BIG News!

I am so sorry I haven't posted recently. I was on vacation last week and so far this week I am being punished for daring to take time off. In other words, I am so stinking busy at work. So I am taking a few minutes to dash out a post before I get back to work. But I have SO much to tell you! And I am dying to get caught up on your blogs too.

First of all, last Thursday marked six months since I was banded. As of this morning, I am down 75 lbs. (34 kg.). I weigh 205 lbs. (92.9 kg.). SO CLOSE to Onderland! My goal was to be there by the end of August. I probably won't make it since I only have one more official weigh-day this month, but I know I'll be really close. I started this journey at 280 lbs. (127 kg.). I wore a size 24 pants and 3X shirt. I am now in a size 16 pants and size large shirt.

I LOST WEIGHT ON VACATION! I am down 2.6 lbs. (1.2 kg.)since my last weigh-in. This is amazing to me, especially since I am not doing anything special to lose weight. I am not dieting. I eat whatever foods I want. I try to make healthy choices most of the time, but I don't always.

I LOST WEIGHT OVER MY BIRTHDAY! Last Monday was my 37th birthday. Between that and my vacation, I've eaten a lot more dessert and fast food (not to mention diet soda!)than I normally do, but my gastric band keeps the portions small and lets me keep losing weight even when "real life" gets in the way.

When I look back at the last six months, I am AMAZED by how much I've changed. Six months ago I was OBSESSED with food (BTW, I have no idea why I keep randomly capitalizing words. Emphasis, I guess.). I had been obese for seven years and had struggled with disordered eating for pretty much my entire life. I had tried to lose weight many, many times, but had lost weight so painfully slowly since turning 30 that I would always give up in disgust, go on a binge and regain the weight, and then some. Things could not be more different today.

I now subscribe to a diet of all things in moderation. I eat butter, drink my coffee with real cream, have an occasional beer, and am basically enjoying being able to eat whatever I want without worrying about my weight. There is nothing I am doing now that I will not continue doing for the rest of my life. There's no gimmick. No magic pill. No special diet. I don't count calories as a general rule. Every so often, I will tally them up and I generally fall somewhere around 1,200 per day. I am completely satisfied.

I do try to eat sweets on weekends and special occasions only. Not because I think sweets are bad or evil, but because I still feel somewhat compulsive about them and I am trying to live my life free of food compulsion. I've found that when I eat certain foods, they cause me to having cravings. I don't like that. If I only eat those foods on occasion, I don't feel the compulsion (except when I've eaten them which I attribute to a physiological blood sugar reaction). I now realize that a lot of the compulsion that I used to wrestle with came from frequently eating sweets which would then set me up for more cravings about 20 minutes after I'd had them. Sometimes I would have more. I never went long enough without them to get out from under that cycle of cravings/compulsion/overeating.

I have always been a regular exerciser, but I don't go to the gym. Instead I walk my dog each morning (rain or shine) and I ride my bike about 20 miles a week. I find that it is easier for me to incorporate exercise if I don't have to commit a great deal of time. It would probably take me at least an hour and a half if I went to a gym and I just don't have that kind of extra time, not to mention the expense of gym membership. But I do have 30 minutes in the morning to walk my dog. And I can leave for work 20 minutes early twice a week and ride my bike. I also hike, garden, and do housework.

So here are a couple of "before" pix:


And here are some pix taken during my vacation last week:



So that's where I'm at six month post-banding. I am so glad I decided to have this surgery. It was, without a doubt, the best thing I've EVER done for myself!