Why a diet bet?

My name is LeAnne, and I started on my journey to health on January 8, 2015. It was a really hard day for me. I had gone to my family doctor for a routine visit. I stepped on the scale at 395lbs. I was taking Metformin to help control my blood sugar. I was also taking Lisinopril to help control my blood pressure. My doctor told me, "It is time that you get into a program to have gastric bypass to lose weight."

The rest of that day is a blur to me. I was hurt. I was confused. I was only 25 years old. I had a family. I had a career. My doctor didn't even believe that I could lose weight myself. She didn't even offer me the option to lose weight with diet and exercise. I was a lost cause in her eyes. I was going to become a statistic. I was scared.

So, in my haze of hurt I thought about my life. Here are a few things that went through my mind that day.

1. I remembered my 1st grade year of school. I remembered being teased. There were twin boys who were so mean to me. They would chase me around the play ground screaming "Big momma" or "Jolly green giant". They weren't playing. It wasn't harmless teasing. It was me being excluded, bullied, and tortured for my size. In 1st grade. I was 6 years old.

2. I remembered when my grandma would take me to JC Penney, because they had the little girls extended sizes. I was in 4th or 5th grade, and I had surpassed 200lbs. She wanted me to get clothes like the other kids. It was impossible. I was reduced to a child in sweats, because I couldn't fit anything else.

3. I remembered in middle school when noone would talk to me. I never had a friend in middle school. I never got invited to a birthday party. I never had anyone to lean on. I never had a support system. I was alone. My weight isolated me. I hit 300lbs in 7th grade.

4. I remembered in High school when dances came and went. I was never asked to prom. I was taken to 1 dance out of pity. I knew it was out of pity. He didn't want to dance with me, because he didn't actually want to be there with me. I tried to go to after-prom my senior year. Everyone was with their dates, and I was sitting there alone. I hit 370lbs in high school.

5. I remembered when my mom became so concerned about me and my future she paid for me to have a Lap Band in September 2008. I lost weight down to a low weight of 230lbs. I did that through throwing up what I ate and drinking alcohol.

6. I remembered when I got pregnant in October 2009. I had destroyed my body with unhealthy habits. I had to work hard to be healthy during my pregnancy. I did get healthy, but I gained all the way back to 320lbs.

7. I remembered when my son was born, and I was nursing him. I started having serious issues with my Lap Band. I couldn't keep healthy food down. I couldn't eat broccoli, chicken, or meat. It became lodged in my Lap Band. I started to realy on foods I could eat. Junk food. It ws the only thing I could get down.

8. I remembered May 2012 when my Lap band flipped, and I had to have emergency surgery to have it removed after not eating for 4 days. I weighed 370lbs.

9. I remembered all the memories I missed out on with my family. I remember how I had never been able to ride go carts with my son and step daughter. I remembered how I had never been able to go down a slide with my kids. I remembered how I had to sit down when we went to the zoo or childrens museum. I remembered how I could never ride with my kids at the carnival.

I realized, I have missed out on my entire life. I was on the side lines of memories with my own family. The kids weren't going to grow up remembering the fun they had with me, because I wasn't participating. I had formed good relationships, because my life was dictated by my size. Since 1st grade, I had not lived one minute. I was a prisoner to obesity.

I had to find myself. I started researching diets and exercise, and I started right away. I began writing about my journey on instagram.  I put my meals, exercises, non-scale victories, and everything that happened.

Since that day I began I have lost 147lbs. I have went from a size 4x shirt to a Large shirt. I have traded in my size 28 jeans for size 14. I have became part of the memories, and I have had the best year of my life.

But I am not where I want to be yet. I still have 53lbs, as of today, to go. To keep my dedication strong, I have decided to hose a diet bet for my one year fit-aversary. I can't wait to renew my dedication and reflect on my journey so far, through this challenging and awesome opportunity.

See you soon,

LeAnne