On March 25, at the end of the day, I realized it was the 4th anniversary of my surgery. I must say, that having the lap band has been a real blessing in my life, in so many ways. Today, I weigh 178 pounds, that is 99 pounds down from my weight at my surgical consult 107 down from my highest recorded weight. My goal has long been 175, I'm 3 pounds from my goal of 175. But I think I want to get to 165, maybe even 160. I won't know for sure though, until I get there. I am a size 12 in most things, a 14 in some pants, because...well I have hips and they don't lie! I feel better and more confident today than I did when I was 21. I thought I'd share of few of the most important things I've learned about life with a lap band in the last 4 years. So here goes...
- The band is a tool! It will not make you loose weight magically.
- There is no easy way to get thin. If there were....everyone would be thin.
- Food is a DRUG!
- You are the only one who can change your circumstances.
- Pain in your feet, hips, knees and back are not just part of life.
- Bath towels did not get smaller, I got bigger.
- I can have fun and keep my weight down.
- It is not feasible to lose 100 pounds without ever being hungry, or dieting.
- Being hungry won't kill me!
- I deserve the effort it takes to get healthy
- Sometimes, "good enough" is not good enough.
- The closer I've gotten to my goal, the more difference 10 pounds makes.
- I am stronger than I thought.
I know I rarely blog anymore, but I still read yours and occasionally comment here and there. I feel like this blog was instrumental in my success and the support I've gotten from the people I met here is nothing short of amazing. I have gained real, true friendship from women I've met through this little corner of the web and for that I will always be thankful. It's become much easier to keep up with a few of my close blog friends through email or Facebook, so my blogging has tapered off because of that too. But, I'm so very glad that I have gotten to a point in my journey that I can look back and say, wow...this wasn't always easy, but I can see the progress I've made and I'm happy with where I am. And, as I wax nostalgic....let me thank you for the part you've played in my happiness!
I'll leave you with a few pictures that I think show how far I've come.
The picture on the left is what spurred me on to get to my goal, I'm at 215 there and I was shocked when I saw that picture, that at 62 pounds down from my surgery weight, I was still pretty damn fat!
The pic on the right is me in January at 185, this is after I started doing Medifast, which I credit for getting me over the hump and getting me started losing again!
The picture on the left is me, the night before my LapBand surgery, at 277 pounds, the one on the right is me in December in my cute new winter coat, feeling good under 200 for the first time in ages, weighing in at 190ish.
And finally, this was a real shock to me. When I got my driver's license renewed, they gave me my old one back. The one on the left is January 2010, 3 months before my LapBand Surgery and the one on the right is January 2014. I'm 47 and really fat on the left and 51 and much thinner and happier on the right.
Happy Friday y'all!
Big Hugs,
T
