On Dec. 29, I walked into Wake Med of Raleigh, NC, and started a new path in life. After gaining substantial weight throughout high school, and then another 40 pounds after the first semester of college, I knew it was time for a change. But I was also realistic. I knew that previous diets and exercise just didn't work for me. Sure, I could lose some weight, but never could I keep it off. I would always gain it back, and then some. Whenever you weigh over 300 pounds, your body doesn't work like it is supposed to. My back and feet constantly hurt, I struggled to move. Opposite of the physical problems I faced, I also began to harbor emotional problems as well. I was ashamed of how I looked,and constantly worried what people thought about me.
Very few things in life are within our control. One of the most important things that you, as an individual, can control, is your health. That is why, on Dec. 29, 2015, I underwent a sleeve gastrectomy, a form of weight loss surgery. Almost three months after surgery, I have lost 100 pounds. I am healthier. I can run. I can do things I never imagined. My confidence is back.
On the flip side, I am still a work in progress. I work out two times a day. I finally began to take care of both my mind and body. You see, when you hit rock bottom, you have two choices: one, can start digging, or, two, you can make the necessary changes and move up. I encourage you all to move up.
Weight loss surgery did so much more than save me physically, it saved me emotionally. All the feelings of self-doubt I had been harboring throughout my life, all the feelings of self-hate, which led to self-harm, slowly began to go away. With every pound I've lost, the brick on my shoulder has slowly been chiseled away. Therapy comes in many different ways. Before, I turned to food as my therapy. Now, I turn to the running path I've made around my neighborhood.
My hope for you, as you read this, is that, whatever struggle you are dealing with, whether it's your weight, or self-doubt, or any other thing, you get help. Find an outlet you can use to better yourself. College and adult life, in general, are hard. Nothing is easy. Do everything you can to better yourself.
One thing I've found, and decided to focus on, is happiness. Happiness starts with you, it is something we create. I can't rely on any body but myself for my happiness. Some days I wake up, and it's not there, or I'm not as happy as I should be. That's when one must smile in the mirror, and thank God they are better today then they were yesterday. So, I would like to see thank you to my weight loss surgery, for finnaly giving me my happiness back in more ways than I could have ever imagined.
