When I started my journey as a Weight Loss Surgery patient it was never my goal to "get fit". My goal when I started this journey was to be healthy. To take all the years, of pain and sickness and put them behind me. It wasn't about losing weight, though of course I knew that would be part of getting healthy, but I never really thought about what being healthy really meant.

Being healthy, is more then the numbers on the scale or the inches of your waist. Being healthy is much, much more, it means eating right, and more then that it means having good nutrition to fuel your body. Not just the right number of calories but the right kind of calories. A balance of carbs and Proteins, micro and macro nutrients that help keep your body in harmony. Adding in the WLS tools changes the tone of the body's natural symphony and I realized as an obese person that my body's natural symphony was so out of tune it was not music to my ears. It was noise. It was like the noise of nails on a chalk board or a seized engine grinding and trying still to chug along. As my weight climbed I tuned out that noise more and more and kept pushing that engine harder and harder.

In 2013 I went in for WLS and had the lapband and plication performed. Adding these elements to the mix, seemed to bring everything in line, and for the first time in years and years I could hear the noise again and this time I could hear the melody being drowned out in the background. It takes time to find all the elements to bring out that melody and then to get that melody to harmonize. Just like many voices in a Choir or many instruments in a Orchestra you have to find the perfect selection and get it all to work together to make something beautiful.

So getting healthy became more then just having surgery, it became more then being compliant with the Dr.'s rules. These were stepping stones, and with each step I could see more and more of what was needed. Gathering the knowledge and learning the lessons, I keep moving I keep stepping.

Getting healthy is about finding that perfect balance, creating that symphony of mind, body and experience. Being healthy is maintaining that balance on the ever changing surface of life. Today it may be an open field wide and flat, tomorrow it could be the roughest face of a mountain with the challenge of making it to the top and back down the other side. You could find yourself out at sea, the ocean vast and wide as you try to keep your head above Water and maintain that balance. That is my view of what being healthy is today.

Yesterday was a big accomplishment for me in my journey. I walked in my first 5K! Over the last 9 years I have watched as others took up the challenge and got out there and participated. I looked on with envy I wanted to participate too, but every year there was always a reason I could not. Surgery after surgery and so many health issues who was I kidding...? Would I ever be able to do this? I was lucky I could walk from my car to my office without feeling like I was having a heart attack!

This year 2014 I am so happy to share with you that I WAS able to participate! I laced up my sneakers and donned my number and got to stepping! I didn't start this journey with the idea of fitness in mind. I didn't count it as part of my WLS journey. I was focused on food, then on eating and on not eating food. On changing the way I ate food, changing the foods I choose to eat. As I made these changes and my body started responding to the changes, it naturally wanted to move more and become active. Fitness is the harmonizer. It brings all the other pieces together and helps to set the tone, and from there you can bring in all sorts of new elements, add flair and flourish as you go. Make it loud bring it in low, but fitness is what brings it all together.

Here are some photo's from yesterday's walk! Today my friends, though you think I would be tired, or sore I feel great! I am bolstered by this accomplishment in my journey and I am looking forward to making it across more finish lines in the future!!

Edited July 30, 201411 yr by lisacaron

Congratulations!!! You have a refreshing and honest attitude, and you recognize what you've accomplished!! I think you are a winner and I think you will continue with more success as your journey progresses... thank you for posting.

Hey there's no love button or I would have pushed that , don't you just love that you can meet goals that you never thought you could do and have fun doing it.

WAY TO GO!! That is so awesome. Thank you for sharing and keep on moving forward!! Woot woot:)

Thank you for sharing your experience !! I hope to some day to walk a 5k also. I love the pics!!!!

What an awesome accomplishment! Way to go!

You know Lisa...this would be a good topic to discuss on Saturday. Instead of focusing on numbers or clothing sizes, we should talk about what we've been able to accomplish..or what we want to accomplish.

FANTASTIC accomplishment!!!!

WAY TO GO GIRLFRIEND! I am SUPER PROUD of you! XOXOXOXO

Awesome and inspiring! I have been wanting to participate in a 5K but keep putting out off. Sometimes we just gotta go for it. Congratulations!

You know Lisa...this would be a good topic to discuss on Saturday. Instead of focusing on numbers or clothing sizes, we should talk about what we've been able to accomplish..or what we want to accomplish.

I agree!! Looking forward to it.

Great post, Lisa! So happy for you......and inspired by you. Way to go. Accomplishments are definitely where it's at. Not that damn number on the scale.