Annie_Sez
Why is it that the older we get ... the more we look like our parents? Geebus. I remember wondering when I was a teenager why my dear sweet mother seemed to get bigger and bigger each year. Okay ... she had six children. That must be it, I thought. All I have to do is make sure I don't have six kids and I'll be golden. My mom was pushing 225-230 when she died of heart failure in her early 60s. Her maiden last name was Angel and she chose to name me Angela. Now she's my Angel.
Yesterday, I turned 55. It's no coincidence that when my weight got to 215 and I look JUST like my mom did ... so it worried me. I recall that my mother's wedding dress - which she kept in my closet - was absolutely tiny! Like my mom in her youth ... I was an active and gangly thin young lady ... looked more like a dark haired "Twiggy" in my high-school photos.
I'd married and had two sons by age 21 ... keeping up with them kept me in pretty good shape. It never dawned on me that one day I'd be battling weight just like my mother did. I joined the Air Force Reserves and then the Hawaii Army National Guard and excelled in physical fitness ... earning the Commandant's Award for "most improved" when I graduated Officer Candidate School in 1980. I could run better than a six minute mile and do hundreds of sit-ups - no problem.
Somehow though ... around age 37 ... my mother's Angel genes kicked in - just as I'm sure they did for her way back when. It started with a bit of a "muffin top" around my waist - oh drat! I'd been a Red Cross swim coach and water safety instructor trainer in Hawaii ... and now those lean swimmers arms began to look pudgy. One day a senior Hawaii National Guard officer told me I needed to lay off the rice and poi. That was embarrassing. All of a sudden, I was 30 lbs. overweight. As terrible as that sounded to me then ... those were the good ol' days for me, compared to now.
It's now 18 years later and figure that after age 37, I gained roughly 5 lbs. a year and so 18x5 = 90 lbs. overweight. Wow. I'm just lucky and thankful that due to lap band surgery last month ... it's NOT going to continue that I'll gain weight each year and emulate my mother to an early death due to heart failure. I would have only had a few more years to live if so - and THAT was not acceptable. I'd developed painful joints, high cholesterol and sleep apnea. My body seemed determined that - without intervention - I'd join my mom among the angels. Love you mom ... want to be like you in every way except adult onset obesity unchecked and subsequent early death.
I am HOPEFUL that now with the lap band and by my diligently following the bariatric diet plan and getting regular exercise that I can accomplish a mathmatically wonderful reversal of a consistent 18 years gaining 5 pounds a year. I propose and will do my best now to have at least the minimum weight loss that my doctor predicted (1 pound a week) ... and will do my best to change that dire weight gain of 5 pounds a year to an average weight LOSS of 5 pounds a month over the next 18 months.
My husband and adult sons are very supportive of my pursuing this goal. As my youngest son said, "I want you to live longer."
So do I. After all ... this is the year of "Yes, we can!"
