Okay gang, sorry I have been away for awhile – it has been a whirlwind of a week and one in which I celebrated my Bandiversary – yay – happy Bandiversary to me!!
My stats:
Started Optifast: 3 September 2008
Date Banded: 17 September 2008 – weight lost in 2 weeks prior to surgery = 6.5 kg / 14 lbs
Bandiversary: 17 September 2009 – weight lost overall 36kg / 78lbs
I have lost 69% of my excess weight so fair and I have gone from size 22 pants to size 12. I still have 11.5kg / 25lbs to reach my goal.
Reasons that I had the band in the first place:
· Fitter, healthier, happier
· Give myself the best chance of conceiving a child
· Reduce risk factors
· Look good in clothes
· Gain in confidence
I thought I would deal up my top 10 ways that the band journey has changed my life – so here goes:
1. Healthier and fitter – yay! This is definitely the case. I had my blood pressure checked recent ly and it was actually quite low and I found all of my tests bar one are in the normal range – this is excellent considering that I was pretty low in vitamin D before the surgery (I did make an effort to sit in the sun for 10mins a day though which obviously helped). I am going to be running the 10km run in a couple of weeks so am definitely fitter. The one test that I do need to address is that my cholesterol has risen so I need to ensure that I cut out all of the saturated fats and high fat dairy (I must admit some full fat cheese and yoghurt had crept in to my diet – no more, she cried!!). In addition, I have had bulging discs in my back and normally I would be at the osteopath around once a month to keep it flexible and normally every couple of months I would have a bad episode with my back – in the last 6 months I have been to the osteopath once and that was not even for my lower back – whoo hoo!!
2. More confidence – Before the band, I was in a real down on myself period. I didn’t want to see any of my friends because I was ashamed of my size and I barely had any clothes that fit me anymore. Now, I still don’t have that many clothes (mainly because they are all too big) but I definitely feel a lot more confident in myself – I don’t reject invitations to go out straight away and I certainly like getting dressed up again. It has been nice all of the comments that I have received from people as well – lately I have gotten all sorts of raving about how good I look and you have to love that!
3. Happier – Before the band, I would say I was pretty depressed and isolated. I was quite exasperated with myself that I had had to turn to the band to turn my life around. My self esteem was quite low. Even though it has been a tough year (not Band related) I feel that I am a lot happier with myself. Through the work that Jen and I have done, I feel like I can handle situations better (especially related to behaviours like comfort eating etc) and in general, I am very pleased with myself. The best thing that I feel now is that I am now more of a ‘glass is half full’ kind of a person.
4. More energy – Gosh, when I weighed my heaviest, I barely had enough energy to get out of bed. I was not exercising and at work I would go up and down the stairs a couple of times a day and would be breathing SO hard I would go to meetings 10mins before so that I wouldn’t be heaving for breath and embarrassed when I got there. I actually had a meeting upstairs at work today and I noticed that when I got to the meeting (1 min before it started!!) – I was barely breathing above my normal resting breathe – huzzah. Now, I confess, sometimes I am still tired and have a hard time getting out of bed but that is usually from the hectic pace of my life and not the heaviness of my body!
5. Greater choice of clothes – can I get an ‘amen’ on this one! Seriously, I was only able to buy clothes from the ‘Big is Beautiful’ type shops which was hugely depressing. I have always hated shopping but never moreso than when I have to go to those shops – it is very hard to come out looking like ‘the Devil Wears Prada’ out of there – I was more like ‘Frumps R Us’. Now I am wearing jeans and little tops and having great fun with accessories and all sorts – it has been SO much more fun!
6. Have become a foodie – interestingly, now that I am able to eat less, I have become really interested in cooking and making really nice, high quality food. This one has been a real surprise for me because basically before, I alternated between eating very strictly (on some sort of diet) and eating crap junk food. I had quite a few food hang ups from spending so much time on and off diets and thankfully, Jen and I have really done a great deal of work to move past these hang ups so that they don’t run our lives any more. I still have quite a ways to go but I’m getting there, people!!
7. Fit in everywhere better – this is a funny one but really important to me. I have mentioned before that one of the ways that I measure success is by how I fit in the bath – before the band journey, my thighs would touch (and squeeze against, mind you) both sides of the bath, now I have a fist and a bit of room in there! I fit in seats better at sporting venues, movie theatres, restaurants etc. I am not dreading my flight to Thailand later in the year because I know I will fit in the seat. These kind of things creep up on you over the journey but looking at 12 months ago – boy do I fit in places better!!
8. Take care of myself more – for me, a big part of this journey has been to change my self esteem. Eating junk food in huge quantities was a form of self punishment for me – as was dieting. The last 12 months have really been about learning how to take care of myself. Making sure that I am getting enough nutrition. Exercising as a gift to myself (rather than a punishment). Cooking interesting and yummy food to eat.
9. Celebrate my successes – I have been very guilty of the past of setting a goal, getting there and then not even celebrating my success (it is really linked in with the self punishment behavior as mentioned above). Thankfully, I have moved past that and have had a really nice 12 months of gifts to myself, massages and treatments to celebrate all of the success that I have had – gosh, I tell you – it has been nice (no wonder I am happier!).
10. I look and feel fabulous! As an overall, one of the things that I realized over the last month to 6 weeks is that I feel great and I can look in the mirror and say ‘you look good’! This is a really nice place to be!!
The past 12 months feel like they have gone in the blink of an eye. I am really proud of my efforts and am thankful that I made the decision to get the band!!
