Nhope

Yesterday was exactly one year since my RNY bypass surgery so it seems like a good time for an update and reflection. Some basic stats:

HW-357

SW-317

Current Weight: 178

Inches lost: about 88" overall

Dress size: High-32; Current-12

The most exciting change for me has been the ability to walk comfortably. The main reason I had the surgery was because I had developed issues with my feet and legs and was really limited in how much I could walk and I had constant discomfort. At the beginning of the summer I took a 3-week trip to Israel, a place I've been to many times and in the past have really suffered because there is so much walking, especially on steep stairs, cobblestones, hills, uneven ground, etc. This time I walked for hours and hours every day, climbed all the things that used to make me cry, and felt great. Not that I didn't have any pain, it was just all manageable. Not to mention the comfort of flying at half my size: fitting into seats and seat belts, not worrying about how much space I was taking....

As my feet have gotten better, I've been able to be more active overall. Swimming and aquacise classes have been a lifesaver. I started them about 6 months ago and they allowed me to stabilize and build up my core (post surgery,it was a mess) without a lot of stress on my joints. Now I've started to mix in other low-impact and weight building classes.

As far as eating, I try almost everything, even if it's a few bites, and know that some things--fried stuff in particular--are going to be hard to handle. At least a couple of times a week a eat something that I had no problems with the last time I ate it, and this time it makes me feel sick. I don't throw up, just feel like the food is stuck going down. It generally passes after about a half hour. Most times, I can relate it to eating to fast or not chewing carefully enough. I've also hit the point where I am more careful not to overeat on the things that do go down easily, mostly bread and crackers. I'm happy that I have no problem with fruits and veggies, but now that it's the summer, I am trying to be careful not to eat too much fruit because I know the sugar content adds up. 

My weight loss has been pretty steady though it's starting to slow down. I had set myself the goal of 180, because it was about half what I weighed when I started. Now that I've reached it, and the one year mark, I'm thinking about only weighing myself every other week (I've been weighing every week) so that I can focus on evaluating how I'm eating, instead of weight lost. But I don't know if I'll have the willpower to resist the scale!

One final unexpected change is that I am not constantly telling myself how fat and disgusting I am. I realize that line of thinking has been running through my head for way too many years and now it's gone. I hope for good, because I'm definitely  happier without it!

I've attached a before and after photo!

Thanks for being an important part of this journey.