My friend Julia

[AlCzervik]

I thought i'd share this with all of you. I have a dear, dear friend Julia, she's very petite (4'11) and overweight and since i've known her i've worried about her health as has she, her top weight was 300lbs. which is a lot given her small frame. Julia is 53 and has a daughter the same age as my daughter, almost 11 and we met at school and the moment i met her i knew i had a friend for life, if you all knew her i know you'd feel the same. Julia is probably the nicest and most giving person i've ever met aside from my Nana and i've been worried that since she and her family moved away i'd get a call from her husband with bad news, about 9 months ago that happened. Her husband told me she was in the hospital with chest pains and she was also having trouble breathing but that she would recover and have to change some things in her life.

Ok so she starts slowly, changed some of her eating habits and began to walk a little each day and a month after that she no longer had to bring oxygen everywhere with her, that prompted her to try a little harder. So last Tuesday they were in town and my daughter and i met them in San Francisco and when i saw Julia i couldn't get over how much better she looked, she has now lost 65 lbs. and can actually walk around without her cane or needing to sit every 15 minutes, i started to cry when i saw her and so did she and i swear i'm so proud of her and happy that she will be around for her daughter and for everyone that loves her. She's still got a way to go but seeing how much her health has improved is keeping her motivated and i know she'll get to where ever it is she needs to be.

[lavenderdiva]

1. Congratulations Julia!

and thank you chimpsmarter for being so supportive and a true friend to Julia, during what must have been a terrifying time for her and her family, and friends.... :loveya:

[AlCzervik]

2. i'm gonna pass your good words along to her.

it was indeed very scary and sad and the feeling of relief is huge.

[Droopy]

3. Give our best wishes to your friend

I had an aunt that passed away when she was 53 due to weight related problems. She was very obese for most of her life. One of her brothers would always give her a hard time about it and that would make her depressed and then she'd just eat more.

She was one of the nicest people that I have ever known. Everybody who knew her loved her. She taught school in a small town in Indiana. At her funeral it looked as if the whole town showed up to pay their respects. If she just could have gotten a handle on what it was that made her eat. I think food can be an addiction. I think that's what killed my aunt.

[AlCzervik]

4. I'm so sorry to hear that Droopy, she does remind me of Julia

and so weird, both around the same age. I bet she loved you to pieces.:hug:

[Droopy]

5. Thank you

It makes me sad to think about her. She left behind a husband and two children that were in their teens. She never got to see her kids graduate high school.

Now here I am 269 pounds. You'd think that what happened to my aunt would have had some sort of affect on the way that I was living my life. But I continued to smoke, drink, and eat fast food like it was going out of style. I was actually up to 277 before I decided to start living a healthier lifestyle. I'm smarter than that. I don't know why I let things get out of hand. But I did and here I am now trying to make it better. I'm very lucky to have escaped some of the pitfalls that comes from being obese. My blood sugar is normal, my resting pulse is 80, and my blood pressure is normal. I guess you could say that I've had my fun and now it's time to get serious about my health.

[Systematic Chaos]

6. Hell YES, food is addictive...

and people who choose to harp on, make fun of and mock someone who is overweight or an overeater, thinking that they're helping somehow (or at least aren't causing damage) need some serious reeducation. Reading what you said about your ignorant uncle just touched a nerve, I guess. But I will say that I hope you took the opportunity to ask this jerk how he feels having done so much harm to his own sister. :grr:

Yeah, time for me to take a deep breath....

[Droopy]

8. Sorry man

I didn't mean to post something that was upsetting. My uncle was very sad at my aunt's passing. I think the years mellowed him a lot and made him see that he could be an asshole sometimes. I never said anything to him about his rude behavior because most of it happened when I was a child and a teenager.

[Systematic Chaos]

9. Oh, no need to apologize!

It's not your fault. Not one bit. :D

[Systematic Chaos]

7. That is so nice to read. Thank you!

Maybe Julia is of the persuasion that she would enjoy talking about her life changes with us? It would be nice to talk to her about how she went through the process of change. At any rate, tell her I said congratulations, won't you? :D