A lot of people have been telling me as of late how different I look. I haven't really seen it, so I decided to make a little collage of me from mid 2011 through yesterday. Yeah, ok, I see it now LOL. I also saw how badly I needed new clothes (I'm down 3-4 shirt sizes and more waist inches than I can count lol (6x pants to about 3-4x). In any event, I ordered a ton of new clothes yesterday in much smaller sizes :). Hopefully I'll finally look like I should given my current weight.
Food wise things are going very well. No problems, no drama, no sickness, etc. I am coming up on my six or so month mark to have my vitamin levels checked, so I will let you guys know how that goes. Three months ago my protein and iron were a bit low so we shall see what happens. I've been more diligent about the protein intake and eating foods with higher amounts of iron.
I'm able to do 2 miles on the treadmill without any problems and was floored when I was able to do 3 sets of squats and 50 ab crunches at the gym LOL. I was like, "omg who am I and how did I just do that lol". Anyway, that's the brief update into my life ^_^.
As a parting gift I am attaching the collage I mentioned earlier :). If you are on your own personal weight loss goal just know YOU CAN DO THIS. I've lost 150 or so pounds in SIX MONTHS, down 4 shirt sizes, down many inches in my waist, off of 5 of my 6 meds with the 6th med cut to a half dose, able to go up and down stairs without feeling like I am dying, SAT AT A BOOTH AT DENNYS THE OTHER NIGHT (that was a huge moment for me), and all in all just feel better. Just remember, the surgery is a TOOL, not the "bible" so to speak. It's not going to do it for you all the way - sure, if you are as big as me the first 100 lbs are going to just fall off of you after surgery. Once you start the plateau phase you need to incorporate exercise multiple times per week. I've always wanted to exercise so now that I have a lighter frame I am able to do it without too many problems. If you are worried about who sees you at the gym WHO GIVES A SHIT. You are there for YOU, nobody else. The other day I heard a little kid say to their parent what I have overheard a ton of times in my life before - "Wow Daddy, he's really big!" In the past I would have been so hurt, so embarrassed, so angry - but you know how I felt now? HAPPY! I was happy because I know in my heart that #1) I am nowhere near as big as I used to be, and 2) I am no longer the biggest person in the room. I turned around, smiled at the kid, and said "I am big, but you know what, I'm working on getting down to your Daddy's size :-) - cheer me on ok!?" The little kid said "OK!" and that was it :). The father, of course, looked horrified and was apologizing for the kid - I smiled and said the kid was super cute, and hiked my butt up the stairs to the treadmill, getting my gym playlist ready on the Google Music app on my Samsung Galaxy S III phone :).
The bottom line here is - all is right with the world if you allow it to be. If you worry about what others say, think, do, etc. you are defeating yourself before you even start. You CAN and WILL do this if you want to. I graduated college in the top 1% of my class with a 4.0 GPA, Summa Cum Laude (highest honors) because I told myself I COULD and WOULD do it. I say the same about my weight loss crusade, and I know that YOU who are reading this right now can do it too. Believe in yourself, and know that I love you for pushing yourself and being the best YOU that you can be :-)
