Measurements Holy Cow and speaking to pre-op patients....

This has been such a great journey......Everyone always asks how many pounds have you lost.  It is not just the pounds that I have been thinking about this weekend.  We have so many numbers that mean alot to us these days.....

I started  in a size 22 jeans, now I can get in a 12, but wear a 14, because it looks better. My scrubs at work use to be a XXL, now I wear a large.  Now for the best part of the past weekend.  I finally did my measurements again.  I have lost overall.......61 3/4 inches !!!!!!  This number shocked the hell out of me....I just can't believe it... This journey just keeps getting better and better..

I had my 6 mth follow up visit with my surgeon this past thursday.  He was very happy with my progress.   He told me to keep doing what I'm doing... 

Then he asked me if I would mind coming and speaking at his next  seminar.   I was so shocked.  It  does make me feel good however.  What do you all think about speaking in front a group of folks thinking about having surgery??  Would you do it?  What would you say?

Any ideas of things to say, would be so helpful..

Thank you

Jane

You should feel really proud!

When I think about the things that were really helpful for me to hear pre-op, the things that kind of stuck with me and made me think, it was stuff aside from how awesome it is to lose all that weight.  Stuff like:

- Be ready for big emotional changes, and work on getting coping methods in place besides food.

- When setting goals, don't focus so much on the numbers.  Focus on what you want to DO with your life - because the world opens up in a big way.  Focus on health.   Make it a goal to follow the plan, and in doing that, the pounds will come off.

- Weight loss surgery is not the easy way out.  It does still take lots of effort on our part to lose the weight; surgery is just a tool.  You have to be ready to make the dietary changes, because it is possible to eat around any surgery.  But surgery is a powerful powerful tool if you use it correctly.  Surgery makes things that seemed impossible before, possible.

Obviously, that can all be said more eloquently but those were some of the messages that I appreciate having heard before surgery.  And definitely share your story too, because hearing and seeing the before/after is so encouraging!