The Beginning -- I'M SO EXCITED!

A friend of mine challenged me to start blogging about my journey, but the real challenge came when she told me to keep it POSITIVE and no WHINING. YIKES!! This WILL be a challenge, but I'll try. Plus, I've been getting quite a few questions on Facebook about why I'm doing a liquid diet, so I thought I'd try to answer those questions here.

This summer Chaston and I made our annual trip to Splashtown for some Mom and son fun. After climbing up the thousands of steps on just 2 rides, I was pooped and couldn't do anymore. I could barely breathe by the time we got to the top. He wouldn't ride the slides by himself, so we spent the rest of the afternoon lounging in the wave pool, sitting on our behinds. I felt HORRIBLE! We still had fun, but it just wasn't the same. Because my out of shape bootie couldn't climb up the stairs, he suffered.

So of course, I came home and pulled out my Nutrisystem foods I'd saved from earlier this year, and just the thought of swallowing another one made me literally gag. So I did Weight Watchers and lost nothing. This sent me back to the "Fat Doctor" for shots and pills. Nothing.

So I started looking into the Lap Band. I kept this quiet for some time b/c I feared people's reactions: It's the easy way out, it's for lazy people, you'll never lose weight on that, etc. So I talked to the one person that would tell me the truth -- my mom. Her response? "I'm surprised you haven't looked into this sooner." Once I had her support, I knew I was going to do this.

After several months of dealing with the insurance company (who would not qualify me since I didn't have any other problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure or sleep apnea), consults, meetings with dietician, clinical director, surgeon, even a Licensed Professional Counselor, on January 12th I will be heading to St. E's outpatient center to have Lab Band surgery.

I started my 14 day full liquid pre-op diet on Tuesday (I'm on day 5 right now). It's been tough, especially on the weekend when everything revolves around eating. But so far I have been successful, with only a little whining here and there. Then there's a 6 week process of weaning back to solid food. Again, not an easy thing to do. I will have 6 months membership to the Wellness Center and 5 free meetings with a personal trainer to help me start my exercise journey. They also have great support group meetings once a month that I fully plan to be a regular member of. It's going to be great!

I have been pleasantly surprised with the outpouring of support I've receive from family and friends. I've met people that are several years out from their surgery, and have come across several people that are on the same path as myself. It's great to have a support group, and this couldn't be done without all of them...and all of you reading this.

I have about 100 pounds to lose (as you can tell by the pic included in this post), and have been told it could be accomplished in about a year. It will be quite the journey, but I plan on using this blog to pour out my feelings. I'm not they type to hide this. I'm not going to lose 100 pounds and lie about how I did it. Plus I need to write my feelings...makes me feel better. :)

I WILL SUCCEED!