I've been up and down the diet scale all my life. My baby pictures show a HUGE baby but I was slender up until my mid teens when the weight battle began. In the past two decades I've lost my entire excess weight twice, but I regained it both times. I hit my top weight of 258 in February of 2013, and for a 5'3" woman, that was extreme. It was at that time I decided to have the bariatric sleeve gastrectomy. I had to delay the surgery until December of 2013, and as of December 2014 have lost 116 lb. I have 7 lb to go to goal. Although it's coming off slowly at this point, it is still coming off. I expect I will hit a balance just around my goal weight.

My reason for having the surgery rather than losing weight by traditional means was to prevent myself from regaining the weight. My food is calorie restricted by necessity, since I cannot eat much and what I do eat must be primarily protein. I must get in 60 grams of protein daily or I start losing my hair, among other nasty repercussions. That's okay with me. I've spent the good part of 45 years battling this disease, and am more than willing to give up many foods to achieve my goals. I feel better than I did in my 40s, and have lots of energy. I can stand for a long time without having to sit periodically. I've been starting to ride my bicycle again. And most importantly, I'm beginning to feel like I've rejoined the human race rather than hiding from it.