Down from 236 to 165

Megume

I've been on my weight loss journey for quite a long time.. pretty much my entire life. It wasn't till last year that I decided that enough was enough.. I had to stop feeling sorry for myself. I'm an ex-junior Olympic power lifter. I was injured in college and that's when everything started spiraling out of control. I was eating an athletes calories on a sedentary lifestyle. Top that off with depression and I gained almost 80 lbs. Here I am at my heaviest of 236 http://i.imgur.com/xdhnO.jpg
It was my mom who actually suggested weight loss surgery.. I never thought I was that big, and that it was too drastic. But even when I was a lean lifter, I was still considered obese because it never takes into consideration your muscle mass (I'm 5'1). I finally did the research and soul searching, discovered a lot about myself including my food addiction.. binging, feeling horrible, binging again to make myself 'high' so I wouldn't think about it anymore..
Last June I had a Vertical sleeve gastrectomy. It was the hardest and best think that I ever did for myself. If there's anything out there considering it, do your homework!! Don't let anyone tell you that having your stomach removed is the 'easy' way out. I still struggle with it everyday. By no means am I telling you to go do this, just saying that it's a serious option to consider. I still very much have to count calories, eat clean (which makes you feel amazing! btw) and exercise. I go to the gym 5 days a week and do yoga on the weekends. Here I am, down 70 lbs http://i.imgur.com/3PAYg.jpg (sorry.. the sweater hides my still flabby arms :P, but also hides my nice new waist too, lol and I don't normally look this girly >.>)
Also, as a reward and reminder to myself what I've done and that I can keep on going till I lose my last twenty lbs. I got a tattoo It might look weird to most people, but it's an image that's very meaningful to me.. to top it off, it's a drawing I did many years ago (my second passion in life, besides my health is art). So having this is amazingly cool to me. http://i.imgur.com/We0owl.jpg
Thanks for reading!! Good luck to everyone, you can do it! Ya just can't quit

cortneymau

What a beautiful tattoo! I love that it is something you designed. What a wonderful story. You are a great inspiration, thanks for sharing and motivating. Keep going and good luck!

the_great_unknown

Good for you! People who don't understand will assume that surgery is the easy way out. It isn't magic. I am 5'4 and my current goal is to be 165. I have a long way to go, but I know I can do this.