Half the Woman I Used To Be
It's true...as of yesterday, I am exactly one-half the size I was when I started this journey 13 months ago. Surgery date was May 25, 2011. I weighed 282lbs 2 weeks before that when I started Optifast. I now weigh 141 and have lost 141. Crazy!!
At my one year clinic appointment, the dietician said it's time to stop losing. I had to ask her to repeat herself. No one EVER IN MY LIFE has told me to stop losing weight. Surely this can't be right. She told me that I probably have about 10lbs of loose skin (something I hadn't even thought of. I mean, I know I have excess skin but I never even considered what it might weigh...) So if you subtract another 10lbs, then my actual body weight is closer to 131. She wanted me to tweak my diet to add more fats & carbs. Again...what???? More fats & carbs? Music to my ears.
I want to say a big thank you to all of you who post on this forum. I've not been very vocal lately but I'm here often, reading and learning from you all. Thank you to the dedicated vets who were so helpful to me in the early days and who keep coming back to share your wisdom. All you newbies - this forum will be a lifeline for many of you. Use it. Listen & learn like I did.
Someone asked me the other day what's different since my weight loss surgery - obviously other than the weight loss itself. My answer was "what isn't?" Everything is different! I'm happier, healthier. I feel better. For the first time in my life I feel like my outside person matches my inside person. I am comfortable in my own skin (no matter how saggy it is in certain places...lol) I am active - I walk everywhere, take the stairs at work, got a bike for the first time in 20 years, I swim and play sports with my kids. I've started running. I'm training for my first 5k in September. I'm no longer just a human BEING...I'm a human DOING.
I still struggle sometimes with food. Physically and emotionally. Meat doesn't always sit well in my tummy and I cannot tolerate fatty foods (which is really a blessing, I guess). I have to be very disciplined with my meals & timing because I don't often feel hunger and on busy days, I can go hours without eating. I still eat by sight rather than satiety. I crave sugar. I think it's in my head but sometimes, especially if I'm not properly fueled before & after exercise, I think it's a physical craving so I'm still working that out. I know without a doubt that this is a process; that this surgery was a tool, not a cure. There is still work to be done but I am well equipped now to do it. What a blessing I was given.
At my one year clinic appointment, the dietician said it's time to stop losing. I had to ask her to repeat herself. No one EVER IN MY LIFE has told me to stop losing weight. Surely this can't be right. She told me that I probably have about 10lbs of loose skin (something I hadn't even thought of. I mean, I know I have excess skin but I never even considered what it might weigh...) So if you subtract another 10lbs, then my actual body weight is closer to 131. She wanted me to tweak my diet to add more fats & carbs. Again...what???? More fats & carbs? Music to my ears.
I want to say a big thank you to all of you who post on this forum. I've not been very vocal lately but I'm here often, reading and learning from you all. Thank you to the dedicated vets who were so helpful to me in the early days and who keep coming back to share your wisdom. All you newbies - this forum will be a lifeline for many of you. Use it. Listen & learn like I did.
Someone asked me the other day what's different since my weight loss surgery - obviously other than the weight loss itself. My answer was "what isn't?" Everything is different! I'm happier, healthier. I feel better. For the first time in my life I feel like my outside person matches my inside person. I am comfortable in my own skin (no matter how saggy it is in certain places...lol) I am active - I walk everywhere, take the stairs at work, got a bike for the first time in 20 years, I swim and play sports with my kids. I've started running. I'm training for my first 5k in September. I'm no longer just a human BEING...I'm a human DOING.
I still struggle sometimes with food. Physically and emotionally. Meat doesn't always sit well in my tummy and I cannot tolerate fatty foods (which is really a blessing, I guess). I have to be very disciplined with my meals & timing because I don't often feel hunger and on busy days, I can go hours without eating. I still eat by sight rather than satiety. I crave sugar. I think it's in my head but sometimes, especially if I'm not properly fueled before & after exercise, I think it's a physical craving so I'm still working that out. I know without a doubt that this is a process; that this surgery was a tool, not a cure. There is still work to be done but I am well equipped now to do it. What a blessing I was given.
Kerry
What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
I remember feeling lost too... but you are not lost...you are in exactly the right place here. Before you know it, you'll be writing about your first year post-op. Hang in there.
Kerry
What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
is Monica M.
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