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I said in the beginning of this blog I would someday share my weight loss journey with you. Well someday is here and now I’m gonna share with you the path I have been on.
I’m sure there will be some negative remarks about the path that I took, some might even say I took the easy way out. This journey has been anything but easy. There have been ups and downs, good days and bad days but most of all its been a path full of growth and understanding why this happened to me.
I don’t think any one thing in my life contributed to my weight problem. I did do some soul-searching and did find a few things that didn’t help matters. Those things are personal and I would rather not share. Hurting others is not my plan or goal here. I’ll just say that the words and remarks we make to people and children do stick with them and they do harbor them deep down for years.
At 47 I went to my doctor to get my blood pressure meds filled. I thought it was going to be an in and out appointment. It was nothing like that at all, his words froze me right in my shoes. He said you are now at a weight that makes you MORBIDLY OBESE. What! no I’m just a little over weight. He followed that by saying, “you are having rapid heartbeats, along with the high blood pressure issue it’s likely you’ll a heart attack by 50. I walked out feeling hopeless after all I’m a wife, mom and grandmother and these people need me around.
My husband was out-of-town and I went home to an empty house. I crawled in bed and that is where I stayed until the next morning. I’m a person that is a fixer, I don’t sit long before I get myself up and fix the problem. I did research most of the next day. Looking into the quickest ways to get this weight off to save my life.
My head was swimming in all the information about weight programs, pills, surgeries and good old fashion working out. When Greg got home that night I sat down with him to catch up and open the mail. Little did I know the mail and a TV commercial would be what led to this amazing new healthy life I have. In the mail was a statement from our insurance company telling us we had met our deductible for the year. I had to have a lump removed from my right foot. No worries it was all negative for any cancer. The statement said that any medical at this point would be paid at 100%. A few minutes later a commercial for Lap Band, a gastric procedure, came on TV. I laughed and said, “I wonder if they would cover me for that.” It was a remark that changed my life forever.
Long story short in October of 2012 I had surgery for Lap Band. It took 3 months to get approval from the insurance company. It was great! I lost weight really fast but, I also worked my butt off in the gym. I started working out 2 days a week, then once my strength built up I added more. Now I work out 5 days a week. With all great stories there are the ups and then the downs. In October of 2014 I started to have complications and my weight loss almost stopped. My doctor is amazing he knew what needed to be done and I went into surgery on November 21, 2014 to have my lap band removed and revised to the sleeve. This is where most of your stomach is removed and a small pouch is made to replace your stomach.
It has been a year and I’ve never looked back. My life is completely changed forever. I work very hard in the gym, I eat as clean as possible, I take many vitamins, I only drink water, no coffee, no sodas, no pasta, rice or bread. I don’t miss any of these things and I don’t miss being overweight.
My rapid heart rate is gone, I’m no longer on High blood presser meds and I’m no longer MORBIDLY OBESE. I still work very hard everyday to make sure I never go back to that lifestyle. I run, I take almost every class offered at the gym and I lift weights. I love playing and running with my grandson and my dogs. I still have a few pounds to go but I know I’ll make it because I’m driven; driven by life and living it to its fullest.
I decided to tell my story not to promote weight surgery but to promote changing your life. If you are not happy you need to be happy. So many things can happen if you are open to making a change. If you are overweight, hate your job, your home is disorganized or messy, or if you just really aren’t happy with your life and where it is, CHANGE IT. Life is lived once. Every minute that passes is spent. You never get it back. God is so good and wants nothing but the best life for you. All you have to do is wake up, get up and start making changes. I was terrified to have surgery, terrified to take a different path. I took the leap and I had wings I never knew I had.
My sweet husband said he would walk this path with me and so he had surgery also. We both are walking the same path and that has been a blessing. Along with working out and eating right I’m so blessed to have a great support of friends and family. I could not have done this without them. So many times I ran out of my gym classes and right behind me was always Nicole telling me its okay to cry because it’s hard sometimes. Nancy never let me miss a class. She helped by setting me up, texting me and making sure I got to the gym and poor Karen heard me cry so many times (sometimes every night) about how hard this was and how sometimes I just wanted to give up and she never let me give up. All the trainers at the gym loved and cared for me (Leann, Amber, Jennifer, Shelly, Lori and Laura). God bless you all!
Happy is a choice and it’s one you can’t afford not to take. I made a choice and now I have my Blue Happy, although it’s a work in progress and there are still ups and downs. I love this Blue Happy time in my life. Go find your Blue Happy and make it happen.
