Forgive me if this shameless self-promotion is a faux pas. I haven't been here long, so I'm not fully verse in 3FC etiquette.

Anyway, I'm a student journalist, and I've written two opinion pieces about my experiences with gastric bypass. I only had my surgery last Monday, so I'm still new to all of this, but I'm trying to document the journey honestly and with a healthy journalistic curiosity. I thought that you folks might actually enjoy reading these articles.

This one was published today, and it talks about my surgery and ongoing recovery: http://cuindependent.com/2010/03/02/...upport-system/

This one was published about a week before my surgery, and it was also picked up by the Huffington Post. It just talks about the reasons for my decision: http://cuindependent.com/2010/02/16/the-fat-friend/

Very good job. I sure couldn't have written that well 1 week after my surgery.

You know what's interesting is that I've never been really sensitive about my weight, but I've never been open about it either. It's been the source of a lot of pain in my life, but I've always been more comfortable with just pretending the problem wasn't there. Now that I'm going through this and tackling it as a journalist, it's helping me be more honest with myself about why I'm overweight and how I deal with it.

Now that I've written these articles, I also feel accountable. All of my friends and family know what I'm going through, as well as hundreds of complete strangers. I've gotten comments and e-mails from people in my position, and people who have been thinking about the surgery. I've gotten support from so many people that I now feel like if I fail at this, I'm not just letting myself down. And while it's a lot of pressure, it's also an amazing incentive.

Although frankly, I really wish someone would puree a slice of pizza for me now.