Welcome! Here's some background...
I have been overweight my entire life. In the last year, I have developed arthritis in both knees, and am having issues with the discs in my lower back as well. I have been considering gastric bypass surgery for several years, but have been a poor college student and so didn't have health insurance.
Well, I was recently married (to an incredible man, by the way), and he brought health insurance with him. Lo and behold, this health insurance covers gastric bypass, but only under very specific conditions. At my current Body Mass Index (BMI), I fulfill the requirements set by my insurance company. I currently weigh about 315 pounds, and I am 5'5" tall, which puts my BMI at 52.4. I am considered morbidly obese at that BMI.
Until this last year, I've been a fairly active person. I am a swing dancer, and would dance several times a week. As my knees have begun to hurt more and more, I had to slowly curtail my activities...and the weight began to pile on. In the last eight months, I've gained about forty pounds. (I say "about" because I avoid scales like the plague!)
My problem has always been portion control. I can eat healthy when I want to; I've been successful in the short term with dieting and eating correctly. I love healthy food - especially grilled chicken with lemon. Eventually, the hunger gets to be too much for me, and I can't control my portions any longer...and the lost weight comes back, and then some.
My most successful weight loss occurred about three years ago. I joined a gym, and began exercising twice a day aerobically, and three times a week for strength training. Over the course of about six months, I dropped about 60 pounds. I wasn't looking back. I was eating right, exercising, building muscle mass (at one point I was able to leg press 425 pounds!), and loving every minute of it. Then, as far as my exercise regimen went, disaster struck. First, I developed a stress fracture in my foot. Then, I developed gout as a side effect of all the protein I was eating. I was determined to keep trying, until I severely strained my ankle while out on a walk one day with friends. Three years later, I still have pain in that ankle if I stress it at all.
I'm starting to feel like I'm trapped in my body. When I look in the mirror, I don't see myself. I see a fat girl whose weight is out of control, and will kill her - but not before it inflicts some pain along the way.
I don't like the way that makes me feel. I long to be dancing again, out in the sun (when it's not raining!), and enjoying life. I can't do that right now, so I need to do something to enable me to do that. I see gastric bypass as the way to make that happen, and have LONG TERM SUCCESS.
A lot of people will say that diet and exercise are the way to do it. Do a little research if you're one of these, and you'll find that diet and exercise alone only has about a 5% long-term success rate when it comes to losing a large amount of weight. I don't want to go through all the work of losing the weight, only to have it come back in a few years. I know myself, and I know what it will take to make my weight loss succeed, and quite frankly, I need a bit of help to do it. This surgery is my tool.
Well, I was recently married (to an incredible man, by the way), and he brought health insurance with him. Lo and behold, this health insurance covers gastric bypass, but only under very specific conditions. At my current Body Mass Index (BMI), I fulfill the requirements set by my insurance company. I currently weigh about 315 pounds, and I am 5'5" tall, which puts my BMI at 52.4. I am considered morbidly obese at that BMI.
Until this last year, I've been a fairly active person. I am a swing dancer, and would dance several times a week. As my knees have begun to hurt more and more, I had to slowly curtail my activities...and the weight began to pile on. In the last eight months, I've gained about forty pounds. (I say "about" because I avoid scales like the plague!)
My problem has always been portion control. I can eat healthy when I want to; I've been successful in the short term with dieting and eating correctly. I love healthy food - especially grilled chicken with lemon. Eventually, the hunger gets to be too much for me, and I can't control my portions any longer...and the lost weight comes back, and then some.
My most successful weight loss occurred about three years ago. I joined a gym, and began exercising twice a day aerobically, and three times a week for strength training. Over the course of about six months, I dropped about 60 pounds. I wasn't looking back. I was eating right, exercising, building muscle mass (at one point I was able to leg press 425 pounds!), and loving every minute of it. Then, as far as my exercise regimen went, disaster struck. First, I developed a stress fracture in my foot. Then, I developed gout as a side effect of all the protein I was eating. I was determined to keep trying, until I severely strained my ankle while out on a walk one day with friends. Three years later, I still have pain in that ankle if I stress it at all.
I'm starting to feel like I'm trapped in my body. When I look in the mirror, I don't see myself. I see a fat girl whose weight is out of control, and will kill her - but not before it inflicts some pain along the way.
I don't like the way that makes me feel. I long to be dancing again, out in the sun (when it's not raining!), and enjoying life. I can't do that right now, so I need to do something to enable me to do that. I see gastric bypass as the way to make that happen, and have LONG TERM SUCCESS.
A lot of people will say that diet and exercise are the way to do it. Do a little research if you're one of these, and you'll find that diet and exercise alone only has about a 5% long-term success rate when it comes to losing a large amount of weight. I don't want to go through all the work of losing the weight, only to have it come back in a few years. I know myself, and I know what it will take to make my weight loss succeed, and quite frankly, I need a bit of help to do it. This surgery is my tool.
posted by DameKitten at 12:11 PM
2 Comments:
*Insert peppy supportive dance here*
I'm excited for you girl. Praying as well. Love ya!
Hi sweetheart! I am really proud of you for being so brave--lots of prayers comin' your way! Just curious, but do they give you any sort of counseling through it, or nutrition info, etc.? I was just wondering if that is part of the process to help you get back on your feet afterwards. Lots o' luv!
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