One year ago today I began my journey to a better me. I decided to embark on this weight loss journey because I was tired of crying when I looked in the mirror. I got tired of dieting only to gain the weight back. I got tired of "dedicating" myself to working out..only to quit. I got tired of being the "fat" girl. I got tired of experiencing jealousy when hanging out with my "thin/fit" friends (no offense). I got tired of buying dozens of cute purses and shoes to "mask" ...

Tonight before my monthly support group meeting my surgeon pulled me aside and said "I was looking over your electrocardiogram results and I was quite impressed". I obviously gave him a bewildered look..haha And then I said "oh really"? He said "yes your heart has a resting BMP (beats per minute) of 39", which means your heart is at an athlete's level"!

ME...at an athlete's level!!...at 41 years old!

Thank you sleeve!!

Recently published article:

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Endocrinology/Obesity/40490

So many IMPORTANT findings!

Today marks 11 months post-op...and I am happy to report I am down 101 pounds and only 4 pounds away from my goal weight. I am 5'8' tall and have a large frame.

Some of my stats:

Starting weight at beginning of 2 week pre-op diet: 265 pounds
Weight day of surgery: 254 pounds
First month weight loss: 20.6 pounds
Greatest weight loss: 2nd month (21.2 pounds)
Half way to goal weight: 12/8/12 (4 months post-op)
"Onederland" achieved: ...

I made a list of ways to celebrate once I made it to goal...I made this list of goals a month prior to having surgery (so a year ago this month).

There is one particular "celebration" that had been hindering my weight loss...because I had been obsessing about it. This celebratory moment was "trying on a wedding dress".

My psychologist has been encouraging me for the past 3 months to not tie "trying on a wedding dress to a particular number ...