Stephanie lost 146 pounds with weight loss surgery

Let’s show some BWLW love to Stephanie who lost 146 pounds with gastric bypass surgery.  She no longer suffers from hypertension, diabetes and sleep apnea.  Her motivation was her husband and two children.  Here is what she shared with us:

My name is Stephanie and I’m from Orlando FL. I am a 30 year old wife and mother of two. All my life, I struggled with my weight, starting in elementary school.  Even as an adult, I was teased about my weight. At the age of 27, I was diagnosed with hypertension, diabetes and sleep apnea.  These conditions were constantly getting worse. During this time, my weight was 361 pounds.  I had to do something quick, so I began taking lipotropic b12 shots and getting lots of exercise.  With this and eating right, I got down to 305 pounds. The weight loss was steady and I was feeling a lot better.

Then I had a slip and fall accident and injured my knee.  A month later I was in a car accident and injured my back which left me unable to exercise. The weight began to come back until I was back at 351 pounds. At that point, I felt helpless.  I continued to do the injections but they no longer worked.  I tried hcg and had really bad side effects from that, so had to stop. Me and my doctor then decided that we had tried all other options and she referred me for gastric bypass weight loss surgery.

On August 30 2012, I had my surgery.  I have since lost 146 pounds. Now, I can play around with my children. I can dance. I can fit on roller coasters. I no longer suffer with hypertension, diabetes, or sleep apnea. My motivation was my children and my husband. I wanted to be here for them as long as I possibly can. My current weight is 205 pounds. The workouts I do is on the Xbox Kinect. I do dance games like Dance Central and Zumba. I also do workouts with DVDs by Jillian Michaels and Jane Fonda.  I workout on the treadmill, run and do yoga as well. I try to stick to a fat free,no sugar, no carb, high protein diet with lots of organic fresh fruits and vegetables.

A lot of people like to think WLS patients try to take the easy way out but let me tell you nothing about this has been easy. I still have to eat healthy. I still have to exercise in order to lose weight. I still have cravings like a person with a normal size stomach but it takes a lot of will power to say no. I am just happy to be able to live life to its full potential finally. Thank you for reading my story.