The Half Century Mark

The Half Century Mark

Today I turn 50. It seems like an appropriate day to pontificate about something important I have learned on my WLS journey. Mind you, I am the same man who was the very embodiment of the sobriquet “numb nuts" after biking for more than 100 miles this past Sunday, so you might want to carefully consider the validity of what I have to say here.

Numbers are important to us. We spend a lot of time focused on weight and inches lost, calories and water consumed, myriad blood work numbers, exercise minutes, miles walked, jogged, biked, swum, or skied, grams of protein, fat and carbs in our food, our starting and current BMI and on and on. Those numbers motivate us, provide a means of defining concrete goals and give us a common language. Yet, at nearly two years out from surgery, the relevance of all those numbers has become less important to me than managing how I feel from day to day. If I actively seek out support when I am struggling, if I focus on putting something positive of myself into relationships with the important people in my life, if I respect my own needs, and if I stay determined to never give up, those important numbers take care of themselves. At age 50, I feel better physically and emotionally now than I did through my 30s and the majority of my 40s. It seems like I have turned back time and thank God for that.

RP