Carmen_Shanell
Well as far as my story is concerned, I will try to make this a short one because I can tend to be a bit long winded
… I was always on the heavy side. I was a fat kid, a fat teenager and a fat adult. I remember being the biggest girl in my 3rd grade class. Though some people especially the cruel innocents of children made you feel different, I always thought that I was beautiful non-the-less
.
Never really had low self-esteem. My family was full of heavy women that had good self-esteem and good self-images. They always made me feel beautiful. One of my aunts used to call me Miss Piggy because of the diva like personality that I had when I was younger. I use to love to dress up in cute clothes and get my hair done.
When I was a teenager I had a few boyfriends here and there and never really suffered in that department. I was always told that I had a “pretty face”. That comment perplexed me because I use to think that people thought the rest of me was ugly. My smaller cousins were always just pretty or cute…but for me I have always had just a “pretty face. Sometimes those comments stung a bit, but never enough to shatter me.
I grew up in a cooking family. My mom and grandmothers all cooked for a living on various levels. My paternal grandmother was even the lunchroom lady in my grade school. She would slip me extra treats. We always gathered around food in celebration and you were encouraged not to be shy about eating. As a matter of fact it was required that you ate everything on your plate and we were never denied seconds. So this is just the foundation of where my bad habit began.
Those bad habits carried over into my adult hood where self-control in terms of food was difficult. I was very active growing up and as an adult
. I loved to walk and dance 
and did both regularly. I was determined to hang and have just as much fun as my much smaller cousins. So being active was never an issue. I was that. But my eating habits sucked big time. Those poor eating habits sent me into a down spiral that helped my weight top out at 425 lbs
prior to surgery.
I never had any health problems. No HBP, Diabetes, Thyroid issues or anything. I use to tell people that I was the healthiest fat girl they would ever meet!
And I was in my mind. But then my body began to tell otherwise in terms of mobility. The year prior to surgery my back went out, before that my knees began giving me problems. Then my ankles and feet. And none of this was good for some one who liked to shop for shoes, dance and walk. It became a problem to do the things I loved most and I knew at that point it was time to make some hard decisions.
A friend of mines from work brought the suggestion of surgery to me last year in July. Initially she brought up the idea of the lap band. And I was like “no no no no no!” 
to the idea of having surgery. But after a bit of research and assessing how my current life style had changed do to my weight, I reconsidered and went for the consult. I loved my doctor and his straightforward attitude. He was honest and up front about what he could do and what could happen to me if I didn’t do something about my weight. He suggested Gastric Bypass as a better option for someone my size and how it would be better for me in the long run. Once I found out I could do it laparoscopicly
, I gave in and made a decision that would change my life dramatically.
Some of my fears besides “having surgery” were having to have surgery again to get rid of the loose skin, and losing weight. Hahahaha. I know the losing weight part sounds funny but seriously. I was and still am afraid of what I will look like smaller than I am use to seeing my self. For someone that has been overweight my entire life, I have no concept of what it will be like to be under 200 or 300 lbs. 
I think I was 200 lbs in grade school. But though I am nervous about seeing the future me, I am excited at the same time.
The day before surgery I was 413 lbs and today I am 328. I am on my way, the journey has just begun. 
About Me
Before & After
rollover to see after photo
