8 Months

Jan 05, 2009

I put up my new 2009 desk calendar this morning and realized it is the 5th, which means it has been exactly 8 months today since I had my surgery.  My first appointment at WeightWise was 12/27/07, so it's been just over a year now that I've been on this incredibly journey.  Unbelievable the changes that have happened in a short year!

I weighed 233 pounds this morning - down from 378 at that first appointment.  I did not sleep with a CPAP machine last night (or any other for the last 6 months or so!)  I woke up early today so I could get on my treadmill before I went to work.  I have been on planes and trains this year and my a$$ fit in the seats on both.  My desk chair is too big for me now!  I do have to run a space heater most of the time to keep my fingers and toes from falling off, but other than that....

One of the most exciting things that has happened recently is that I came out of the holidays with a renewed sense of purpose to get down to goal by they time I hit the one year since surgery mark.  I have been working out daily, and (here's the exciting part) my 11 year old son has been working out with me!  He is truly the light of my life, and I'm hopeful that thanks to my surgery and new lease on life, he'll never have to travel the hard, hard road of being a morbidly obese teenager/college student/ 20-something that I did.  That life is hard.  People at those ages are cruel to those who are different.  I'm very encouraged by his willingness to work against the genetic curse I bestowed upon him at birth and I really feel like if the two of us keep at it, we can find him a better way to make it through.  My children were my biggest reason for taking the risk of having my stomach cut down to size... I don't want to let this one have to learn the hard way.  Confucius say "A truly wise man can learn from the mistakes of others!"  I believe I have a very wise child and pray that I can continue to be the example he needs to make a better life for himself.

As for the other changes - I have gotten rid of virtually all my fat clothes and am now a shopaholic (see previous blog entry.)  I didn't worry too much about that, because I expected it was only women who caught that disease... but I was wrong!  My rings and my watch don't really fit anymore... I'm going to have my watch taken up, but am holding off on my rings (have moved them to my middle fingers) as I only want to have them sized one time, and I'm not sure I'm quite at the right size yet..  My coats don't fit any more, but since I now have three or more layers underneath them all the time, it works out OK.  They look a little big, but they're still wearable for this year at least.

I haven't turned into a marathoner or an Iron Man triathlete or even a fashion model.  Sometimes when I read others' blogs here on OH, I feel like I should be doing more with my body now that I have this gift of health, but I'm really not moved to take enough time away from my family to do all the training that would be required for the more adventurous responses to health.  Maybe I'll feel a bit different when it starts to get warm again... we'll see. 

I thought of trying to add up all the gallons of water and bushels of vitamins that I've gone through in the last year, but then I realized that really isn't the point.  Those are just part of the trip - the important part is the change that has happened because of all those vitamins and empty water bottles. (Actually, I re-use my bottles over and over and over again, so there haven't really been many empties  at least they aren't empty for long before I refill them.)  But - just for fun - I calculate that I drink at least 1 gallon (128 ounces) of water per day at least six days a week... that makes 312 gallons (minimum) in 52 weeks since I went on the pre-op diet... now, if water weighs 8.33 pounds, that makes 2599 pounds of water that have flushed through my system, washing out 145 pounds over the year... so if my adding machine works right - that means that each 18 pounds or so of water  should be washing out a pound of body weight... keep on sipping.  I'm off to refill my water bottle again.!

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