9 Months Today

Today, August 13th, marks the 9-month mark since surgery. Time is flying! It seems only a few weeks ago that I was fighting the insurance company guidelines of that 12 month diet documentation. And it seems like it was only last week when I was coming home from the hospital barely able to sip 2oz of watered down cream soup for dinner. Sitting here realizing that my life has changed so much in the past nine months still boggles my mind.

What has changed for me in the past nine months?

• My weight, of course, has changed. Right now I’m looking at a 98-pound loss and don’t even recognize myself in the mirror when I happen to catch a glance.
• My health is excellent. No more high blood pressure, no more asthma, no more joint pain, no more back pain, no more stress incontinence, no more sleepless nights and amazingly, my allergies seem to be almost completely gone.
• My physical energy is amazing. In just 10 days I’ll be walking in the Crim – a 10-mile race that I’ve been training for since the first of April. Then just 6 weeks later I’ll be walking a half-marathon. In less than a year I’ve gone from morbid obesity to a half-marathon… I can’t wrap my head around that!
• My emotional and mental health and my attitude are completely different. Before surgery I felt beaten down and defeated. I could succeed in all other areas of my life but I couldn’t lose the weight and get healthy. But now I feel like I’m finally seeing success and the emotional weight is lifted from my shoulders. I’m sure it helps that I’m actually working hard to be focused and deal with the mental stuff that goes along with all this change, too.
• My eating has become habit. I sometimes can’t remember the way I ate before surgery. Granted I was dieting pretty hard for 24 months before surgery, so maybe things haven’t changed all that dramatically. But when I think back to the days when used to order a whole medium pizza and eat almost all of it by myself… I can’t comprehend I’d ever done that. The way I eat now feels so normal and real.
• My free time is spent taking care of myself now. Since I shut down my business this past spring I don’t feel the pressure of running a business, marketing, client work and all that goes with it. Now my free time is spent taking care of my own physical and mental health. It makes me feel free.

I’m happy. I didn’t even realize that I wasn’t happy nine months ago. But now that I really am … I’m glad I’m at this place in my life that allows me to live the life I’ve always wanted. There are still changes and improvements and goals I want to see in my life, but knowing I’m on the right track makes me glad I’ve worked so hard to get here. Where I am right now is exactly the right place for me at exactly the right time. ~Pam