February 5th marked one year from when I had my gastric bypass surgery.  It’s been a year of change.  I don’t regret having the surgery.  I feel very lucky that I have had little to no ill side effects.  I mean, I have had the hair loss and will always have to watch my vitamin levels, but I haven’t had any bad side effects to food or any strange pains.  A lot of people have gall bladder issues after surgery, but I was lucky enough to have had mine out year ago.

It took me a long time to get to the place where I felt I wanted to take this path.  It was suggested to me and offered to me in the past, but I just felt like that was a last resort.  I KNEW I could do it myself!!  I lost over 60 lbs with Weight Watchers, but in the end, it all came back.  I lost with other diets too.  That is still a risk with this surgery.  It’s not a “fix all”, it’s another weight loss tool.  I don’t know what the static’s are of people who lose the weight, only to later put it back on.  Food addiction can be a really hard addiction to have. I’m hoping that now that I’ve lost so much, and able to do more than I have in the past, that I can stay active and continue to eat smaller portions.  It’s something I have to constantly remind myself of.  That I don’t need to stuff myself.  I can be full after just a little bit of food. That can be hard sometimes, esp. with food I love.  This “tool” has helped me with that thus far though.  I’m also proud of myself for going over a year and a half now without having ANY soda.  I’m happy that it’s something that I don’t even miss.  The weakness I have for sugar, I think I will always have.  I’ll always love my sweets.  I still eat my sweets, but luckily, just a little satisfy me.  I don’t deprive my self of anything, I just TRY to limit myself.

I started this year at over 300 lbs and in a year have gotten under 200 lbs.  I lost a total of 121.5 lbs in one year.  I went from wearing a size 26/28 jeans and 3x shirt to wearing a size 14 jeans and 1x shirt.  I’ve found I just wear my clothes big and not really realize I have gone down a size until I chance it and try on clothes and they fit!  I find myself staring at myself when I see myself on video or in photos not truly believing that it is me.  What I see in the mirror and what I see in photos are sometimes completely different things.  I still have a big belly and thighs and upper arms, but if I wear clothes big enough, I can sometimes cover that up.  Eventually I will need some type of plastic surgery to correct years of damage that I did, stretching out my skin.  That is really not an option though until I lose all my weight I need to lose and am able to maintain it for a year.  I’ve had plastic surgery in the past and my fear is that I have it, and be unhappy with myself still.

The first time I had plastic surgery, it came out different than the Dr. had told me and it caused me a lot of upset and crying.  At least this time, when the time comes, I will know more what to ask or what to tell the Dr.  I have a feeling that will be years down the road though.  I hope not, but we’ll see what this next year brings.

Since I hit my six months, my weight loss has slowed down a lot.  I have hardly lost any.  Luckily, once I got under 200 lbs, I stayed there, but I’ve just been stalled for a long while now.  Also, since New Years, my exercise has all but ceased.  The cold set in and it sucked all the “get up and go” out of me.  I have had little to no motivation the past month. I’m SO looking forward to warmer weather and getting into a routine again.  My daily steps are hardly anything these days.  I’m ready to start our daily walks again and signing up and running our 5K’s.  I’m HOPING once the nicer weather hits that it can give a little kick start to my weight loss and help me get that last little bit.

I’m happy with the results I’ve had so far.  I’m still not happy with MYSELF (body image-wise), and who knows, maybe I never will be, but I AM proud of myself and how far I’ve come and I’m a little more confident and love that I’m able to be more active and look forward to many more active years.

I will have my year check up with the surgeon in a couple of weeks.  I will be happy to report that I’m off ALL my prescription medicine’s (except thyroid – which I’ll always have to take), I’m not pre-diabetic any longer and my blood pressure is normal.  I will have blood drawn before my appointment, so I should be able to see if I’m lacking in anything.  I’m anxious as to what my vitamin levels will show and also what my surgeon says.  I’ll try to make an update after my appt.

Thank you everyone who has given me encouraging words, compliments, “likes”, read my blogs and status updates and just been a friend to me.  It means a lot to know I have friends and family who support and surround me with love.  I appreciate you all.