Intro.

Hello!
My name is Cate and I am a blogger virgin. 
I wanted to start this blog as a way to document my journey as I struggle with my weight and as I get ready for bariatric surgery in the spring of 2015. While googling it was hard to find a blog that I related with and also one that was updated regularly! It seems that as soon as most bloggers lost some weight they stopped blogging and it drove me absolutely crazy. 
So- I will just have to start one of my own and make sure that I don't do the same thing!

So here it goes!

About me:
I am a 27-year old mom of 2 and wife. I work in purchasing for a local manufacturing company and I work M-F/7:30-4. I have struggled with my weight for as long as I can possibly remember; to say it has consumed my life is an understatement. If I lost weight I was consumed with keeping it off and when I gained weight I wanted to desperately lose it. Clothes don't fit right, moving is more difficult, I have no energy, every mirror is something I hate. About 5 months ago I started a weight loss program through our local hospital with every intention of working my ass off to get the weight off. I walked right into a very serious and frightening reality- I can't do this on my own. I wanted to be that blog success story about the girl who lost 100 pounds by running every day and eating a perfect diet (because I LOVE reading those!). That just isn't my reality. I work 40+ hours per week and my spare time is spent trying to regain so much of the time that is lost with my kids during the week. When we aren't doing laundry, making dinner, doing dishes, completing house projects, etc. we are cuddling our adorable boys. The staff at the weight center asked me if I would be willing to take 30 minutes a night or an hour and just go out on my own for "me time" to exercise. I refused; here's why. The majority of my time is spent AWAY from my children so taking an extra 30-60 minutes out of the 120-180 that I get per night with them is just not going to happen. Judge me all you want to. 
So why don't you take them with you on a run or walk? I do- when they cooperate and when we have time! Honestly, by the time we get dinner cleaned up it's time for their baths and their bedtime routine. We rarely have extra time (when the sun is still out) to take them for a 30 minute walk.
It sounds like I am full of excuses but this is my reality. At the end of the day I am burnt out and having nothing left; not even for myself. For those of you who make it happen- you are incredible and I envy you but I am just not one of those people.
Sure I could work myself to death and lose some weight but keeping it off for years is not a likely outcome.
SO- after avoiding the topic and the fact that it was even an option (because at first I didn't want to even think of it as an option)- I have decided to have weight loss surgery.
Saying it out loud still hurts a little, like I have given up on myself- but i haven't. I am doing what I need to do to make sure that I can keep up with my kids and be there to dance at their wedding and hold their precious babies. I want to feel like I can get through the day without collapsing from exhaustion and lack of energy. I am giving myself my life back. 
For those who think this is the easy way out- don't even bother trying to preach that here because those who can relate to my struggle know this is anything but easy.


Blog Name:
"a Branch on the Tree" may sound silly but I have always been a lover of trees. For some reason they "speak" to me. They grow for so long and can become these beautiful huge natural monuments. Every single tree is different and their branches have a mind of their own and grow whichever way the wind blows. I feel like they are the elders of nature (I know, I know- cheezy). I feel like each chapter and each event in my life is like a branch on my tree; its a part of my story and a part of what makes me me.

So- I hope you can relate and get something out of this. Worse case scenario I have a journal to document my journey and look back on a year or so from now!