Looking beyond the scale

[Meliwriter 9]

Hey all you slow losers,

I just wanted to post a message and share my ah ha moment with you today. This journey with my LAP-BAND® has been slow and long and not as fruitful as I anticipated. However, today I realized that in this last year I may not have lost the pounds that I wanted to lose but I gained a heck of a lot.

1. I made my health the number one priority in my life. I took a risk in having the surgery. I made a commitment to a lifestyle change in order to get healthy.

2. I faced some inner demons when it came to head hunger. I learned that some of my eating wasn't about physical need but about emotional need. I had heard about emotional eating before and on the surface it didn't appear to be my issue but when it came down to it, after surgery when I wasn't hungry and literally couldn't eat I discovered another layer of need that I had refused to address.

3. I have begun a regular fitness routine and for more than a year have worked out at least 3-4 times a week. Usually I work out for a few months and life happens and I miss a month. There are still days when I don't get all my workouts in but I have learned to listen to my body and for the first time ever I actually consider myself athletic (even at 288lbs)!

4. Lastly I have become more aware about what goes into my body. I call it being food literate. I have been overweight my entire life. I have dealt with that shame and embarrassment that goes with it. I have labeled myself a failure because I could never shed the weight no matter how hard I tried. Even now I still feel guilt and shame at having not lost as much weight as other banders. But in learning more about the food we eat, what goes into it, how it is made, why it is bad for you, I feel like I have regained control of my health and my family's health.

Anyway I thought I would share and maybe that would inspire some of you to keep going forward and making the good fight. Sometimes we get so caught up in what is on the scale that we forget to Celebrate the other successes that we have made on our journey.

If you need some additional motivation/inspiration check out some of the following links:

Oprah's Diabetes Special

Diabetes 101 with Dr. Oz, Dr. Ian Smith and Bob Greene - Oprah.com

Food Inc documentary (I rented a copy from my library--warning it is a little graphic)

Official Food, Inc. Movie Site - Hungry For Change?

If you have seen either of these what did you think??

[Laura steele 2]

Amen to this post. We expect so much more from ourselves than anyone else does.Let's be proud and believe that we will make this road of discovery a positive one !!!

[DizzyLizzy 21]

It's like you were reading my mind! People who know I've had surgery, they can tell I've lost weight, but when I tell them I've lost 30lbs, I get this sense of, "oh, that's it" like they were expecting so much more. But they don't realize all the other things I've gained in these 3 months...food literacty, increased physical activity, etc. I went from struggling to walk 2.0 mph for a quarter mile to doing a mile no problem at 2.8mph on an incline with some periods of jogging! Me jogging, I never thought I'd see that!

And I feel so much better now, that's the biggest plus!

[Crispaholic 7]

Thank you for this post.....I was feeling really upset that I have not lost more at this stage.....like you I would be an emotional eater....I also tend to turn to junk when I am having a bad day as junk food tastes so good.....with the band I can eat junk but not the healthy foods as they pain me.....but after reading your post....I feel a lot better and will start tomorrow afresh......thank you for your post :thumbup: