[bandarina]

Hello everyone. I am 20 years old and now 280 lbs. This is the highest I have ever been in my life but I've always been overweight even as a child. These last 30 lbs that I've gained have really messed me up. I can no longer even walk for long periods of time. My back feels like it's going to snap in half if I walk for more than 10 minutes. For someone who "eats a lot" I have a lot of vitamin deficiencies and for someone who is 20 years old I don't think I'm too healthy. Anyway, I have lost weight in the past myself, I just have a hard time keeping it off. I lost 55 lbs 2 years ago and gained 80 lbs back. For the past year I have been working towards getting weight loss surgery. I'm finally done with all my testing and requirements. I'm just waiting for a response from insurance. I should be getting the lap band by the end of the month. I just need a tool to help me stop from binging when I feel like I want to give up. After doing all the tests I discovered I have low vitamin D, low vitamin b12, it should be at 500 and I was at 250, no wonder I never have energy. I have low iron and always have, and I have high liver enzymes which means my liver is fatty. I also have gallstones, well had, I had my gallbladder removed last month in preparation for the band. I also have low blood sugar and minor sleep apnea. As you can see losing weight is not only about appearance for me, I want to get my health back! I will do whatever it takes to be a happier, healthier version of myself.

Anyway I can ramble on and on lol but I am here to share my journey. I have been documenting my process on youtube in video blogs. There is a great community on there as well as on facebook and 3fatchicks. If you would like to follow my journey feel free to subscribe to my channel: http://www.youtube.com/abandarina and if you make videos, or have a weight loss facebook please let me know so I can follow your journey as well. We are all in this together, let's help each other!

I suggest that everyone make videos to document there journey. It really helps and you'd be surprised how therapeutic it is to go back to an older video and see how much smaller you are! Even if you don't post your videos and share them with the world, make them for yourself and keep them on your computer so YOU can see how well you are doing when you feel like the scale isn't moving!