Who, more than anyone else, motivated you to change your life and have the banding?
Khaliah: My highest source of inspiration is my son, Jacob. At age 30, I was young enough to do better but old enough to know better.
Having been a fat teenager, a chubby teenager, I’d morphed into obesity.
I’ve written in the dedication of Fighting Weight - “And to all children whose parents have opted out of too many photos with them.”
Heavy parents opt out of photos with their children, because of their rings of fat they’re avoiding the beach. I decided I was playing myself out of life and cheating my son. I was concerned that obesity was a family illness, and worried about spreading my eating habits to my son.
My son was not yet in elementary school and I was not the “hot mom.” I was afraid of kids teasing my son later when he became older.
I really had to surrender myself and regiment my meals.
Khaliah, how long has it been since the banding?
Khaliah: This August will be 3 years.
And how do you feel now?
Khaliah: Amazing! The lap band system is like a marriage or a having a child.
Before the band, hunger controlled my life. That hunger is no longer there.
The lap band system to me is the safest and most effective measure to allow flexibility and causes hunger to be killed. (That demon chased me everywhere.) I thought I’d die if I had a gastric bypass.
I’ve become really comfortable and familiar with the band. Who you were before the banding is still there, and it allows me to be who I truly hope to be without the monster.
I have really grown a lot with my band and continue to look forward to more growth.
Do you think of yourself as a thin person?
Khaliah: NO. I will fly to Texas this summer to remove excess skin. It will be performed in two procedures. I’m a plus size designer. I’ll always be a big girl - taller, big boned, curvy, voluptuous. I’m not looking to achieve thinness.
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