food for thought (a bit long)

Tonight I am in a thoughtful space.  People are starting to notice the change in me, and the positive comments have been trickling in.  Over the past couple of days the number of people I know who have made comments has been increasing quite a bit.  Don't get me wrong - I'm loving this wonderful attention.  However, I can't help thinking that I have to keep things in perspective.  I've been here before, and then had the embarrassment of the pounds piling on again.  I know that there's a big difference this time - my sleeve.  But, as we all know, the sleeve is only a tool, not the magic bullet we have all hoped and prayed for.  After all of the well wishes and compliments have faded, and my moment in the spotlight is over, I'm still the same person who has struggled with her weight for most of her life.  I have to not get ****y.  I have to stay humble, be extremely grateful for this gift I've been given, and stay focussed on following the plan and using this wonderful tool in the way it was meant to be used.  When all is said and done, I still have to face life every day - the good, the bad, and everything in-between.   I have to change and evolve into the person I've always wanted to be not just on the outside, but even more on the inside if I don't want to go back to where I was before.  Things really are changing for the better.  It is now up to me to keep it that way.

You're definitely in a good place. After the huge losses of the first six months and all the kudos, the hardest work really begins. Losing the last bit of weight and keeping it off!

Thanks for understanding what I was getting at Eileen.  I'm still in the honeymoon phase - almost 6 weeks out.   I know there is hard work ahead of me - physical, mental and emotional.  I don't want to lose sight of what it is going to take to sustain these changes, by getting too caught up in how great things are now.  

Good job friend! 

I always try and express how things are now is not how they will always be.  Some day you will not be the chick who lost weight, you will just be another lady, some days your heart is beat to **** and honestly?  Screw how skinny feels, because your heart is breaking and you are too crushed to breathe and your world is shaking. Some folks will like your changes, some folks will not, so steadying yourself, thanking folks for their compliments, but not living on them will serve you well!

It is hard work, harder some days than others, some days a breeze, but even the hardest days are ALWAYS worth the effort (on the other side!  :} )

Always.

Exactly!  It is always worth every moment of that hard work.  What I'm striving for is to grow on the inside to have the strength to face whatever life throws at me, without reverting back to using food as a crutch. 

It is so awesome that you posted this.  It's like you climbed into my brain, read the writing on the walls, and put them down here.  I love OH...