Somehow it’s been a whole year since my surgery and let me tell you, one year can make SOO much difference in the ordinary life!! I’ve lost a total of 117lbs since I started with the local bariatric center on November 3, 2011, 76 lbs since the morning of my surgery a year ago today, & I couldn’t be happier with my sleeve!! I’ve regained my self esteem, my energy and have discovered how much I enjoy life again! I can go out in public and eat without the stares, or at least without the “why is she eating that” stares … I still find people watching me and the inner-fat-girl gets all self conscious and wants to shrink away but I’m told it’s just because I’m beautiful (still coming to terms with that one!!) and dressed so cute & I’ve realized I don’t care anymore what people think of me and my size. I went from a size 24 to a size 10 in pants and am “normal” now, those people staring don’t know what I’ve been through, don’t know my journey to get to where I am today, so if they want to judge me they can go for it, my self-worth isn’t tied up in their opinion of me!

I started my 6 month mandatory stint with the doctors and nurses at the center, I know people hate to wait that long, 6 months feels like forever with your just beginning, but for me it was a VERY important part of this process! I needed to learn to change my relationship with food and how to really take care of ME for once! Food is a fuel source now, not the love of my life or my best friend, it’s a way to keep my body healthy and moving throughout the day and that’s it! That’s still a very strange statement to make considering where I was all those months ago but I have to tell you, it feels amazing to not be a slave to my urges and desires for food anymore!  I learned that exercise wasn’t going to kill me … still not my favorite thing in the world but I know if I want to keep feeling this good I need to keep at it! I learned that I’m worth all this effort and expense, if I hadn’t had this surgery I know the bills would’ve been far greater than we spent on the surgery and that my health would’ve suffered more than I’ll ever realize. I don’t know at that point in my journey if it saved my life, but if I’d kept on the same path of destruction I’d been on, I can say that it would’ve just gotten worse each year.

If you’re just beginning your journey I’d say read & learn as much as you can on here, or any other sources you have, so you know what’s coming – the more informed you are the more comfortable you’ll be with your decision. Everyone’s experience is different, no doubt about that, but you can get an idea of what you’re in for … it’s not always easy or fun and there will be glitches along the way, but in the end it’s absolutely worth it!! If you’ve just had surgery and are going through your food stages, don’t rush yourself and eat those things that smell or look good, they have us on this schedule for a reason – our tummies need time to heal and this is how we take care of ourselves while that healing occurs. Letting my stomach be in charge has been a strange adjustment over the last year but it’s absolutely doable! I can say without a doubt that getting sleeved was the BEST thing I’ve ever done for myself and I’m really loving and living my life now! Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings and for supporting me through this journey, for being there when things went wrong. Having this site to come to and complain or bounce ideas off of made it much easier!