Welcome to One-derland!!!
Well it may have taken me longer than anticipated, but I did it! I finally got under 200 lbs! I AM IN 'ONE-DERLAND!!
I haven't been on here much lately so here is a quick recap. 38 years old. Started WLS journey in February of 2018 at 320 lbs. Lost 50 lbs in the pre-op insurance requirement period (March-November 2018). On 11/26/18 I had VSG performed. Within the first 4 months post-op I lost another 50 lbs (100 lbs total). That brought me down to 220 lbs by April of 2019.
At that rate I figured I would blow under 200 lbs in no time and was even starting to think I would get down to 175 lbs by my 1 year anniversary. BOY WAS I WRONG!!! The last 20 lbs took me almost 10 months!!!! I continued to lose, but instead of 1-2 lbs every week, it was more like 1-2 lbs every MONTH. At some point I doubted if I would ever get to the elusive "one-derland", but I kept at it, fighting the urge to go back to my old eating habits while my sleeve's restriction seemed less and less every day. Don't get me wrong. I am very fortunate that I didn't have any complications, I didn't get sick (at all), that my restriction wasn't a severe as others, and I can eat "normally". But because I wasn't losing weight as fast, I wondered if I had gone far enough. I wondered that maybe I would just have to settle for 200-210 lbs. Maybe that I would never experience being under 200 lbs.
My 1 year anniversary came and went, and I was still 2-3 lbs away from "One-derland". Yes I was thrilled that I had lost 115-117 lbs, but I really wanted to get below 200. So after new years I refocused. I went back to my pre and post surgery habits and routines. And within 3 weeks I lost the 5 lbs and got down to 199.8.
So yes, I wont like and say the scale isn't important to me. I am very happy about my weight loss and will keep working on it. But the scale isn't the most important thing to me. Here are some of the NSVs (non-scale victories) that I have achieved:
- Shirt Size- Went from a XXXL to L
- Dress Shirt Size- Went from a size 20 neck to a 16.5
- Pants Size- Went from a size 44 to a size 34
- I can now wrap up in normal size towel.
- I finished my 1st 5K race (without any walking) and actually placed 3rd in my age division!!
- I am part of a weekly running club and regularly run up to 6 miles now.
- I can lift 120 lbs (bench press) and do 100 lb squats without much effort.
- I regularly take spin cycle classes now at the local YMCA
- Back and knee pain is almost completely gone (except after cycle classes or club runs..
) - My BP is back down and I am off of my metformin
- All my vitamin levels are in the normal range
- Sleep apnea was downgraded from Moderate to Mild
- I was able to go downhill skiing with much more control and ski all day before getting tired.
- Learned to ice skate!
- Walked around NYC for 3 days and never had any pain or felt overly exhausted.
Thank you to everyone who has provided me with support!!
