So my stats are the same as they were last year I wear a size 12. My weight stays around 175 ….and I am stable. ( mostly..lol)
I started in a size 20-22 and I weighed 275. So a 100 pound weight loss is pretty good. I would like to get to 150. I am 5 foot 5 inches ( well it’s actually 4.5…but I am giving myself that half of an inch) and the charts say I am supposed to weight between 120-145 ..but charts are outdated and terrible. I have at least a medium bone structure..I am not petite and I think 15 is probably the lowest I can go safely. I also think i need to give myself some leeway just because I do have some loose skin that won’t go away without surgery. The more I lose…the worse it gets.
So again….as I stated before….I am so glad I had surgery. It has helped me in many areas of my life. I know that many people say it’s the easy way out…and in some ways it is….but in my case I still had to do the hard work. Nothing worth while comes easy. I will say that the statistics are absolutely true…that most people who have weight loss surgery gain their weight back. I have been watching that the whole 2 years I have been on this journey. I absolutely had to change my life…..lifestyle and everything in between.
People that love food so much, that don’t want to change their lives, For the people who say that “everything in moderation”, or “I still need to enjoy life” or that don’t have time to incorporate exercise in their lives. It won’t work. I had to change everything. Now to say I don’t indulge ..I would be lying. I do. I own it. But I also know that when I do I have to work out more and harder the next day. It’s just my reality. If I don’t ..the scale creeps up. It’s just the way it goes.
So the other thing I have learned on my journey ..that has mirrored so many other things in my life is that the journey never ends. IT NEVER ENDS. Yes…you just read that. I have discovered that nothing is conquered….nothing is ever truly resolved. You may have grasped a lesson….and learned something. But them once you apply that lesson that you just learned. You have to go through it all over again to get another lesson. Sometimes I am sick of those lessons, I am sick of having to go through everything again. This is so true of relationships, weight issues, life in general. But alas…..I am here. I have gained much wisdom in 2 years. I have lost 100 pounds. Then I maintained for a year. That is progress. I know that if I treat my body well and give it exercise and good fuel it will do it’s part to help me.
There are so many benefits of my weight loss it’s amazing how much my life is different. So last fall when a friend said she was disappointed that her friend backed out on a trip….A trip to walk 84 miles in England. The Hadrian’s wall walk..I was able to say..” I will go with you” without hesitation. Why? Because I can. My body can handle that type of walk. My body is strong, capable and ready because it’s not carrying around a hundred extra pounds anymore. By Golly! I walked my heart out and I didn’t really struggle, physically. I did train and I did well. I learned that I am not a Fast walker…but I am a consistent walker. I pretty much kept the same pace no matter the terrain. I was fast compared to some….but there were people WAY faster than I.
So what has that taught me? I have freedom. Freedom like I didn’t have before trapped in my body. I was tormented because I knew there were things I wanted to do and couldn’t. Here I am….doing them.
So now I am at another cross roads. I can either stay where I am…or I can push myself further. HMMM Let’s see who knows me…What do you think I will do?
I have said from the beginning of this that I absolutely HATE the gym. I do. I will find every excuse to avoid that place. I don’t really know exactly why…..I think it just represents all types of failures for me. So I have only been doing exercise that I know I will actually complete because I like it. Which consists of walking, jogging, hiking and swimming. Pretty limited.
Well I have heard many times that I need to build some muscle and cross train. I hate that. I honestly do. I wish I could be one of those people that like it. I am not. Here’s the other thing. I am completely and totally uncoordinated. I try aerobics and dance classes ect. I hardly ever pick up the routines because when I have to move more than one limb at a time and make them do things–> it’s a jumbled mess. No lie. Swimming took me a long time..and I am not expert. I talked about that before in another post. But I make it work. We all have different talents…..mine is not physical activity or knowing exactly how to make my body move. I would be the worst contestant on dancing with the stars.
Anyhow, I have decided to do some cross training. I have to change some things and obviously if I want more results I have to add some muscle. But I am not going to the gym. I am going to try to do this at home. I have been sticking to the 21 day Fix routine for 2 weeks now. Only one more week to go to see how I am doing. It’s 21 days of aerobics, weight lifting and what not. I pretty much wanted to die the first week. Every time I climbed my stairs or sat down ( and I drink a lot of water…TMI!) I would cringe inside. ( I am not following the meal plan or drinking the shakes…just doing the exercise videos. Although I am going to try a sampler of the shakes…just to see if I like them. I also hate protein shakes. LOL Apparently ..I hate lots of things when it comes to fitness…no wonder I was so over weight. Seriously.)
But this second week has been better. So I am trying. I think it helps that its only 30 minutes a day and I can do it in my livingroom. Since I don’t have to leave the house…I am more likely to stick to the plan. I still take Kali out for our morning walks & jogs. I just do a little less to balance the time.
So I will keep you updated on that progress …and hopefully I will have good news. Even if the scale doesn’t go down I would be happy with a few size drops.
I have plenty more blogs to write…so maybe I will go back to monthly updates on the weight loss journey ….just because it might be helpful to some.
If I find that magic dust that helps me love cross training …I will let you know. So far I suffer through the 30 minutes …just so I can get the results I am hoping for.
Hi Pat, I’m doing the 21 day fix work outs by Beach body. They are good. She has someone in the videos that always has a modified version of the exercises too…so I think every one can do them. Let me know if you want a link or something. I bought mine off of Amazon. But there is a whole Beach Body group with several coaches, videos ect. I’m just doing the basic one.
Wow Dear It really doesn’t seem like 2 years. You have gone thru a lot of ups and downs ,Happy and sad and everything in between. I am so happy for you you are coming out on the good side . Keep up the good work and keep us in the loop xxx Pat