3 Years Tomorrow
Tomorrow is my 3 year surgiversary - but it's not likely that I'll have much time for reflection, so let me take a moment now.
Where have I come in 3 years? Well, right now I am looking at some old pics of myself. Some are from my top weight of 247 lbs. Others from years when I wasn't quite that heavy - in fact, some that I considered "good" pictures at the time. I am amazed to look at those pictures today, seeing the fat deposits in my face, the thickness in my neck, the way my arms angled out from the sides of my body due to fat, and most of all my belly (which looked like a large pumpkin strapped on under my shirt or sweater.)
My weight today is 168 lbs. I would love to be 10 lbs. lighter - that is the "bounce back" weight they all talk about, I guess. I never saw the 140's, but that's okay....I can't expect to return this 50-something body back to that of a teenager, and I am fine with that! What is more important than the number on the scale are the other measures of success that I count:
My blood pressure that runs about 100/65.
My cholesterol, which was at last count...140!!!!
My new wardrobe, with mostly size 6-8 and S-M.
The changes in my life: the confidence, the happiness, the overall sence of well being.
Realizing that I have won a huge victory over caffeine, over refined carbs, over sugar. (Well, sugar rears its head every so often....just enough to remind me to steer wide and clear.)
Realizing that food plays a very different role in my life than it had for many, many years. It's just...food. It's not my best friend. It's not comfort. It's not the source of all pleasure. It's nourishment.
I'm not perfect. My exercise - an area where I was diligent for the first 2 1/2 years - has slacked off with changes of schedule and a change of gym. I know what I need to do - dump the gym membership and go back to my jazzercise classes, which I love. I've picked up - and put down - the diet Pepsi habit once again. I've eaten sweets more times than I should - and here, I think back to one of my first support groups when Shauna said she had given up sugar and refined carbs. I wondered that day if I could ever say the same thing. Well, mostly yes. But not 110%.
I'm too busy in the next few days to give myself the kind of celebration I probably ought to....but there will be celebration in my future! Trust me!
And for the year ahead....
I renew my commitment to moving my body.
I renew my commitment to avoid refined sugar - knowing that my body will reject it anyway.
I will explore options for some facial plastic surgery to give me a brighter smile (and less droopy eyelids, and less wrinkly neck!)
I will do my best to "pay it forward" with contributions to OH where I can!
Where have I come in 3 years? Well, right now I am looking at some old pics of myself. Some are from my top weight of 247 lbs. Others from years when I wasn't quite that heavy - in fact, some that I considered "good" pictures at the time. I am amazed to look at those pictures today, seeing the fat deposits in my face, the thickness in my neck, the way my arms angled out from the sides of my body due to fat, and most of all my belly (which looked like a large pumpkin strapped on under my shirt or sweater.)
My weight today is 168 lbs. I would love to be 10 lbs. lighter - that is the "bounce back" weight they all talk about, I guess. I never saw the 140's, but that's okay....I can't expect to return this 50-something body back to that of a teenager, and I am fine with that! What is more important than the number on the scale are the other measures of success that I count:
My blood pressure that runs about 100/65.
My cholesterol, which was at last count...140!!!!
My new wardrobe, with mostly size 6-8 and S-M.
The changes in my life: the confidence, the happiness, the overall sence of well being.
Realizing that I have won a huge victory over caffeine, over refined carbs, over sugar. (Well, sugar rears its head every so often....just enough to remind me to steer wide and clear.)
Realizing that food plays a very different role in my life than it had for many, many years. It's just...food. It's not my best friend. It's not comfort. It's not the source of all pleasure. It's nourishment.
I'm not perfect. My exercise - an area where I was diligent for the first 2 1/2 years - has slacked off with changes of schedule and a change of gym. I know what I need to do - dump the gym membership and go back to my jazzercise classes, which I love. I've picked up - and put down - the diet Pepsi habit once again. I've eaten sweets more times than I should - and here, I think back to one of my first support groups when Shauna said she had given up sugar and refined carbs. I wondered that day if I could ever say the same thing. Well, mostly yes. But not 110%.
I'm too busy in the next few days to give myself the kind of celebration I probably ought to....but there will be celebration in my future! Trust me!
And for the year ahead....
I renew my commitment to moving my body.
I renew my commitment to avoid refined sugar - knowing that my body will reject it anyway.
I will explore options for some facial plastic surgery to give me a brighter smile (and less droopy eyelids, and less wrinkly neck!)
I will do my best to "pay it forward" with contributions to OH where I can!
Surgery 11/16/11. HW 267.5; SW 250.1; Pre-op wt. 195.5; CW 126 GW 140-160 
Awesome!!
Sandy
HW 225, SW 219, GW 140, CW 124
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!
Happy anniversary! I am sure the newbies appreciate the peek into the REAL post-op maintenance world. I don't know anyone who is more than 2 years out and follows all the rules 100% of the time. I don't think it is realistic to expect that anyone will (no matter how much they swear they will be when they first have surgery).
Lora
Lora
14 years out; 190 pounds lost, 165 pound loss maintained
You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.
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