What was your when I lose weight dream

I love watching the Richard Simmons videos.  He jumps and smiles and does exercises that are really quite easy.  Plus, he has real women as his back up dancers and everyone isn’t a perfect 0.  I also like that he sincerely seems to care about us obese gals, even though most of us are way past being obese.  So, today, I was walking on the treadmill and I was thinking about my goal—you know, I am going to put over a hundred miles a month on the treadmill.  And, tears began to flow down my cheeks.  I was happy no one was in the gym but me because I really looked like a blubbering idiot—my hot pink sweats with my orange shirt and sweatband on my head and iPod wires hanging down from my ears.  I was thinking about those years that I weighed over 500 pounds and how hard it was for me to think about my future.  All I wanted to do was stand.  My legs were so stressed from all of the weight and my feet had these huge cracks in the heels, and I wanted to walk so badly, wanted to stand.  And here I was in the gym and increasing my speed so that I was running, and I decided that I was not going to become complacent or take anything for granted.  I am going to spend my year remembering how it was before WLS, and I’m going to remember how much I wanted an opportunity to walk, run, dance, jump, and especially to not be the largest woman in the entire town.  So, to you, my friends, I am challenging you to remember and speak the words over how you felt being trapped—a thin woman in the fat woman’s body.  I want you to think about those activities that you wanted to do and promised you would do if the weight came off.  Write them down, record them here, and be honest.  What did you want to do?

 

When I was obese, I wanted to swim.  I wanted to put a bathing suit on and walk into a pool and move around.  Jan and Karen and I met in Arkansas and Karen had a room at this hotel and there was a pool, and she brought a travelling bathing suit that one of our WLS had given to her to give to me as she made her way across the United States looking at Civil War fields.  I wasn’t going to get in the pool…nope, I was so fat and oily and short of breath and had already lost 200 pounds and was only at about 339 pounds.  But Karen and Jan wouldn’t let me back out and I went in the bathroom and pulled the bathing suit on and in spite of my largeness and in spite of how people outside the room were going to watch me move down the hall, I went with them. I climbed into the pool and my weightless body felt so good and I thought at that moment, when I have wls, and I lose this weight, I am going to swim every summer in the lake where every one else swims and I am going to be so happy.  My DH and I take the kids to the lake every week end  or we go to the creek  and I strip out of my jeans and have the bathing suit underneath and I swim.   Tomorrow, I will tell you about hiking and fossil hunting.  What is your when I lose this weight thing?  

Good post again Jeannie!!! Well from my photo on my avatar you can see wht my dream was....to get on a horse again!!! I did it thanks to a friend I met on the Michigan board and she invited me to her farm and see her horses...well the day finally came and I got on her horse Dolly!!! OMG that was so cool!!!!!!!! Its a time in m life I will NOT forget!!! I can't make the horse run or trot because it hurts my back but to sit in the saddle again and be able to ride again while the horse is walking is great!!!!!! I accomplised my goal and am forever grateful to my friend Jenny for letting me enjoy that moment on a horse again!!!

Ofcourse there has been several things I have been able to do since losing this weight and it feels SO GOOD to be able to do them all!!!! Sit in a booth, sit in a seat at the movies, go on carnival rides, walk without getting short of breath in a couple minutes...the list goes on and on....would I have WLS again? If I needed it you bet your sweet ass I would!!!! Its a wild ride and I for one am enjoying it all!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

HUGS

I wanted to be able to walk to the pasture where my sister kept her cattle. I know…really stupid.  But, there's a huge barn, and when I was a kid, we played in that barn from sun up to sun down.  So, I wanted to be able to walk to the barn and climb up into the loft and show my grand children the places we played.  This summer, I took all of my grandbabies across the field to the barn and we climbed into the loft and we all sat in the huge window where they load the hay and my granddaughter said, wow, this is the highest place in the world and I remember being close to her age and thinking the same thing.  Of course, when I was her age, the land belonged to our uncle and the barn has had a lot of restoration, but the field and all of the things around it are still the same.  My point is the horse; my sister has an old horse and I rode it with my grandchildren.  I am not fond of horse back riding, but I did enjoy the ride and being able to ride and not think, holy crap, I will break the poor animal's back.  And, swinging my leg over…that was something I would never have been able to do before surgery.  Great response, Judy.

I so enjoyed this story, Jeannie. I can't say swimming, because I always went swimming when I was 350 pounds ... didn't care if anyone made comments. I was going to swim regardless.

A couple years before I had weight loss surgery, I went on a cruise and there was this excursion to Tulum, one of the Mayan sites. I really wanted to take this trip, but it was a lot of climbing and I knew I couldn't do it with my weight and my bad knees. Three years ago, I went on a similar cruise with my brother; they had that same trip, so we took the excursion to Tulum. We also did an excursion to these waterfalls in Jamaica. Now, there was no way I could have done either of those when I was 350 pounds. There were a lot of hills (and despite the fact I had issues with the first knee replacement, I was able to handle most of the hills).

I still have one more dream: When I went to Alaska several years ago, I wanted to take a helicopter trip to the glaciers. Couldn't afford to pay the extra fare for my extra weight, so I didn't take that trip. Would still love to do it.

Eileen,

Like you, I was  a spectator.  I would watch my husband and kids and our friends walk to the breat places and I would sit by the car or at a table because I knew I couldn't walk down narrow paths up and down hills and all of that…so I understand your happiness at being able to do the touristy thing.   

 What a great topic.  I had several dreams.  While I have not reached goal weight, because of an alcohol and sugar relapse, I have experienced several of my goals.  

First, I wanted my blood sugar and cholesterol levels to go back to normal.  I got that reward on the first 3 month blood check post-op.  Second, I wanted physical relief from a lot of the arthritis and chronic pain issues caused by the excess weight.  Third, I wanted to be able to shop at the normal stores, not just the larger women's stores.  Fourth, I have a clotting disorder, which caused my sister to have a pulmonary embolism, and almost die.  I did not want to have one so young.  I ended up having one, but it was not so bad as my sister's.  I did end up burying both of my brothers at young ages to the same thing.

Finally, I wanted to be able to keep up with my grandchildren.  My granddaughter was born when I was ten months post-op.  While I did not know I would become a grandmother so soon after my WLS, but I knew I would have grandchildren someday.

This is a great way to start the new year.

Hugs,
Trish

Like you, I wanted to keep up with my grandbabies that were already born and any future grandkis.  I am able to get down in the floor and play with my grands and we run all over the park and have such a good time.   Just being able to walk with them through a store is such a dream come true.  Being here for our kids and grandkids is a great motivator and a great dream to have.  Good response.

Running was a big one for me too.

I know this will sound vain and insignificant but you want the truth- my biggest goal was to be pretty again. I couldn't recognise myself in the mirror. When I was young men noticed me- when I was fat they mooed at me. Of course there were a multitude of reasons that I needed/wanted to lose that huge amount of weight. But honestly, none were as important as not being ridiculed behind my back.