Age

39

About Merebrilliance

Sleeved or not sleeved:

I have had a gastric sleeve.

Biography:

Building a better me...

Coming from two southern families, we know how to cook...and eat! I started off at 6 pounds 10 ounces, and grew into 337 pounds at my highest weight! It's crazy to think I have been that heavy, and it didn't happen overnight.

Over the past 29 years I have learned to live a sedentary life, and have stuffed myself with high-fat, sugary, carb-rich foods. I have utilized foods for comfort, to fight boredom, celebrate, and console. I have been to food addiction counseling, in-patient treatment, 12-step programs, taken multiple college-level nutrition classes, tried a slew of diets, food meal programs, starvation techniques, bulimic
episodes...all cycling back to unhealthy binges.

Throughout this plethora of learning experiences, I have realized what my issues are, why I chose food over healthy alternatives, that there is a genetic component to my obesity, and I have decided to take serious action to become healthier and break this chain of obesity. On December 31st, 2013, after 6 years of research and consideration, I took the plunge and went to Tijuana, Mexico, for the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy at the Obesity Control Center with Dr. Ariel Ortiz.

I am two weeks post-op and so far, I have lost 17 pounds! The month before surgery, I started to view food differently. Food isn't just something I can have pleasure from. Every little sip or bite of anything has to count. I am now focusing on getting the recommended amounts of protein, vitamins, probiotics, calories, water, vegetables, and fruits into the measly amount I can take in. I am also reading food and nutrition labels religiously! I am doing it! I have also started to walk daily between breaks and classes (I'm in nursing school), and have just signed up for a new gym membership!! Small steps! I do not want to overwork my recovering body, but I also cannot keep doing what I was prior to surgery.

I am all in. I am putting forth honest and hard efforts to be successful. I am reminding myself daily that I deserve this, that what I want can and will be achieved, that I am achieving it!

This is my go-to inspiration:

Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it's yours. -Ayn Rand

Good luck to all of you on your journeys!

-Starla

Location:

Texas

Interests:

DIY projects, sustainable living, hiking, camping, traveling, biology, healthcare, vegetarian

Occupation:

Student Nurse

Name:

Starla

Gastric Sleeve Surgeon:

Dr. Ariel Ortiz

Surgery date:

2013-12-31