1 Year Surgiversary!

I completely forgot to post yesterday...guess my new life is keeping me way too busy!  It's hard to believe that it has been a year already!  A year ago yesterday I was a nervous wreck.  I had never had surgery before and was scared to death!  I also remember 3 days later being released from the hospital thinking that aside from the gas pain, this really wasn't so bad.  It really has been an awesome year!  I have met so many new people and have had so many different opportunities in life opened up for me that I know would never have opened as my old self.  I look at photos and I barely recognize the new me but I don't really remember the old me either.  Kinda hard to explain...I guess I see myself somewhere in the middle and it is hard to imagine that I ever looked the way I did.  I look at those pictures all the time though to keep me motivated and to remind myself to do the right thing.   Is this the easy way?  No way!  But success is always easier than failure and for the first time in my life, I see success in my weight loss efforts.  People tell me all the time that they could never do it...eating so little and not being able to eat certain things but they really don't understand...being fat is not easy.  Feeling self consious and unworthy is not easy.  Having people not look past the outer coating of fat to see the real person and their value is not easy.  Knowing that people are looking at you in a negative way is not easy.  Compared to my life a year ago, this is cake!  It's funny because so many people that I meet look at me as if I have been thin forever and that my life must be easy in certain ways because of the way I look.  This year has taught me even more than I ever knew about judging people at first glance.  Sometimes when people who don't know me say things about the way I look, I think to myself, if you only knew.    Anyway, I'm rambling on but you get the idea!  For those of you contemplating surgery...make no mistake, your life WILL change.  I always remember going to weigh****chers and hearing people say that nothing tastes as good as thin feels but I never really got to thin so that statement never did a whole lot for me but now, at 147 pounds I can definitely tell you that NOTHING tastes as good as thin feels.  Yesterday I was in the mall and I walked past a kiosk selling all kinds of candies and good smelling stuff and for about a second I thought, "Wow, I miss being able to have that."  By the time I took about 5 more steps into a store and picked up a pair of medium pants, I had forgotten all about the smells that had almost captured me.  In the past year I have never regretted my decision to have WLS.  My only regret is that I didnt do it years earlier.  For those of you in a battle with the insurance company, feeling like you are fighting the never ending battle, stay focused and don't give up...I did that and I won.  There were moments when I was ready to give up and now those days are just a distant memory. Here are my 1 year stats... Weight:  253 to 147 (down 106!)

Clothing:  22-24 to 6-8 (I have even bought some items in the childrens dept!)

Bra:  42D(and I know these bras were too small!) to 36B

Waist:  40.5 to 30 (my waist is now the same size that my thigh was!) Bust:  48 to 37 Chest:  40 to 32 Hips:  55 to 37 Thigh:  30 to 19 Upper Arm:  16 to 11 Thanks to all the friends and inspirations that I have met thru OH...I truly appreciate the help thru the first leg of my journey!  I hope I can do the same for someone else... Special thanks to... Nat, for being the first profile to inspire me! Lei & Wendy (kinda like twins...gotta say it together) for continued help, inspiration, and friendship Kat, I always looked forward to your inspirational posts when I was preop and newly post op Dana aka Nicole Richie for keeping the donuts on my mind and not in my mouth! Jill, my inspiration...one day I'm gonna hit that 5k with ya!  (By then you'll probably be on 20k but...) Cheryl, my best girl and one of the best things about having surgery...without it I wouldn't have met ya!   Anyway, sorry for being so long winded but... Have an AWESOME day! Christine

Oh Sweetheart . You are so welcome . Do you remember when we first met ? I do .. and I remember thinking that even then before your awesome transformation , you where absolutley stunning .. and OMG you are a true beauty .  There are pretty people, there are hollywood types .. but you my dear , incapsulate all that it means to be a beautiful woman , both inside and out .  Congratulations on such a wonderful year .. Keep up the great work .. and just remember to keep it real .. and make it always about YOU ..  Take care ...  Muahhh ...  Natalie

Hi Christine! Congrats on a year! I know what you mean about not really knowing who the old person was and not really knowing who the new person was. For me, it's like the "old" person died and the "new" person was born on the day I had surgery (guess that's why they call it a rebirthday, ha). Whenever I show people before and after photos, most of them tell me that they don't even remember me looking that way. To be honest, most of the time I don't remember it either. This kind of sucks, because I want to remember where I came from. I do sometimes, while walking or something and noticing that I could walk for what seems like forever, where before I would have issues just hoofing it a block or two to the Metro. At any rate, all that said, CONGRATS! That's great. Here's to another great year!

Christine -  Congratulations!!!! You are such a *****y, spirited, strikingly beautiful woman and you have done so wonderfully thus far in your journey. WLS is truly amazing and something to be extremely proud of! We ARE worth it and we have so much in Life to accomplish and we have been blessed with a tool that certainly gives us the freedom to pursue our dreams. Best of all, we are blessed with your journey and our own/others so that we can share in all our joys with tears of happiness together. It's amazing to watch our transformations seeing where we came from, where we are now and where we are going.  I am blessed to have you as a friend. I wish you continued success and all the happiness you deserve. Thank you for your note of thanks. In return, a note of thanks to you as well for being one of the inspiring voices of understanding and support with non-judgement. I will never forget your uplifting words of kindness and encouragement and I will be coming to the beach (you've got mail) and I cannot wait to see you!  God Bless beautiful!

Congratulations, Christine!  I am truly happy for you.  You have been one of my inspirations!  Keep it up, girl - you're lookin' HOT!   I can't wait to see you at the end of month at our HR get together!

~Robin

Christine- I cannot believe that a year has already gone by.  Time flies when you are having fun - haha! You have done an amazing job and should be VERY proud of yourself.  You knew that this was going to be a tough journey and have kept it in the for front.  You understand that this is for life and are willing to ensure that it is.  You have made the life style changes and accepted them without issue.  I know that you don't like it every minute, but you take it with a smile and move on down the road. I am SO very proud of you and the transformation you have made.   Now....we need to schedule another Kohls trip - haha! Love ya Girl!

Happy Surgiversary Christine!  You have had a wonderfully successful year.  Keep enjoying it & keep up the good work. 

Christine, What a great post to read! Kudo's to all your hard work/success. Hope to see you at the HR meet at the end of June. Jen

Christine- You have done amazingly well! Keep it up...success is yours, enjoy the fruits of your hard work!

Hi Christine! Congratulations on your first year of success!! You have done magnificently! You are so beautiful!   I laugh at people who think we took the easy way out  - they have no idea!! But like you - I would never change things!! I am free like you - to sit in plane seas with ease, to walk about freely, to go to the gym and look like you fit there and for people not to make comments about you. Well done!! Jackie