I did it!! I'm Flirty at Thirty!!! LOL

I realize I'm not on the boards as much as I used to be... so a lot of newbies here don't even know who I am. But, for anyone that has seen some of my posts in the past, you may know I have a blog called Flirty by Thirty. The idea was that I wanted to be "flirty" by the time I hit 30 years old. "Flirty" to me meant that I was happy with my health/fitness and felt good about the way I looked - which is a sense of confidence I have never had before in my life.

I'm happy to say that YESTERDAY was my 30th birthday!!!!!!! It was a great day and I had a great time. I'm officially declaring myself "Flirty at Thirty" because I have never felt better about my health, fitness, and appearance. I am SO glad I found this website almost 3 years ago - which convinced me to go through with surgery.

Here are a few things that I think were the most important in helping me achieve success during the last few years:

• MOST IMPORTANT: Be honest, accountable, and responsible. This means weighing/measuring/tracking food honestly. Don’t kid yourself by thinking you can have this surgery and continue to have the same eating behaviors as before surgery but “just less of it” – you will be surprised how easy it is to consume more food than you need beyond a year out from surgery. If you are not losing weight or have regained…. it is because you are eating too much. Period.
• JUST AS IMPORTANT: Get therapy to work through your food issues. Let’s face it, the vast majority of people who are heavy enough to qualify for weight loss surgery have emotional issues with food. Some people are successful on working through these issues on their own, but many are not. Figure out your issues, face them, deal with them, and then move on with your life!
• IMPORTANT IMHO: For me, staying as strict as humanly possible, for as long as humanly possible with the types of food I was eating in the supervised diet and for about 7 months after surgery (about 13-14 months overall) really helped me get as much weight off as possible as quickly as possible. Once I started letting certain foods back into my life, losing more weight has become a struggle.  I am STILL a firm believer in not attempting to practice “moderation” until you have worked through emotional food issues first. For me, it wouldn’t have been possible to practice moderation from the beginning and come anywhere close to my weight related goals. Now, I’m good to go… but I wouldn’t be where I’m at today if I hadn’t kept it very strict for a very long time.
• Find a support system of people that can know where you’re coming from – whether that is family, friends, online support groups, or the support groups at your surgeon’s office.
• Be assertive. Don’t let others pressure you into eating things you don’t want to eat, stop losing weight before you hit your goal, or talk you out of having surgery altogether.

Here is a comparison pic - my wedding day in 2011 and one from yesterday!

Hi Nikke,

You look wonderful. You've done a great job with your weight loss and continue to inspire me.   Here's to continued success in maintenance for both of us!

best wishes,

Carol

Fantastic :).  Congratulations & happy birthday!

I hope you don't mind my saying so, but you are beautiful in both photos. But losing the excess weight will do wonders for your long-term health and "flirtiness." Congrats on your hard work.

psychoticparrot

Congratulations on reaching your goals!  As someone who is a relative newbie, thank you so much for sharing your journey and what worked.  It is all so motivational and inspiring! 

~Shel

So proud of you, Nikke!! I'm so happy you had a wonderful birthday!!

WOW!!!!!  You look fantastic.,, Great job!!!  CONGRATULATIONS

Happy Flirty !!!

You already know how I feel about your accomplishments.....!!!

Noobs.... go to serious school on this girl.... read everything over and over again !!!

frisco

Stunning transformation.  Congratulations!!!  

Happy Birthday! You look gorgeous! Great all around post with helpful information!