I'm BACK!
How many years has it been? 4? 5?
I haven't had the Internet for years, and now that I got it last Thursday, I am eager to get back on here and meet some others who are trying to lose weight.
My life has changed so much in the past year I can hardly believe it.
About me:
My name is Elizabeth. I am 28.
I was 341 pounds and 5'6" and started feeling really sick around this time last year. After some medical tests, the doctors told me that my gallbladder was full of gallstones and needed to be removed.
After the surgery, the surgeon (also a bariatric surgeon) told me that he found some fatty deposits on my liver while they were working on me. He told me that if I didn't change and start losing weight, I would be at risk for Diabetes or cirrhosis of the liver and cut my life expectancy by a huge amount. I was really scared. My surgeon told me that he would give me contact information to a nutritionist in the Bariatric Institute and that if I could get down to 200 pounds, I would probably undo any damage that had been done with the fatty deposits. I remember the surgeon leaving the room and crying for so long that he came back to check on me.
That was it. I was going to die. There was no way I could get down to 200 pounds. They might as well have told me I had to lose 1,000 pounds. I haven't weighed around 200 that since high school. I had been trying to lose weight off and on for my entire life. What could a nutritionist possibly do for me?
I was really nervous to meet the nutritionist at first. I was sure that they would tell me that I needed the surgery or I would die. I was terrified. The nutritionist wasn't what I expected at all. She was friendly and very encouraging. She gave me a list of foods to eat along with a 1200 calorie diet. She told me to keep fats, sugars, carbs, and proteins within certain numbers. She also told me a bit about the surgery that I would be a candidate for. I didn't let her explain for long. I told her that I had no intention of getting surgery. That was a last option.
And she said, "Good. That would be wonderful. Give the diet a try, and we'll see how it works for you. If you are having trouble losing weight after these six months, then maybe you want to consider the surgery."
I took the list of foods as my last chance. I counted calories, journaled my food, stopped eating when I wasn't hungry. I lost around 15 pounds the first month.
Right now, I am around 245. I feel like I have been given a new chance. I don't feel scared anymore. I have learned that I have been selling myself short for such a long time. I had been telling myself that I couldn't do these things, and here I am, nearly 100 pounds lighter in the short time of one year.
I'm not exhausted all of the time. I have been doing Leslie Sansone's Walk Away the Pounds programs, as I have always done when I hopped back on the wagon. I found that I can do the 4 mile with no problem. I can jog. I have energy for the first time in many years.
I am more excited about life. I realize now that I am in charge of my destiny. I don't want to sit back and wonder what will happen; if I will lose the weight. I know that I can, it's just a matter of when.
My goal weight is around 160-180 and I have no doubt that I will reach it.
I haven't had the Internet for years, and now that I got it last Thursday, I am eager to get back on here and meet some others who are trying to lose weight.
My life has changed so much in the past year I can hardly believe it.
About me:
My name is Elizabeth. I am 28.
I was 341 pounds and 5'6" and started feeling really sick around this time last year. After some medical tests, the doctors told me that my gallbladder was full of gallstones and needed to be removed.
After the surgery, the surgeon (also a bariatric surgeon) told me that he found some fatty deposits on my liver while they were working on me. He told me that if I didn't change and start losing weight, I would be at risk for Diabetes or cirrhosis of the liver and cut my life expectancy by a huge amount. I was really scared. My surgeon told me that he would give me contact information to a nutritionist in the Bariatric Institute and that if I could get down to 200 pounds, I would probably undo any damage that had been done with the fatty deposits. I remember the surgeon leaving the room and crying for so long that he came back to check on me.
That was it. I was going to die. There was no way I could get down to 200 pounds. They might as well have told me I had to lose 1,000 pounds. I haven't weighed around 200 that since high school. I had been trying to lose weight off and on for my entire life. What could a nutritionist possibly do for me?
I was really nervous to meet the nutritionist at first. I was sure that they would tell me that I needed the surgery or I would die. I was terrified. The nutritionist wasn't what I expected at all. She was friendly and very encouraging. She gave me a list of foods to eat along with a 1200 calorie diet. She told me to keep fats, sugars, carbs, and proteins within certain numbers. She also told me a bit about the surgery that I would be a candidate for. I didn't let her explain for long. I told her that I had no intention of getting surgery. That was a last option.
And she said, "Good. That would be wonderful. Give the diet a try, and we'll see how it works for you. If you are having trouble losing weight after these six months, then maybe you want to consider the surgery."
I took the list of foods as my last chance. I counted calories, journaled my food, stopped eating when I wasn't hungry. I lost around 15 pounds the first month.
Right now, I am around 245. I feel like I have been given a new chance. I don't feel scared anymore. I have learned that I have been selling myself short for such a long time. I had been telling myself that I couldn't do these things, and here I am, nearly 100 pounds lighter in the short time of one year.
I'm not exhausted all of the time. I have been doing Leslie Sansone's Walk Away the Pounds programs, as I have always done when I hopped back on the wagon. I found that I can do the 4 mile with no problem. I can jog. I have energy for the first time in many years.
I am more excited about life. I realize now that I am in charge of my destiny. I don't want to sit back and wonder what will happen; if I will lose the weight. I know that I can, it's just a matter of when.
My goal weight is around 160-180 and I have no doubt that I will reach it.