So Long Thunder Thighs!

A year ago at this time I was on the way to the hospital for my prep for my surgery.

What a crazy year!

I have lost 140 pounds. I have lost the morning aches and pains. I have lost the plus sized clothes. i have lost the feeling of shame for being fat. I have lost the invisibility of being fat. I have lost my health conditions caused by my excess weight.

I have gained an amazing group of friends that understand the whole process because they have done it too. I have gained self confidence. I have gained my health. I have gained more energy. I have gained my new life. I have gained new respect for myself and I have gained the realization I am in control of my life and my choices.

I choose to be healthy. I choose to never be the "before" picture again.

Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. My only regret is that I didn't do it 10 years sooner.

Have there been problems? For me I am lucky in my 1 year I have not had complications or issues, but I know people that have had problems - so it is a possibility.

I would like to publicly thank my supporters and friends--you all helped more than you know with all the things you said and did in this last year, My surgeon -- Dr. Raymond Drew from Minneapolis Bariatric - you gave me a powerful and wonderful tool, Starbucks for their Iced Skinny Vanilla Lattes - my new addiction.

I'm a Lucky Girl!

I have been pretty down about the sad state of my cleavage. The cost and/or recovery of a reconstructive surgery is well out of my price/time range.

I, like many women, have been wearing the wrong size "foundation garment". They can be kinda pricey and when I have been losing so much in the last year - well, it's kinda hard to keep up.

Since I am very near my 1 year surgeriversary and very near my goal - I decided it was time. I went to Nordstroms for a fitting. After trying on a multitude of sizes, shapes and colors - I can honestly say I have found an uplifting and supportive friend that will keep my "girls" saluting the sun once again! I swear when I tried it on the angels in the heavens all played a melodic chord (or maybe that was just the Muzak being piped into the fitting rooms) Hallelujah!

And while the shy might have a hard time being comfortable trying on bras in front of a perfect stranger - I can say I highly recommend the outcome - a perfect bra just for you! Also - don't settle for any old fitting - anyone can read a damn tape measure! The fitter at Nordstroms (Shout out to Connie! You Rock!) has experience and knows her bras! Don't settle!

Wow! Another great thing about this surgery and my new life is how much I track what I eat and make sure what I am eating is going to provide me the fuel I need for my body to stay healthy.

I'm not saying that I am perfect - but I try to do what I need to do to continue to lose and keep my body feeling well.

Men's Health published the 2009 Worst Foods in America list http://www.menshealth.com/eatthis/20-Worst-Foods-2009/index.php

What I noticed most is that the calorie count on many of these items are more than I eat in a day - or even 2 days on some instances!

I had my nine month check in today with the surgeons office - I have lost 80% of my excessive weight! The nurse said the surgeons are thrilled if people have lost 75% by their one year appt. - who would have thought I would have been an overachiever in the weight loss department.

The nurse also pulled up the photos they took on my first appt - wow - I don't even recognize that person.

I am finding I have started getting a bit of a tolerance built up to sugar and carbs - meaning I dont react as violently to them as I used to - and this doesn't make me very happy. I need to get better at tracking daily what I am eating (I'm a fan of thedailyplate.com for my tracking) and keep the carbs to a minimum and protein to a maximum.

I also need to work on exercising and weights to tone up what is left. I think I still limit my activities based on past perceptions of my body size. I still feel like I am "too big" to run - when in fact that is not the case.

Just have to keep moving forward - striving to make the best and healthiest choices I can. Even 9+ months out - it really is about using the tool and make the choices.

If someone told me that it would be possible to lose half my body weight in a year I would think they were insane. Today I hit the scale at 168. I have 20 more to lose to be at 148 which will be half of what i started at last December/January when i started this journey at my heaviest 296.

Wow!

Sometimes life presents opportunities that allow us to be brave and do something outside of our comfort zone just to show us we can.

Last night was my youngest daughter's physical education open house at her elementary school. They had different activities for the kids and parents could participate too. One of the activities was a tarzan like rope swing. Stand on the platform, grab the rope, swing and drop on a big mat.
And guess who got in line. Yep, I did. I DID the rope swing! Not once - but twice! It was fun and thrilling and scary all at once. I bet I was grinning like a goofball.

A year ago I can't say for sure we would have even gone to physical education night and tonight - rope swing! What a great Wow! moment for me. I can do this stuff now. This is why I had surgery. I will not be held back by physical limitations.

In the Star Tribune this weekend there was an article about a University of Minnesota surgeon who is looking at a new way to do weight loss surgery. This less invasive version actually goes down the patient's throat and performs surgery without any external incisions.

For me, the recovery time and the minimal scarring from the surgery I had in March seems like a good trade off for how great I feel now.