My stats:
Started Optifast: 3 September 2008
Date Banded: 17 September 2008 – weight lost in 2 weeks prior to surgery = 6.5 kg / 14 lbs
Bandiversary: 17 September 2009 – weight lost overall 36kg / 78lbs
I have lost 69% of my excess weight so fair and I have gone from size 22 pants to size 12. I still have 11.5kg / 25lbs to reach my goal.
Reasons that I had the band in the first place:
· Fitter, healthier, happier
· Give myself the best chance of conceiving a child
· Reduce risk factors
· Look good in clothes
· Gain in confidence
I thought I would deal up my top 10 ways that the band journey has changed my life – so here goes:
1. Healthier and fitter – yay! This is definitely the case. I had my blood pressure checked recent ly and it was actually quite low and I found all of my tests bar one are in the normal range – this is excellent considering that I was pretty low in vitamin D before the surgery (I did make an effort to sit in the sun for 10mins a day though which obviously helped). I am going to be running the 10km run in a couple of weeks so am definitely fitter. The one test that I do need to address is that my cholesterol has risen so I need to ensure that I cut out all of the saturated fats and high fat dairy (I must admit some full fat cheese and yoghurt had crept in to my diet – no more, she cried!!). In addition, I have had bulging discs in my back and normally I would be at the osteopath around once a month to keep it flexible and normally every couple of months I would have a bad episode with my back – in the last 6 months I have been to the osteopath once and that was not even for my lower back – whoo hoo!!
2. More confidence – Before the band, I was in a real down on myself period. I didn’t want to see any of my friends because I was ashamed of my size and I barely had any clothes that fit me anymore. Now, I still don’t have that many clothes (mainly because they are all too big) but I definitely feel a lot more confident in myself – I don’t reject invitations to go out straight away and I certainly like getting dressed up again. It has been nice all of the comments that I have received from people as well – lately I have gotten all sorts of raving about how good I look and you have to love that!
3. Happier – Before the band, I would say I was pretty depressed and isolated. I was quite exasperated with myself that I had had to turn to the band to turn my life around. My self esteem was quite low. Even though it has been a tough year (not Band related) I feel that I am a lot happier with myself. Through the work that Jen and I have done, I feel like I can handle situations better (especially related to behaviours like comfort eating etc) and in general, I am very pleased with myself. The best thing that I feel now is that I am now more of a ‘glass is half full’ kind of a person.
4. More energy – Gosh, when I weighed my heaviest, I barely had enough energy to get out of bed. I was not exercising and at work I would go up and down the stairs a couple of times a day and would be breathing SO hard I would go to meetings 10mins before so that I wouldn’t be heaving for breath and embarrassed when I got there. I actually had a meeting upstairs at work today and I noticed that when I got to the meeting (1 min before it started!!) – I was barely breathing above my normal resting breathe – huzzah. Now, I confess, sometimes I am still tired and have a hard time getting out of bed but that is usually from the hectic pace of my life and not the heaviness of my body!
5. Greater choice of clothes – can I get an ‘amen’ on this one! Seriously, I was only able to buy clothes from the ‘Big is Beautiful’ type shops which was hugely depressing. I have always hated shopping but never moreso than when I have to go to those shops – it is very hard to come out looking like ‘the Devil Wears Prada’ out of there – I was more like ‘Frumps R Us’. Now I am wearing jeans and little tops and having great fun with accessories and all sorts – it has been SO much more fun!
6. Have become a foodie – interestingly, now that I am able to eat less, I have become really interested in cooking and making really nice, high quality food. This one has been a real surprise for me because basically before, I alternated between eating very strictly (on some sort of diet) and eating crap junk food. I had quite a few food hang ups from spending so much time on and off diets and thankfully, Jen and I have really done a great deal of work to move past these hang ups so that they don’t run our lives any more. I still have quite a ways to go but I’m getting there, people!!
7. Fit in everywhere better – this is a funny one but really important to me. I have mentioned before that one of the ways that I measure success is by how I fit in the bath – before the band journey, my thighs would touch (and squeeze against, mind you) both sides of the bath, now I have a fist and a bit of room in there! I fit in seats better at sporting venues, movie theatres, restaurants etc. I am not dreading my flight to Thailand later in the year because I know I will fit in the seat. These kind of things creep up on you over the journey but looking at 12 months ago – boy do I fit in places better!!
8. Take care of myself more – for me, a big part of this journey has been to change my self esteem. Eating junk food in huge quantities was a form of self punishment for me – as was dieting. The last 12 months have really been about learning how to take care of myself. Making sure that I am getting enough nutrition. Exercising as a gift to myself (rather than a punishment). Cooking interesting and yummy food to eat.
9. Celebrate my successes – I have been very guilty of the past of setting a goal, getting there and then not even celebrating my success (it is really linked in with the self punishment behavior as mentioned above). Thankfully, I have moved past that and have had a really nice 12 months of gifts to myself, massages and treatments to celebrate all of the success that I have had – gosh, I tell you – it has been nice (no wonder I am happier!).
10. I look and feel fabulous! As an overall, one of the things that I realized over the last month to 6 weeks is that I feel great and I can look in the mirror and say ‘you look good’! This is a really nice place to be!!
The past 12 months feel like they have gone in the blink of an eye. I am really proud of my efforts and am thankful that I made the decision to get the band!!
Posts
YEAH!! Congrats on your goals and bandiversary
ReplyDeleteWay to go. It's so great to see all of the positive things you've got going for you!
ReplyDeleteWow. Very inspiring. Thanks for checking out my blog and commenting! I'm putting together a list of why I want a band, and all of these reasons are on it! I'm meeting with the surgeon this Friday, and hopefully will be scheduled for a date soon!
ReplyDelete