The Journey So Far

Before I dive into anything specific, I guess you should know a little about me. My name is Cristal. I am currently a senior in college and going through what will hopefully be my last semester. For basically my whole life, I have played soccer. The biggest reason I quit was I ended up with a coach who could not accept the fact that bigger girls can play sports, too. I could go into that all day, but for the sake of your sanity and mine, I won't.

That being said, it was not the only reason I quit. The other reason was that, even though I thought I was fat when I first entered college at 210 pounds, I got even bigger. I can't believe I thought that was a horrible weight to be at! I think it was a mix of depression and medication that caused me to balloon up up and far away. I put on 50 pounds between my freshman and sophomore year of college. After that sophomore year, I put on another 40 pounds which got me up to a grand total of 300 pounds. At that point, running and playing soccer was very hard on my body. I could feel the extra weight I had put on. Of course, with that extra weight, I became even more depressed, and that's when I chose to quit the team. I felt like I was the weak link that just brought the whole team down. I couldn't finish workouts or the running. I was miserable.

My junior year was hard without soccer. Being on the team was pretty much the extent of my social life. On the plus side, I was finally put on some medication for depression which helped a lot for a little while. This year had a lot of ups and downs as I got my meds straightened out. Another great thing that happened this year was that I got a bloodhound puppy named Bella. She is my emotional support animal, and gets to stay with me on campus in the dorms. She helped keep me going that year, especially when it came to going outside for her walks and meeting new people. Who can resist this face?

Which brings us to senior year! The year I get sleeved! My mom is the one who inspired me to consider the surgery. She just recently got sleeved in December, and is doing great. If it weren't for her, I probably would have never thought about getting weight loss surgery. She even went with me the day I attended the informational seminar back in September of 2015. After doing a ton of research (OK maybe half a ton) I made my choice and began the process. For insurance to cover, I had to do a physician monitored diet, which I completed in December. Just a few days ago, I finally got the call that the insurance approved it, and I set up all my appointments. I have the preop class on February 23rd, and I will be having my surgery on March 7th!!!!!I am super excited, and super nervous. I have never had surgery before in my entire life. On top of that, I'll have one week to recover, and then right away I'll be back at school (Did I mention I'm getting sleeved over my spring break? And I'm taking 18 credits? ). I am already down 20 pounds since I have started this journey, and I can't wait to see what the rest of this year brings! 

 

Current Weight: 286.1
Highest Weight: 307.4