The best place to start is the beginning. I started gaining weight in the sixth grade. I noticed it but I didn’t think much of it until I had to go for my physical for school. I got on the scale and it said 148lbs. The nurse scrawled something on my chart and gave it to me to bring to the exam room for the doctor. She wrote “Grossly Overweight.” Not just overweight, not just chubby, but Grossly Overweight. I was so embarrassed and for the first time I realized that my weight was something that people noticed.
After that it seemed like the floodgates opened and my weight had become something that everyone noticed. It made me uncomfortable but the more I focused on it the worst it seemed to get. I would feel bad about gaining weight and food was the only thing that made me feel better… until it made me feel worse since I knew that the food was causing the weight. It’s a vicious cycle – even as a preteen.
I was an emotional eater and a secret eater. Once my mother cleaned my room and she found a ton of cookie bags and candy wrappers under my bed. When I came home from school I was horrified. I was discovered. The embarrassment only led to more eating. It’s funny how things like that happen.
My weight continued to increase through high school and due to completely unhealthy living in college I lost a lot of weight but it was short lived and my weight returned. Through the years I’ve had many successes and equally as many failures with my weight gaining and losing literally hundreds of pounds over the past 30 years.
In 2014, I hit a point where I knew I was well over 300 lbs and it was time to do something. I’d tried every diet fad from Deal a Meal to Ideal Protein and none with any long term success. It seemed like as soon as I gained some footing I would falter and return. I started looking into weight loss surgery. During this process I discovered that I was over 400 lbs and by the grace of God my weight was my only true issue. I decided to pursue weight loss surgery.
In December 2014, I had RNY Gastric Bypass and my life has changed immensely in the process. I’ve lost over 200 lbs, gained energy, movement, and quality sleep in the process. Contrary to popular belief, surgery isn’t a quick fix, it isn’t the easy way out, and it isn’t something that you do and there’s no work involved in losing weight. This process is a lifelong adjustment that requires discipline, maintenance, support, and a dedication to living a life that is vastly different from the one you lived before.
This blog is going to cover the process of weight loss surgery, the stories that led me to that decision and the training for the New York Marathon on 11/6/16. Welcome to my journey, I’m happy you’re here.
<3 Regina
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