Signed,
Listening to my gut feelings

Or — let’s see, if Obama wins, I go gastric. If Hillary wins, it’s lap-band. And if McCain wins, then I just stay fat. That seems as good an approach on decision making than anything I’ve come up with thus far…

The first year was the hardest. Understanding and realizing how much food you were actually able to eat. It really is amazing how little it is. But, the first year I lost 103 lbs and had never felt better. My family and I went on vacations and actually went hiking without me hating every step of it. I felt incredible. And the best part was is that I feeling more and more like the MOM that I needed to be!!!

Now, almost 4 years post-op, I am down 175 lbs and feel great!! AND, I can also enjoy food much like I used to. I cannot eat nearly as much as I could before surgery, but I can go out for dinner with people and no one would notice that I was the one who had the GB surgery.

I would recommend the surgery to anyone. It changed my whole life!!! Good luck!!

I figure if I’m really ready to do it I’ll be set in my decision then. So right now I’ve joined this “Walking Bus” on the campus where I work. Basically a whole group of people from my work meet up at 12:15 Tues, Wed, and Thurs and walk a one mile route. Other folks jump in with us as we pass certain points on the route. It takes about 20 minutes and even though I’ve done it 7 times so far I’m still in agony by the end of the walk. But as much as I hate “exercise” I admit I do feel a sense of accomplishment after finishing the route each day.

But we’ll see if I can stick with it long enough to make a difference. I’m also toying with going back on WeightWatchers. I know it works for me, when I actually do it. But I personally HAVE to go to the weekly meetings or I won’t stick with it. And I’m too darn cheap to spend the money on myself to go. We’ll see if I can take that plunge though. I hear that my insurance will reimburse you for the cost if you reach your goal weight. Maybe the lure of getting the money back will make a difference for me. We’ll see.

But the funniest thing to me was your reason #2. Because as ridiculous as that probably sounds to most people, even me, that is really one of my “reasons” for being heavy I think.

Oh, and that I think skinny people are mean and fat people are nice. And I’m nice! Will I turn into a mean person if I get thin? Another bizarre thought, but subconsciously I think I believe it.

Sigh. More than a diet pill I probably need some kind of therapy! LOL

I did two things that helped me out. I started going to Kickboxing classes. I hate running/biking/jogging/walking/weightlifting. It’s doing something for nothing. I run, but to where!? Maybe the grocery store to get a candy bar and a soda, maybe to Burger King. I need to do something for my exercise.

Kickboxing helped me out because I decided after doing it for awhile and watching the guys in the ring that I want to do that someday. Not for a living or anything like that. Just once to have the picture on my wall at home/office and be able to tell people the story about my win or loss in the ring. And if I didn’t practice and get better at it, you could be money on if I’d even make it through the first round. After sparring for awhile now, I can honestly tell you it is one of the hardest things I’ve EVER done. I can’t imagine it with the adrenaline rush of the crowd cheering and the lights on you and your opponent. After awhile of this I got down to 221 lbs, 214 if I didn’t exercise for awhile (in other words, 7 lbs of it was muscle… probably could have lost even more by continuing to not exercise, but the house was done and up for sale so I could start going again)

The other thing that helped me out is ADHD. After kickboxing for about 9 months I finally decided to go in and get an assessment for ADHD. It ends up that I have it pretty bad. Now I take Dextroamphetamine Sulfate (generic version of Adderall XR). Supposed to take 40 mg a day, but 30 mg works just as well.

It didn’t kill my appetite, but definitely stunted it. I used to eat Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Now I could easily go without Breakfast and Lunch (although I usually only skip Lunch). Dinner I could live without but I try to eat it everyday. After this I got down to about 205lbs while exercising. I haven’t NOT exercised while on these yet.

Although this has given me the inspiration to try to get down to 185 (a lower weight class) so as to fight a little easier of an opponent.

But the point of that last statement is to say you could ask your doc about it. Since getting on it I’ve found out that it is sometimes used as a weight control/appetite suppression medication. Although it is a vasal (vein) constrictor so you might get an even higher blood pressure from it (although after the weight loss it’ll go down) and it makes my hands and feet absolutely FREEZE.

So my suggestions, give yourself a goal. Not “I will lose x pounds” but something that’ll challenge yourself. “I will run the mile in less than 10 minutes” or “I will beat my husband at golf” or “I will be able to do the military boot camp entrance requirements while my husband won’t be able to” or even “I will fight in a martial arts match”. I don’t know if a challenge is your thing though.

The other thing I’d recommend is a medication of some sorts. Look up Anti-Obesity Drug in wikipedia. Check out the first drug they list called Orlistat (Xenical®). It’s an over-the-counter drug that reduces intestinal fat absorption. OTC… as in no prescription necessary. As in, “if this doesn’t work THEN I can seriously consider the surgery”.

I’d stay far far away from the surgery. Sure it works and has a very high sucess rate. But what good is being thin if your out of shape. You’ve only solved one of the problems. The drugs don’t solve all the problems either, but at least you’ll be able to enjoy food and soda. No more soda if you get intestinal bypass.

I’d try the OTC drug I mentioned above. And if a challenge is your thing challenge someone to something. I get terrified just thinking about the fight I have coming (in about November). And I know the only way I can come out of it still standing is to make sure I’m ready for it.

The other thing that challenges me is pull-ups. My wife can do one (she does aerobics 5 times a week), my brother-in-law (who hasn’t actually exercised in about 6 or 7 years) can do one. Me? I can’t get my feet more than two inches off the ground. This is pathetic. When I’m not kickboxing I’m working in the weight room because I should be able to do one lousy pull-up.

Sorry for the freakishly long comment. I just want to see you succeed. I really really do.

Of course no one can tell you to have the surgery or not. Good luck on your decision.

Oh & I love bad foods, too. And drinks!