What Can you do now that you couldn't?

Ok, here's a discussion topic. What things can you do now after your surgery and are at or not too far from your goal that you couldn't do before wls?

I was reminded of this when I did about 4 hours of pretty good gardening yesterday. Also was up and down a ladder a bunch of times fixing a leak in the roof gutters and cleaning crud out and such.. And put up some pictures, unpacked boxes, did laundry, straightened the house and such. While I was pretty tired I was not in killer pain as my old fat self would have been from about 20% of this activity. And today I have to haul a bunch of boxes to change out my art show and I am not even concerned about it. Will be hauling lots of green waste to the recycle in a day or so for all the junk I tore out of the garden yesterday. And tomorrow I will do shopping for groceries and a new dishwasher and other stuff that means lots of store visits. Used to be about one store a day was all I could manage. Not to mention riding the horse, and other stuff I want to do like ski again.

So what are the best things you guys can do that you couldn't before wls?

Diane

 
Yah mean like:

- Tying my shoes without cutting off blood flow to my brain and air to my lungs.
- Wiping my ass.
- Buying clothes at normal stores.
- Being able to see my "Unit" in it's full glory instead of just the top of his head when he was standing up.
- Getting in and out of the bathtub in one fluid motion instead of the 9 step process.
- Fit in airline seat with asking for an extender and the tray table doesn't land on my gut.
- Wear a tucked in white tee shirt without looking like the Michelin Man.
- They say I don't snore anymore.
- I prefer the cozy padded seat restaurant booth now.
- Jump on a trampoline with my niece.
- Squat into the catchers position to catch my nephew pitching.
- Wear a new designer suit to my god daughters wedding in Sept.

Those are a few....I may add a few more as I think of them.....so many !!!

frisco

Good topic Diane! Here's my list:
1. breathe and walk at the same time
2. bend over and touch my toes, heck I can even put my palms flat on the floor
3. walk, just plain walk!
4. climb a hill or a flight or stairs and not be so winded I have to rest
5. my first NSV, fit in my car and actually wear the seatbelt correctly
6. dance! for the first time in 12 years without having the excuse, bad knees
7. Fit in any chair, arms or not.
8. Do not need the handicap parking spot
9. clean my own house
10. Do more than 1 load of laundry a day (I have to take mine to the shared laundry on the property)
11. There will be more as I get closer to goal!!!

Check out my progress(photos) on my profile!

Good one!  It has been a while since I've reminded myself of the changes.

-Walk and breathe normally.
-Put on my socks and shoes without blowing my eyeballs out of their sockets from the pressure of leaning over.
-Get out of a chair without a lot of grunts and groans and exploding eyeballs (see above).
-Pull up to my desk without my head and arms still being several feet away when I've gotten as far in as I can get.
-Get in and out of my car without the above grunts and groans.
-Sit at the organ (I'm a church organist) with a normal posture, not be raised up several inches by the blubber on my backside so that I can reach the pedals easily, and move my feet and legs to pedal without feeling like I'm moving tree trunks.  Also not be totally out of breath after playing a demanding piece of music.
-Direct my handbell choir without slapping myself silly with my batwings.  (Had to have the brachioplasty to finish that one!)
-Sit in a booth in a restaurant.
-And, as Frisco said, wipe my butt!  That's a biggie

I'm sure there are others, but those are the ones that come to mind immediately....
--Dorothy

Fit in an airplane seat with plenty of room to wiggle! That was a biggie for me!!!

* yard work (never did it before)
* Rode rides at Disney World (would never have attempted before for fear of not being able to fit)
* Going for long walks and actually enjoying it - without pain
* Cleaning and cooking without pain
* Entering a room and not being the fattest person there
* Shopping for normal sized clothes
* Not being as camera shy as I used to be
* Holding my grandchildren on my new-found lap to read to them
* Going anywhere and everywhere without fear of pain and exhaustion
* Climbing stairs without "pulling" myself up each step using the railing
* Getting under my work desk to my computer tower when it is acting up - always had someone
  else do it for me before
* Wearing flip flops and without pain
* Going in and out of our 5th wheel several times a day and not being in pain
* Doing things myself rather than asking my DH or someone else to do it for me.
* Going to the fitness center and feeling like I belong
* Entering a room knowing I can sit in any chair in the room without fear of not fitting - or worse, breaking it.
* Clipping my toenails without effort
* Giving myself a pedicure without effort
* Having people speak to me as if I am imporant and as if my opinion counts (no longer have the pre-conceived notion that I'm dumb because I was fat)
* Having people recognize that I am not lazy....I just couldn't do some things before WLS.

Ah, that was fun.  We need to remind oursleves of these things any time we feel ourselves "slipping" with food choices

 

Let's see...

I went on a ride two years ago that had a weight limit of 210 pounds.

I did an Ironman. And a Century Ride. Do those count?

Mostly, for me, it's not that I'm doing a ton of things that I didn't do before. It's that the effort of daily living is just so much less. I could tie my shoes before, but it was an effort. I could load up the car with 8 folding tables, 10 bins of equipment and an entire compute server on wheels before. But it was an effort.

Life was enough of an effort that I get about 5x as much stuff done these days and have a lot more fun doing it.

 
Sorry Mac.......

Ironmans and Century Rides don't count.........

I did those pre-op........ In a car, boat and motorcycle......easy.......

frisco

Um, you can't do an Ironman in a vehicle. By definition it's swimming, non-motor biking and running.

Ditto to all others.  I can walk proudly and smile easily.  I can turn an old head or two.  Oddly, I can no longer swim like a fish, I can barely tread water now.  No fat floaties!