Enjoying Summer as a WLS Patient

For the past 12 years, or so, I have been part of the planning (and graphic design) of a golf outing that happens in June every year. It's turned into a huge event that takes a lot of work. Because of the amount of work that I put into being a part of that planning committee, I typically lose out on the first part of my summer. June is shot and summer begins in July. At least the "relax at the beach or go on vacation" part of summer. 

So here it is the July 4th weekend and I'm finally feeling like summer has arrived for me. Lately I've been thinking about how my life is different after WLS compared to how it is now. 

I'm usually stuck being the camera, so having photos of me at the golf outing is not normal.
Here I am in 2006, a year before my surgery and in 2011, four years after my WLS. 

Before my weight loss, the golf outing was a major ordeal. A 14-16 hour day on my feet, in the hot sun, running around handling committee details where I was needed -- it took me days to recover and get my energy back. This year's outing was the same grueling routine but I was back to normal the day after the outing. Of course, the 60-70 hour workweeks leading up to the outing itself contributes to the overall exhaustion, so it's not just a one day thing. 

But it's officially my summer now and I'm in full blown SUMMER mode! I have a goal of being at the beach or in the water as much as possible. In fact, this weekend I'll be joining my family at the campground where apparently they are planning to go tubing down the river. I went kayaking last summer and I am itching to go again. My favorite beaches are calling me, as usual. And I'd like to take a couple long weekend mini-vacations to the west side of Michigan to enjoy the shoreline there. 

Since losing 100 pounds of excess weight, I'm more active, obviously. But I'm also more open minded about adventures and trying new things. I have more friends and enjoy doing things with them that I wouldn't have done 6 summers ago. But, of course, I didn't need to wait until I lost 100 pounds to do all this. I was moderately active and outgoing before my surgery... it's just that now I'm more apt to jump in the car and go do whatever I want without worrying about how much energy it would take to accomplish. 

So I'm off to enjoy a beautiful holiday weekend in the sun. What's your favorite thing to do since you had WLS? 

~Pam