I wish I could say that I had concurred the beast but I
can’t. I’ll introduce some new readers to
my journey versus obesity. My weightloss journey began in
2010 when I decided that I was going to change my life forever and have the
Lap-Band procedure done. To this day I
am glad that I decided to put my health and me in general at the top of the
list of needs in my life. I had my
surgery after reaching 325 pounds. Over
the course of about a year and a half I went from 325 down to 209 pound. My goal was to become “onederful” in the
100’s. My primary doctor at the time
wanted me to strive for 175 maybe even 150 pounds. When I was around 209 I had hit a point of
insanity. My day typically consisted up
to 3 hours of working out and depriving myself of food and defiantly
treats. I got to a point that I would
not let myself have even a Hershey kiss.
Well thankfully my husband told me that my new addiction had gotten out
of hand. What I did not realize I was I
had a food addiction. When I felt happy,
I ate. When I felt sad, I ate. When I was with friends, I ate. I ATE
AND ATE. Once I started to drop the
weight, I decided all I wanted to do was exercise and I better not dare eat
because I can’t gain weight again! This
was not part of my plan. I started to
relax for a while and that got me to my best weight of around 225. I continued to use my treadmill at home and
started to experience pain in my right foot. Come to find out I had a stress fracture in my 4th metatarsal
and ended up experiencing multiple months in a boot or cast, 2 surgeries and a summer of physical therapy to get
my foot back into a regular shoe and be able to walk without pain in every step
over the next 3 years. During this time
I was not getting any fills in my band because I needed to take care of my foot
and I can’t be exercising so it will all be okay. In the Fall of 2015 I could walk again and I
was relieved of that but realized that I had let myself come in last in regards
of priorities and I had returned to weighing almost 300 pounds. For a while I told myself how I had failed, I
was a failure, I would never get back into shape and what was the point?? Depression took over my emotions, I started
to eat all the time just to sooth myself.
I have to say beginning of this spring I started to really not like the
person I had become. Sure I had good intentions
but talk is cheap unless you do something about it. In April I realized that emotionally I needed
to get back on track. I have always been
open to share that a great member of my wellness team has always been a good social
worker. I called a lady that I had
clicked with previously and said I wanted to come in and let’s work on me some. At this time I also started to have some
symptoms that mimicked diabetes. My mom
was on medication for diabetes, my dad takes insulin and I had gestational
diabetes. I shared my symptoms with my
doctor and we went ahead and did labs and to her surprise my sugar was up
significantly enough where I too needed to get on some meds and change what I
was doing. I often think many of us just
need a kick in the butt to get our motivation kick started. This is what it took for me. So since April I have been seeing my social
worker friend again, started taking metformin for my diabetes, watching what I
eat, I have gotten my band filled, being very conscious of my food choices, how
I talk to myself and trying to get more steps in each day. Of course not every day goes great nor am I
perfect but I have went from 305 to 289 in the last few weeks. I drink my protein every morning, trying to
figure out how to beat my chocolate cravings (Sugar Free Fudge Pops!) and try
to be mindful of my portions. This past
week my daughter Raegyn and I have started the Daniel Plan. The core principles of the Daniel Plan are
Faith, Food, Fitness, Focus, and Friends.
So far Raegyn and I have set our goals and are working the plan
together. We both have different focus
areas which is good for us. I use My
Fitness Pal to track my food, water, and such.
I use my Fitbit to track my steps.
I have friends and of course my family supporting me.
This
time around I have different goals. I
want to focus on my health more than the scale which is hard for me. I am a number person. I have set more realistic goals this
time. Right now my first big goal is
249. After than we will try to work out
a plan for 225. Who knows how long it
will take but it doesn’t matter. Obesity
is a disease, one that typically wins if you let it. I will always be obese and I am okay with
that. No matter how hard I try I won’t
get down to the chart hanging in the doctor’s office. My goal is to work hard, take care of myself
and not let weight loss take over my life in a negative way. I encourage you to follow my journey,
encourage me, keep me accountable and give me tips on what has worked for
you. I am not in this alone so be a part
of my team. I have things like genetics
and depression working against me so my fight will take many tools to keep it
in check. Right now I feel like I can
hang with this beast.
