My name is Lauri and I am a 41 year old, twice divorced female living in Clackamas, Oregon. I have been morbidly obese my entire life and I've finally decided it's time to change that once and for all. I've tried all kinds of diets and fads, but this time I'm choosing to change the way I eat. I am starting out at 396 pounds (definitely not proud of) and would like to get down to about 160-175 realistically for my bone structure. I love making new friends and can use all the encouragement I can ...

My name is Lauri and I am a 41 year old, twice divorced female living in Clackamas, Oregon. I have been morbidly obese my entire life and I've finally decided it's time to change that once and for all. I've tried all kinds of diets and fads, but this time I'm choosing to change the way I eat. I am starting out at 396 pounds (definitely not proud of) and would like to get down to about 160-175 realistically for my bone structure. I love making new friends and can use all the encouragement I can get. A friend introduced me to Take Shape for Life, so I am trying to follow that program without being able to buy their supplements yet. It's an expensive program, but has amazing results. My friend has lost 75 lbs in just over 3 months. I don't expect those kind of results, but it would sure be nice! I hope to make some good friends here. Update 7/26/11 I followed TSFL for a while and had some results, but it was just too strict for me so in May I switched to Weight Watchers and I am doing better with that. I am still having ups and downs, but I am losing weight, but then I slip and put it back on. I am recommiting myself to my program as of today and plan on tracking again faithfully and exercising on a regular basis. That's been hard for me ever since I broke my foot in May hiking and couldn't walk on a daily basis like I was. Now I will start again and see where the roads might take me!
8/5/12
Well, that little venture didn't last long and now as of last Thursday when I went to the doctor I am back up to my starting weight of 396 pounds. I am frustrated and upset because I had lost a total of 30 pounds and here I went and put it all back on. I have come into some money, so I did my research and on October 4th I will be flying to San Diego to go to Tiajuana to have Gastric Sleeve surgery. I am excited and nervous all at the same time. It is at a new hospital and the doctor is highly recommended. I plan on sticking to this plan to the letter and hopefully I will lose a large amount of weight in a short amount of time. I went into this planning to have a gastric bypass and they actually talked me into having the less invasive, less expensive surgery. I will be adding new photos as I set up for my before and after journey. I pray that all goes well and that nothing happens on the operating table. I have faith and my Mom with me for support. I will write again after this crazy event in my life and along the journey. UPDATE 12/23/2012
I had my surgery which you can read about in my 10/18/2012 blog, but everything went really well and I came back and stayed with Weight Watchers as well and I'm doing fantastic. I am averaging a loss of about 2.8-4.0 pounds per week and I'm shedding inches like crazy. I am down 2 1/2 clothing sizes and moving down quickly. I just buy a pair of pants and 6 weeks later they are too big. I'm losing really fast in my waist and legs. The belly is a little slower, but it's coming along too. People say they can see it in my face as well. I see me in the mirror everyday so I don't notice the changes really, just in my clothes. I've lost almost 60 pounds since I started my pre-diet for the surgery and hope to be to 75 by January and 100 pounds by March. That would put me below 300 pounds finally. Woo-hoo!!! I hope to lose a total of 200 pounds by the end of 2013. I think if I believe it, I can achieve it!

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