Good morning MFP!

BastetJenn

My name is Jennifer.

My highest weight that I'm aware of was 426.

I'm married, live in Central Virginia and work from home as tech support.

I am actually in the process of trying to figure out if bariatric surgery is for me so for the now I'm doing it the old fashioned way, diet and hard work. In the end I may still need the surgery, but that's neither here nor there, this is the start of a journey, not the end.

I'm currently 412.8 lbs after cutting out sodas and starting to make the healthier choices in foods. I'm attempting to stick to the Keto diet, but I find the low carbs and high fiber really hard to hit. But in monitoring my numbers and what I'm eating I find my self making different choices when I prepare food.

It's taken me a LONG time to realize I need help. I've always been big. My father used to pick on my about everything to do with my weight and eating so I would hide what I was eating and snacking on and still have meals with the family. As a kid I got to see an army nutritionist who gave me a diet in which I had to measure EVERYTHING (Aka serving sizes) and was told to my pubescent face that the first place I would loose weight was out of my then developing breasts. Tell ya what you tell a 12 year old girl who is already shopping in the women's section for bras because holy cow life has chosen to be generous that she can actually reduce her bust size by rubbing speckled turn poo in her belly button 5 times a day, she will do it. So for 6 months I measured and suffered my dad's teasing and my parents not even attempting the same kind of control and restraint I was only to find out that I had lost 1lb and my bust had gotten bigger. I never dieted again.

Over the years I've modified what I'm eating, but when results fail to show I slip back into it.

My lowest weight in the past 10 years was when I met my husband, I was 300 lbs. And plateaued for 4 months at that weight, going to the gym 5 or 6 days a week eating 4 smaller meals a day, had cut out fast food, was still eating processed, but less and less. Then we moved and it all fell apart.

I stopped using scales becuase they couldn't read my weight.
I said "I'll go to the gym tomorrow" and tomorrow never got here.
We started eating fast food again.
I would for stretches not leave the house for a month (Except to go onto the back porch to let the dog out).

I went to a GYN (Lady bits doc) appointment and was weighed.... 406. Four hundred and six pounds. Oh... My.... God....

She looked at me and said, you need to do something about this. You need to loose the weight if you ever want a child. You need to loose the weight if you ever want to be able to keep up with a child. And she referred me to a WLS clinic and to this gym which is an amazing gym and with their program I managed to get to 398.

Here we are almost a year later.... I haven't had my first Doc appt for the surgery (You have to have a certain number of visits in a certain period to prove you cant loose weight via "normal" methods. And I'm up to 426.

I state now for all those that will listen and hear me.

I am Jennifer. I am strong, proud and beautiful. And it's up to me with the support of my husband and friends to do this. I will loose the weight, I will make the changes. I will be active, I will one day again ride horses. I will fit in roller coasters. I will not automatically choose the soda over the water, I will not take a desert, I will take control of my life and live it the way that *I* need to and the way that *I* see fit. I will be open and honest about what I'm doing, I will not hide food or the fact that I have eaten it. I will get off my *kitten* and go out that door. I may not be able to walk far now, but one day I'll be able to walk as far as I want.

I am Jennifer and this is my journey. I. Will. Succeed.

meelissa1

Jennifer, you are owning it. That's a great start! You can do this! Just know you will have tough days, but keep going!

funchords

Hi Jennifer.

I was a bariatric surgery candidate. I went through the entire process except for the surgery itself. If you have a great surgeon, he will put you through a gauntlet of examinations, tests, nutrition, psychological, and educational steps before the surgery.

Because of this, I found MFP. I was given the homework assignment to log my food and walk 30 minutes 3x a week. No other goals. The weight just started falling off! That was only 63-64 days ago! When you are as heavy as we are, the weight can come off fast! As of this week, I no longer have a BMI high enough to have surgery.

While 90+% of diets fail, everything you do as part of using MFP and getting fit are things that you will also do after bariatric surgery -- walking, logging, choosing better foods, getting support, keeping track -- it all applies. So if you do eventually get the surgery, doing everything you are doing here will make you a more prepared patient. Surgery only adds three things: faster feedback that you are getting full due to a smaller stomach, mal-absorption of your nutrients because part of your digestive system is bypassed, and a negative reinforcement called dumping (throwing up if you eat too much or something that is too sugary or greasy). It has some risks but it is relatively safe, especially considering the danger of carrying the weight you and I tend to carry. In a study, more than 70% of surgery patients are happy that they had the surgery -- a great number considering that 90% of diets fail. But, 100% definitely, if you can do this without surgery, you should do it!

Since I'm not having the surgery, I won't be getting the post-surgery group support. I joined TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) for support. It's a non-profit and has very low cost and it's run by its members. Overeaters Anonymous (which I've never attended) is another option for group support. Weight Watchers (which I used to attend but didn't stick with) is a for-profit that also has good group support. And then there's your online family right here!

Go do this! Put the surgery on hold, it'll be there if you ever need it. If I can avoid the surgery, you probably can too! You'll do fantastic!

WW_Jude_V2

I state now for all those that will listen and hear me.

I am Jennifer. I am strong, proud and beautiful. And it's up to me with the support of my husband and friends to do this. I will loose the weight, I will make the changes. I will be active, I will one day again ride horses. I will fit in roller coasters. I will not automatically choose the soda over the water, I will not take a desert, I will take control of my life and live it the way that *I* need to and the way that *I* see fit. I will be open and honest about what I'm doing, I will not hide food or the fact that I have eaten it. I will get off my *kitten* and go out that door. I may not be able to walk far now, but one day I'll be able to walk as far as I want.

I am Jennifer and this is my journey. I. Will. Succeed.

LOVE your attitude Jennifer! If you can keep this in the back of your mind at all times and revisit it each time you feel the challenge is too great (and believe me, there will be those times!) you'll do well.

Looking forward to seeing your upcoming posts. :flowerforyou:

kjurassic

Welcome, Jennifer-

There is no better time to start your journey to health than NOW!!! You are so worth this!
There are a lot of good people on MFP, a few A _ _ holes :laugh: , but you will gain a lot of knowledge and support here.
I've known 5 friends who've had the surgery. Two gained all the weight (and more) back. one has been successful, the other has had multiple health issues due to the surgery, one died from complications from the surgery.
You said it yourself - you are strong. I think you should try again the non-surgical way - show yourself (and us) just how strong you really are!
Your mind set is awesome - that's key! Just be patient, expect bumps in the road along the way and....enjoy the journey!

BastetJenn

Thanks everyone!

I'm finding support beyond my wildest dreams between here and my friends/family.

If your new to this, the best advise I see repeated all the time......

One day at a time.

If you mess up today, thats ok, it happens, its GOING to happen. Don't let that destroy you.