair (which was by FAR the most painful surgery ever). Needless to say, my abs are SHOT. I'm not anticipating a bikini ready body, but I would LOVE to shop in regular stores.

I am getting nervous about my trip. I will be making it alone. I want my husband to stay home and tend to the kids to keep them in their normal routine. Being alone makes me anxious, but part of me really feels I need to be by myself on this part of the journey. I'm so glad I found this board for support