Sunday, January 3, 2010

Getting To Know Grace

I don't know who will ever read this, but here's what you'd probably want to know about me!

I'm in my 34 years old and a happy wife and mother of 3. My husband and I own a business that we just started in 2009, so I stay very busy between running our house and trying to help him launch a business.

I've never been a super skinny girl...but in the early 90's what 18 year old girl wouldn't think a size 8 or 10 is "big"? Even though I wasn't as thin as my sister or my best friend in high school it didn't really bother me too much then. I was active and could eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted and I never really got any bigger. Then I started having babies..........

Baby #1 was born and I only had about 10 pounds to lose when I left the hospital. I stayed pretty close to pre-pregnancy weight after him. I went to water aerobics and fell in love with it!! I don't know what it is about exercising in the water, but it is easy, and sooooo much fun to me! I loved it, and I didn't look for excuses to miss it....I went every chance I had!! Until 2 years later when....pregnancy #2!

During that pregnancy the weight was a little easier to gain, and somehow a lot harder to get rid of! I don't remember how much I put on with him, or how much I needed to lose after the delivery...but I do know having 2 kids was a lot different than having 1, and now my husband was working at night. There was no money, no husband home, and no energy to go back to my beloved water aerobics! So what did I do you ask?? NOTHING! (Other than buy some new clothes so I could quit wearing all of my maternity clothes!)

Yet another 2 years and pregnancy #3!! After baby 3 the weight was getting out of control. I was still shopping in regular stores for clothes, but within a year that would change. My youngest child had asthma as a baby, and he was in and out of the hospital repeatedly. It was a very stressful time, and I found myself a worn out mommy of three...which led to fast food and comfort food ALOT!

In the 9 years following I would set up little "I'll never weigh" points along the way...first being 150, then 175, then 200, then 225...when I hit 223 pounds in June 2009 I knew something had to change, the roller coaster ride just wasn't fun any more! Now over those 9 years I was up and down on the scale. I did E-Diets, Weight Watchers, joined 3 different gyms, worked with a nutritionist, and learned LOTS about weight loss. It really isn't a difficult concept to understand...eat appropriate sized portions and exercise. Knowing this I would head into weight loss mode and lose as much as 30 pounds...but it was a lot of work and a very sloooooow process. And when I'd given up, a month later the weight would be back, with friends.

So here I was in June '09, knowing that I was tired of the weight problem. I had sleep apnea, but pretty lucky other than that! My blood pressure was normal, my cholesterol was fine, and no diabetes....but I knew that these were all very real problems I could be facing in the near future if I didn't get my act together! Since every thing else I tried didn't last I was ready to try something drastic...and there were 2 possibilities that I could think of - hypnosis or surgery.

I did a lot of research on hypnosis at first. I couldn't really imagine myself as someone who would have surgery for weight loss. After wading through lots of information that I didn't know whether to believe or not I came across some info on the Mayo Clinic's website. (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/weight-loss-hypnosis/AN01617) According to their information hypnosis has a very modest result, at about 6 pounds. I decided that there just wasn't enough evidence to support trying hypnosis.

When I decided to delve into the world of surgical options I found tons of info! Again, I found myself trying to weed out all of the garbage...but still, I found a lot of good information. Probably the most helpful information I found though came from those people I knew that had already had the surgery. A friend of the family, Steve, had had surgery 2 years ago and he and his wife were a ton of help. After investigating several options and hospitals I had made a decision. I was going to go for a free consultation for weight loss surgery!

So there it is....everything you needed to know about what brought me to this point!

Until next time...Hugs, Prayers, & Glad to Meet You!

1 comment:

  1. A lot of ups and downs ... Literally and figuratively. I'd say there was a lot of success along the way -- 30 lbs. Is a lot of work! I know I've been frustrated plateauing at 10 lbs. For almost a month.

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