One year ago today ...

One year ago today I was off to see the wizard! I can't believe that it has been a whole year since I had my gastric bypass surgery. 2009 has been one wild year for me. I have discovered more about myself, my faith, my marriage, my family in this past year than I ever imagined possible. The most important nugget of truth I have received out of all of it this year has been "I can do it!" I believed a lie about myself for so long - I wasted so many years thinking that my dreams were unattainable. But I am here on the other side of a long journey (that isn't really even over - I feel it may have just begun!) to tell you that if I can do these hard things - you can too.

 

Here is a list of goals I set for myself about a week before surgery:

• I want my feet to stop hurting - check!
• I want to be able to walk more than a mile without stopping because of my back - check - I run 3-5 miles regularly now.
• I want to stop wearing my CPAP machine at night - I bid this farewell early on.  Hope you're enjoying it, Tim!
• I want my knees to stop hurting - not nearly as bad or as often as it was before.
• I want to be able to cross my legs comfortably - I almost always sit with my legs crossed now.
• I want to be able to run around with my kids - I beat their butts on Wii Fit today.  :)
• I want to feel like I don't have to avoid mirrors - I don't avoid them but I still don't love them.  :)
• I want to be able to fit comfortably in a roller coaster when we go on vacation this summer - that was fun!
• I want to be able to fit comfortably in an airplane seat - don't have to sit with my arms folded across me the whole flight to keep from feeling like I'm in other people's personal space.
• I want my blood pressure to go back to normal - check!
• I want to be able to go to the doctor and not have my blood pressure go up just at the thought of having to get on the scale - check.
• I want to shop in a "normal" store for clothing - check.
• I don't want my kids to be embarassed by their fat mom - having them cheer me on when I run is the ultimate experience for me.

Goals added at 6 month mark:

• I want to see my collar bone. Isn't that strange? I can feel it now, but I don't feel like it is quite visible. - check!
• Along those same lines - I would really like to see my hip bones. That might be a long time in coming simply because of all the extra skin I have in that area. That may have to wait for the tummy tuck. - Yeah - so not happening till I get rid of some of this extra skin.
• I want to be able to buy cute bras and panties. HEHEHEHE. Yeah - big girl panties and bras have been what I have always gotten - but I'm now in a size that I can buy those cute little sets! I haven't done it yet because the sizes have been changing so fast, but I'm feeling more comfortable with this now. - check!
• I want to no longer see myself as the fattest person in the room. Even though I have lost so much weight, I still see myself as "the fat girl". - still working on this, but getting a lot better.
• I want to get the the "century" mark in my weight loss. I actually want to loose 130 pounds total - but this is a good progress mark for me. - check!  110 pounds (sneaking up on 115 now) down!
• I am now adding some distance goals for my running. I want to run a 10K this fall, and hopefully a half marathon in the winter. I can't believe I just said that. - this got derailed a bit with my surgery this fall, but I'm anxious to still meet these goals in 2010.

Measurement  - Pre-op - 3 Months - 6 Months - 1 Year

Full Bust 50 - 44 - 40 - 39
Rib Cage 46 - 39 - 35 - 35
Waist 46 - 39 - 37 - 36
Hips 56 - 50 - 45 - 42
Thighs 30 - 26 - 24 - 23
Arms 15 - 14 - 13 - 12.5
Total 243 - 212 - 194 - 187.5

 

My BMI has gone from 47.4 to 29.5 (Morbidly Obese to plain overweight).

And finally - here is proof in pictures.

And so I can proudly say that I have met my goals.  I have lost 85% of my excess weight in a year.  I have faced many of my personal demons surrounding food and why I eat it when I shouldn't or don't need to.  I have made exercise a regular part of my life.  I have started running!  I got my PMP!  All of this in just the last year.  Who knew I could do all of this in one year?  What a wild ride it has been.  I look forward to what is ahead in 2010.