SandyLu
My Story,
Where to begin? I'm a 49 year old female. Like many of you, I've struggled with my weight all of my life to various degrees. I was a chubby child, but not obese. In high school I lost some weight and was pretty active. I went to a large midwest college where lots of walking was the norm so I was able to maintain my weight fairly well. I think it started to go south when i graduated from college and got my first job. A desk job...with hour long lunches, sitting around, and a routine schedule. I started to gain weight, had a baby, gained some more. In 1987 I was fed up and did Optifast for 6 months. I got down to my goal and felt great. But, of course I learned nothing about eating by drinking protein shakes every day and the weight slowly came back. In 1989, three things happened that together started me down a slippery slope. I got pregnant again, my husband and I built a new house (stress!), and I got a big promotion at work that turned out to be the job from hell (more stress).
Something changed inside me at this point and I just gave up. No more diets, no more weight watchers, no more exercise, just bigger and bigger portions. Over the next 20 years I gained 5-7 pounds a year until I had RNY.
My decision to have surgery came after a long period of research and talking with others I knew who had had it done. In the end it came down to the risks of having the surgery versus the risks of not having it...and this view made my decision much easier. I had my surgery 1/18/07.
The hardest part for me was telling people. I was scared, embarrassed, etc. I told my husband first and he just shocked me by being supportive. Not that he's not a supportive person, but he's conservative. Next, I told my closest sister, who happens to work in the same department as my surgeon. It wasn't really an option not to tell her, but I'm glad I did as she was very helpful. My next person was my 22 year old daughter. We're very close. She broke out in tears and poured her own weight fears out to me. She's good with it now. My 17 year old son was a trooper; asked insightful questions and at the end of the conversation said "I'm really glad you decided to do this Mom". Next I told my parents and other two sisters. While they had questions they have been supportive. I told my boss and few other closer friends. While I worried about tellling each and every one of them, it turned out it was for nothing. I have had no negative feedback as yet; so either they are supportive or darn good liars.
As I write this I'm 3 months out. I'm doing well and had a fairly straight forward recovery. I tolerate foods well and my NUT says my loss has been right where it should be.
My philosophy has been to find a way that I'm willing to eat for the rest of my life. I try very hard not to view this as a 'diet'. I eat a wide variety of foods that for the most part are healthy and good for me. I'm satisfied with what I'm eating. I don't know if I dump as I haven't tried any sweets (they weren't my thing before surgery).
I have my challenging days like the rest of you. I try to just keep going forward; easy to say, hard to do. I don't count calories; I get in my protein and water, take my supplements and let the rest fall into place. I'm not so worried about this phase of the process; more so what will happen to portion control (my big issue) when I'm closer to goal and can eat more. Check my blog from time to time to see how this journey is going for me!
