Lots of decisions

So I had a checkup with my family doctor today and I talked to him about my weight loss, or lack of it. We went over my food journal and discussed my exercise AND the fact my weight is still creeping up..slowly...it might be a 1/2 pound here and there, but eventually that adds up to BIG numbers. He went back over the fact that I have a thyroid issue (thanks, but I KNOW that) and he went over the difficulty I was always going to have losing weight. His rule of thumb is that I have to eat 1/2 as much as a normal person and work out 2-3 times more. (ahhh, does anyone else see the issue there). I KNOW people with thyroid issues lose weight everyday...and I get that. But I obviously have low protein levels and it just seemed hopeless. I was really upset at the doctors office.

I LOVE my doctor and have been going to him for over 6 years and he is funny and very truthful with me. He suggested the Lap Band System. (we've talked in the past about gastric bypass, but that's waaaay too invasive for me) The Lap Band system is a little less invasive and I told him I would research it and consider it. We left it at that.

So I've been on the net tonight going over a zillion sites to find out all I can about the LB stuff. I actually started the water works thinking about this. It is so defeating and disheartning to think about doing anything other than the hard way (better eating and exercise). It really is. I'm sure there are plenty of people that think this is the easy way out and maybe it IS. There's just a lot of thinking and decisions that need to go into this.

A little about ME:

1. I was always small until I got pregnant with my now 16 year old son. I gained weight throughout that pregnancy like crazy. The doctors could never figure out why. Just assumed I ate too much. (I didn't)
2. After Ryne was born, my weight continued to go up and up and up.
3. In 1998, I went for my yearly OBGYN appt. and my doctor noticed I had gained 17 pounds in one year. According to him, that is fairly hard to do unless you had a medical condition OR you're trying to gain the weight. (I wasn't)
4. He sent me to Chapel Hill to an endocrinologists that confirmed that my thyroid was in HORRIBLE condition. Started me on medicine.
5. I was SO hopeful that I'd automatically drop the weight. (I didn't)
6. My endo went back through years of my records and contributed my thyroid issue to when I was pregnant which was 7 years prior to this visit. I was pregnant in 1991 and hypothyroidism was unheard of back then. So my thyroid disease had basically gone undected and untreated for 7 years. The endo told me it would be a tough road b/c of that. (Boy, was she RIGHT)
7. I've fought like a mama bear since then to lose the weight or even maintain. In 1998 when I was diagnosed with my thyroid disease, I weighed 175 pounds. I am now at 223. Go figure.
8. I KNOW people think my weight problem is because of poor eating habits and not exercising and I'll be the first to admit that I don't eat great ALL the time or exercise all the time, but I do my fair share.

So, anyway, I'm going to veg on this for a few days. Research it lots more and decide.