In my teen years I did the crash diets, Slimfast, lose 10 pounds in 1 week, laxatives, diuretics, starving, purging even WW. Funny thing is that I did most of the damaging ones when I weighed like 110 and thought I was fat. I went to WW at age 16 when I hit 150 lbs and was a senior in HS. That didn’t last too long. Surprisingly what made me lose weight was a horrible break up. I went from a size 12 to a size 4 in less than 2 months. Not healthy by any means, but somehow I managed to stay between a size 4 and a 6 for the next 12 years. I fluctuated between 124lbs and 130lbs, but typically staying at 127 for YEARS. I looked great and felt great. I was also very active dancing at least 3x a week for 2+ hours at a time. I was also able to eat what ever I wanted.

Then I got sick, had surgery, and suddenly was unable to walk for a few months and was unable to dance or exercise for over a year. Not only did that affect my metabolism, but I lost a tone of muscle tone from being in the hospital and not being able to walk. It affected me physically, mentally and emotionally.
I ended up thinner than before my surgery but because my metabolism dropped I suddenly had to watch what I ate, only I didn’t realize that until I started to gain weight eating the way I used to (I had never considered myself an active person so I never realized how active I was). It took a while to figure out what had happened and what was going on and since I hadn’t had to deal with weight in years I didn’t know what to do. I was convinced that it was just some strange adjustment but that I would be fine and thin again soon. No such luck. Size 4s no longer went past my hips and size 6s suddenly had a big gap - my belly - in between and wouldn’t close. And if I did get them close then I looked like a stuffed sausage and it was NOT a good look. So one day I broke down and bought some size 8s. I was heartbroken, depressed and felt HUGE and hideous.
Now I realize that a size 8 is not fat, but for me, who was a size 4/6 for so long a size 8 was horrible. And the last thing I wanted was to go from an 8 to a 10 and so on. BTW I’m 5′5.

So here I am 3+ years after my surgery, totally able to walk like before and able to exercise but the weight never went away.

I finally got off my butt, got out of denial, stopped using the surgery as my crutch (1 year post op. okay, 3 years post op. and it’s just FAT!), joined WW and found this blog site. Now here I am. And I WILL be a size 6 again!!!