Heavy Girl to Healthy Girl: NO SURGERY For ME!

Letting the real person within me come out

I lost 113 pounds and 55 inches off my body in 14 months. Hard to believe?? Perhaps - I have a small problem believing it myself. I look back and say~ Wow!!! Did I do that??

So to encounter non-believers when I share my journey, it is normal I guess. Losing weight is a difficult journey that many endure and sometimes without success. Obesity in this country has become an epidemic. Everyone is looking for that special pill, for that magic potion, for that easy program.

Unfortunately there are NONE. I was stunned to find out that the weight and exercise industry is a 40 BILLION dollar one. OMG!!!!

No Surgery

BEFORE -238 LBS AFTER- 125 LBS

Usually the first question that people ask me is: "How did you lose the weight?", but I remember this particular time when someone skipped that infamous question and asked: "Which surgery did you have?." Little did I know there was more than one kind of weight loss surgery.

Wow!! I wasn't expecting that question. It caught me off base altogether. I can honestly say that her assumption bothered me. People assumed that these surgeries are the "easy way" to weight loss. They are NOT.

It also made me realize and question "how many other people are thinking the same thing, and they just don't have the courage to ask me????? Hmmmmm!!!

The Reality
I was over 100 pounds overweight, considered morbidly obese and dealing with different illnesses because of it.

My doctor never brought up any kind of surgery as an option for me. Perhaps because as a cancer survivor, my immune system had already been compromised. So I will document right here by saying: I DID NOT HAVE ANY SURGERY TO LOSE MY WEIGHT.

I'm not unfamiliar to YO-YO diets and have struggled with my weight for many years. I have tried plenty of diets without success, but I found a program that worked for me. Again, it worked for ME. The key was that I was able to stick to it to the end. You may have your own opinion about it, and might not agree with it, and that's OK.

To lose my weight I had to learn sensible eating, portion control and the Jenny Craig* program did that for ME. It wasn't easy by any means, but it taught me what I needed to learn. You have to know that dropping weight requires commitment. Losing weight and keeping it off--requires some serious lifestyle changes.

I personally don't have anything against weight loss surgeries. In fact, I have friends that have gone through these procedures. Ultimately, it is your own decision after you have conferred with your family and physician that this option is the best one for you. For the record, I don't believe or feel that any kind of weight loss surgery is the "easy way out" to lose weight. It is a major procedure that comes with risks, pros and cons and side effects.

Deprivation is not living without certain foods, but living with them and being deprived of your true health and happiness!!!! ~ Julia Harvey