The Journey Begins

August 5th 2013
Weight - 261*
BMI - 46.2

Tomorrow marks the first day of a new life for me. I have been researching the Lap-Band procedure for the past 7 years now and I am ready for a change. I am doing this blog as a way of supporting myself in this journey and for journaling purposes. I am not ready to let anyone read this blog yet, but I might give the blog address out when I am ready. In 2006 I did some research on the Lap Band procedure and decided that I was not ready at the time. I wanted to try a few more weight-loss efforts and I wanted to be done having babies before I had Lap-Band surgery. I really turned up the heat on my preparation for surgery this spring. I did a lot of research, visited Dr. Davis and gave up carbonated drinks for good. I started taking a multi-vitamin and calcium, and drinking greens to amp up my nutrition levels. Tomorrow (August 5th) I will start my 2 WEEK Liver Shrinking Diet in preparation for my Lap Band Surgery on August 19th. There has been a lot of thought that has gone into this and I think I am as ready as I will ever be. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't nervous because I am. I am nervous about the unknown about all of my lifestyle changes and about changing bad habits. Most of my future blog posts will consist of 3 elements. I will talk about Food, Activity, and Feelings. I hope this will help me stay on track and meet my goals.

So why Lap Band?

Well, I know that I need to make a change in my life.  I am Morbidly Obese which puts me into sever risk for high blood pressure, diabetes, sleep apnea, and heart disease. I want to live a long, healthy life and I have got to make a change.

I am tired alot and want to be able to do fun, active things with my kids. I want to be able to go hiking, exploring, running, skiing, dancing without being totally wiped out. I want to fit comfortably on an airplane and in amusement park seats. I don't want to be above the weight limit for certain activities like zip lining and riding in a dog sled (those are just 2 things that come to mind that I have not been able to participate in because of my weight). I am tired of my weight inhibiting me and putting limits on what I can and can not do. Thus the title of my blog "Lightning the Load with Lap Band". I want to lighten the emotional and physical limitations that being morbidly obese has put on me in my life.

I am a good mom and I want to be a better mom. I have dedicated the last 10 years of my life to being an awesome wife and mother, but in doing so I have totally neglected myself. I mean, see the picture above. Total mom jeans, old worn out clothes, and my hair is in a "mom" ponytail. It is not that I don't care, I just am not motivated to shop for new clothes or even try to dress cute. It just hasn't been a priority for me. It is time for me to focus a little more on ME. My 9 year-old has started picking out my clothes for me before we go to the store, dance, or her school because I think she has started to be more aware that I am not quite as physically attractive as the other moms. I think she is starting to be embarrassed by my appearance. I want to be cute again!

I want to become stronger and get in better shape and possibly challenge myself to do something new  like do a 5-K race or even wilder a tri-athlon.

*At the beginning of May I decided to totally give up Carbonated Drinks, when I was weighed at the Doctor's office I weighed 268 lbs, so giving up soda helped me loose 7 lbs in 3 months. I used to NEVER drink soda until I met my husband, but some of his eating/drinking habits have rubbed off on me over the past 10 years and becoming a soda drinker is one of the bad things that has rubbed off on me. Luckily, a lot of his good characteristics have rubbed off on me as well.