This is my personal story, I am not a success story yet but I wanted to share where I am coming from and I will post updates along the way. After all, this is a blog. I thought you might want more information about the owner of the blog and why I choose to create it.

So I need to start with a disclaimer that I can’t actually share a lot about my weights and my journey after surgery because I am participating in a TV show (you will understand soon enough). So as for my journey post-surgery, I’m limited on what information I can give out. However, if you like a certain TV show dealing with bariatric surgery that is pretty popular then you will get to see my journey there very soon!

So I guess I will just start by sharing my struggles in obesity. I always remember being overweight. Even as a child. I can not remember a time that I wasn’t overweight (or as I call it fat). My mother loves to tell a story about how as a child she had to limit my formula because I gained weight to fast, I don’t know if that’s true but did affect my image of myself as doomed to always be fat. I was always bigger than the other kids and was often made fun of.

I did just about every diet possible growing up, nothing would stick or work out. I might lose a little bit but it never really lasted long. When I was 19 I met my husband. I actually couldn’t believe anyone was interested in dating me. When he reached out to me after seeing me waiting tables I thought he had the wrong person or that someone was playing a cruel joke. However, it turned out that he did indeed find me attractive and we quickly fell in love. He was a single father of two daughters that he had full custody of. So when I moved in with him I was an instant mother at 19. We got married quickly and I was soon pregnant with my first daughter (Isabella).

After having my daughter Isabella I had post-partum depression. It was pretty bad and my first terrible bout of depression. I dealt with stress and depression by overeating. I learned early on in life that food made me feel good when I felt insecure or stressed. I had some negative things happen during my teenage years and food became my go-to comforter. So this depression was no different. I ate and ate until I had gained over 100 pounds. At this point though I was still young enough that I didn’t let the extra weight stop me from finishing college and getting my master’s degree in counseling. I even started working a lot. Things were going pretty well. Even though I was unhealthy and wanted to lose weight.

Eventually, we decided to have a second daughter (Zowie). I thought since I knew that I had post-partum depression that I could avoid it. Well, that didn’t happen, in fact it was so much worse the second time around. I gained even more weight. Stress in my life led to me quitting my job and opening a private counseling office.

At this point, I was so heavy that I could barely get around. The kids were having to do a lot of chores around the house. I was missing out on family stuff because I couldn’t physically do it anymore. I looked into surgery at that point but unfortunately, my insurance would not cover it. So I did the centers metabolic plan and through diet and exercise, I love 160 pounds. I was still overweight but I felt amazing. I felt like I could move mountains, I was doing things I never thought I would ever do. It was amazing and I felt great. Then I hit a plateau and could not lose for weeks.

On top of that my professional career came crashing down around me when I was charged with legal charges and lost my license. I had lost everything important to me. All gone in minutes in a courtroom when I took a plea bargain. I couldn’t work, I had no license, I had a criminal background and no one would hire me, and I live in a small town and everyone was talking. I secluded to my home where I stayed inside and never left for over a year in the deepest depression I had ever experienced. I gained back everything I lost and more.

After years of secluding and not leaving the house, my physical health had declined. I could barely stand or walk, after five minutes I had to sit down. I was scared to leave the house. I stopped going out with the family, stopped going to the kid’s events, and just had a very small world in my own home.

I was a blogger, since I couldn’t find work and was contacted by Nutrisystem. I did their program as a blogger reporting on my progress and lost 150 pounds (again). Again I was starting to feel great, I was able to leave the house, able to go out and do things again. It wasn’t like the first time because I was older and had put on more weight but things were going well again. Then my program ended and I no longer had the food. So I went off the program. I was shocked at how fast it came back on. Over about a year I put it all back on.

So that leads me to where I was right before surgery. Over 500 pounds, miserable, pretty much stuck in my home, missing out on life and ready for a change.

I have to stop there, I can’t share anything else at this point. Once I can share about my journey to get surgery, having surgery, and after surgery, I will but for now, at least you know where I am coming from and why this bariatric surgery is so important to me.

If you are interested in sharing your story please email me at bariatricmamastaff@gmail.com!! I want to share as many stories as we can on this page. It’s so inspiring to me to see the success of others and keeps me motivated!!