C.H.O.I.CE.?

I know that I haven’t posted in a while. After being majorly manic after my surgery, my mood took quite a dip into a pretty bad depression. Getting my meds adjusted helped. I am now taking 900 mg of Seroqual, 10 mg of Ambian and 1 mg of Klonopin at bedtime (I was taking 1200 mg of Seroqual) and my Effexxor XR has been increased to 225 mg from 150 mg. I have been doing this now for almost a month and I can definitely feel the cloud lifting.

Anyway, Allergan, the people who make the Lap-Band have launched a new campaign in order for more people to realize that obesity itself, not the common side effects or obesity like Type 2 Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, and sleep apnea, is a disease. They are calling their new campaign C.H.O.I.C.E. Here is the webpage if you are interested in learning more. http://www.mychoicecampaign.com/?s_mcid=lb-em-003

As I have been reading more about the campaign, it really had me thinking. Did I make choices that led to my morbid obesity, or did the morbid obesity happen because I was destined to be fat? The C.H.O.I.C.E. campaign states that obesity just happens, and that because it is an of itself a disease, needs treatment in three areas: (1) Prevention, through education for our children will stop some of the obesity as our kids get older (this is my favorite one, as I have been chubby since I was 8 – had I known a little better, I may have eaten differently); (2) Diet and Exercise for everyone, but especially for the 70 million overweight but not obese adults, and then as part of a follow up to surgery to treat morbid obesity; and (3) weight loss surgery for the morbidly obese, who have tried and failed at diet and exercise alone. The campaign asks for individuals to sign their petition to get healthcare professionals and insurance companies to start treating Morbid Obesity as a disease, and not as a symptom of those side effects I posted in the second paragraph.

But how did this work in my case? I chose, starting from an early age, to eat junk food. I was an inside kid – reading, watching TV, baking goodies. Although my parents kept me busy after school with sports and lessons, I took the easy way out so I wouldn’t have to get all sweaty. A typical day would have me raiding the top of my Dad’s dresser for quarters and then buying candy bars or something made from hostess, which I would hide under my pillow and take bites of while I was reading in bed. As an adult, I got serious about exercise -- Joining the gym, then Jenny Craig with five mile walks, then Weight Watchers and Curves. During my adulthood, I have been down as far as 175, and been as high as 338 – a size 14 all the way to a 30/32

After having my children and having the severe mental health reactions, I chose to go on atypical antipsychotics (First Zyprexa, then Geodon, then finally Seroqual, which I have been on, and been stable for two and a half years), even though severe weight gain and high cholesterol are side effects that can lead to Type 2 Diabetes. When I started on Zyprexa, I was 200 lbs – 7 years later (and after two years on Seroqual), I was at 338, despite working out at least 3 times a week at the YMCA.

So I made a new choice, and my choice was to have the Lap-Band surgery. And it is exactly the miracle I’ve needed. Since March 22, 2010 I’m down 37 lbs, only two more pounds and I am under 300 for the first time in 3 years. As motivation, I’ve set little goals. My new choice is to not reward myself with food, which I used to do, but to instead reward myself with things that make me feel better! When I lost 10 percent of my weight, I got my hair colored, cut, and styled into a very flattering hairstyle that keeps me from constantly wearing a ponytail and worrying about roots. When I hit 50 pounds down, I am getting a mani-pedi and wearing sandals until it chips! At 75 lbs, I’m getting a massage. When I hit 100, I am going to have a full day at the day spa where I got my hair done.

By the way – I am now wearing a 2X on top, and a 24 on the bottom. My girls tell me every day that I have lost weight, and my husband described me yesterday as “hot”. Those are other benefits of the surgery, and exactly why I am joining the C.H.O.I.C.E. campaign If you want to sign up, go to http://www.mychoicecampaign.com/?s_mcid=lb-em-003, or join on the cause section of facebook..