bethow

I have struggled with my weight all of my life. I remember feeling overweight at a 165 pounds as a teenager and ironically find that as my goal. How perception changes with age!

On three separate occasions, I  lost 75 pounds on my own. Then my circumstances would change or stress would come knocking on the door and the pounds would come back. I always swore that I would NEVER go over 300 pounds. Around about the age of 50, I began to have severe back problems that include three ruptured discs and spinal stenosis, which made walking virtually impossible. The weight started to really pile on.  Two years ago, I stepped on the scale to discover that I was 315 pounds. I had a choice, cry or get off my ass and do something about it. 

I bought an inexpensive recumbent bike, my daughter gave me a Fitbit for my birthday and I actually used it and I started really watching what I was putting in my mouth (The Fitbit food diary really helps keep you on track).  The biggest difference between my previous weigh losses and the present is that I accepted that I MUST incorporate exercise into my life. The minimum I must meet is 30 minutes five times a week.

From the time I started my program until my weigh in at my first appointment with my bariatric surgeon, I had gone from 315 to 272 on my own in about  18 months. After a two week liquid diet prior to my surgery, as I was weighed on the morning of my surgery, I weighed in at 262. Five days post surgery, I weighed in today at 256 pounds. 

More importantly than the weight loss, is that I feel better than I have in years. I won't lie, the first three days after my surgery, I felt tired and a little queasy. The nausea and cramping are not comfortable. Then yesterday, I woke up feeling wonderful.  Today, I haven't felt as awesome as yesterday but  I am still feeling pretty good. More importantly I am feeling positive.  For the first time in my life I feel like I will finally master what I have considered my greatest failure in life. Even if I never lost another pound, I am still 60 pounds better off than when I started.