What A Difference One Year Makes!

Yesterday, I celebrated one year since I began the SlimFast diet that proceeded my surgery. Even though I had surgery on the 23rd, I've always considered the 14th as the day I started down this weight-loss journey, since that is when I really started to lose weight. Heck, I lost almost 20 lbs the 10 days before my surgery! Boy, I'm glad I don't have to relive those 10 days. It would've helped if I would've read my instructions properly and known that I could drink 6 cans a day instead of the 3 I chugged down. 600 calories a day just isn't enough. I was so listless by the end of that period. Listless and totally sick of sweetness - I craved anything savory! To this day, I haven't fully regained my sweet tooth, though it's still quite present. :)

A year later, I've now lost 141 lbs, as of yesterday. 141 Pounds!! Isn't that crazy? Seriously, I know people who weigh 140 lbs. It's like I was walking around with one of those people strapped to my back. No wonder I have so much more energy now and everything is so much easier to do! I now weigh 210 lbs. I can't believe I'm only 11 lbs away from weighing under 200! Holy cow! I'm so excited to reach that goal.

Losing that much weight has really changed me. I didn't really think it would, if you can believe it, but it has. I mean, I'm still overweight, but I now realize how much being that heavy affected me. I didn't realize that I was slowly becoming a hermit because of it. I just thought I was going through a phase. Since losing the weight, I've learned to be good to myself. I certainly never would have spontaneously decided to fly to Paris if I still weighed 300+ lbs - I would have worried about being too uncomfortable in the airplane seats...among other concerns. I've always felt comfortable meeting new people, but deep down, I wondered what they thought about me and my weight. Especially guys. I placed restrictions on myself - I hesitated to do things because I worried that I'd look silly or wouldn't be able to do it because of my weight. And, restrictions were placed on me because of my weight - I was too heavy to go horseback riding on one of my cruises!

I'm a million times (hyperbole alert!) healthier than I used to be. Not that I had a lot of health complications because of my weight, but they were creeping up. Just the month before my surgery, my blood pressure was just above normal. It has since settled to around 115/78. I now exercise almost every day and have even started to RUN! I don't get heartburn any more...I used to get it almost daily and now it's been a year since I have!

Having lap band surgery saved my life. I'm sure physically (hopefully I won't die before reaching 40 now!) but also by letting me get back to who I am. Stripping away the fat has let me see me again.


What a difference a year makes!