I AM - BECAUSE YOU ARE

Now, more than ever, I see what a blessing in disguise it was for me when Covid shut the world down just weeks after my weight loss surgery. I am grateful that I had the time to sort myself out, both mentally and physically, and properly prepare myself for re-entry into this new world; not the one that everyone else is living in, by MY new normal. As things are starting to open again, and go back to some level of familiarity, I realize that it is going to be a bit like putting a square peg in a round hole for me. Story of my life, on so many levels these days! Take a spontaneous meal out at a restaurant for example; something we did a few times a month pre-Covid without hesitation. Now, twice in the last month alone I have been caught completely off guard with restaurant and food choices in such a way that I don’t even care that they are all opening again! The first time was on soccer night. I have been preparing a picnic dinner to eat on the field before the LO plays but decided to gr...

Never in my adult life did I ever experience "fat shaming", at least not to my face. But the "skinny-shaming" is out of control!  While I spent years eating my emotions, nobody sat there asking "Are you going to keep gaining?", "How much more are you going to gain?", "Shouldn't you eat less?", "Don't you want to look good?" over and over again. But now that I've lost so much its like a constant barrage of "Are you done losing yet?", "How much more are you trying to lose?", "Shouldn't you eat more?", "Aren't you happy with the way you look now?" over and over again! I'm not saying I should have been fat-shamed, but maybe people should have been more concerned when I was unhealthy than they are now that I'm on the right track! And I get that when someone sees me for the first time in a year (especially those that don't know I had surgery) there is bound to b...

For everyone else, today is Valentine’s Day (which was never my cup of tea), but for me it will forever be known as VSG Day (vertical sleeve gastrectomy). And, today is my one-year anniversary! A year ago, I made a goal weight for myself of 165lbs. This is what I weighed 20yrs prior and the last time I remembered feeling remotely comfortable in my own skin. At the time, it didn’t seem at all feasible, but within the last 4 weeks I have met that goal! Now that I am here, I admit that I would like to lose another 10-15lbs, but I am not going to kill myself to get there. And, ironically, while I have hit my goal weight and feel healthier than I have in years, it is the physical skin that is now bothering me more than anything. I truly believe that being home for the last year has made reaching my goals possible. Don’t get me wrong, I am getting really fed up of this working remotely bullshit and there are a few people I would love to see on a more regular basis again, but it has been mos...

At my heaviest, I wore a size 1X/2X max. I had a couple of stores I relied on, and while my options were limited, I was never lacking. But I kept telling myself that I couldn’t wait for the day I could walk into any Winners/Marshall's type store and try on anything I wanted and have it fit – no name brand to big name labels and everything in between. Flash forward to recent weeks, needing to find yet another winter jacket because I can’t handle the cold anymore, and I was nothing but disappointed. I’ve lost just over 70lbs, I wear a size 10-12 pants now, M-L tops and even my feet lost a whole shoe size! But I go and try on some “good” brands and they won’t fit me until I am looking at a size 3X!? Come on! If a size 10 is “perfect” to the rest of us, what the hell size is ideal for these companies? I mean, no wonder their models look anorexic! I found one jacket I fell in love with, almost enough to pay the bloated sticker price too… but just looking at that 3S tag made me sick. The...

Oh, happy day! It has been 6 months since I had my sleeve surgery, and I am happy to report that I am over the moon with my progress! Yesterday I spoke with my dietician and she told me that I was on track and she was happy with my daily intakes of protein, carbs, and such. She said that they expect sleeve patients to lose 60% of their excess body weight by one-year post- surgery, and at only 6 months out I have already lost 52%! She said that she cannot predict the future, but she feels very strongly that I will surpass the 60% in the next 6 months. Fingers crossed! Today I spoke with my endocrinologist, and my only disappointment was that she couldn’t see me in person so that I could give her a big hug! Stupid Covid! This doctor had managed my diabetes while I was pregnant and has followed me through to today. She is also the one who strongly encouraged me to consider the sleeve and she wrote my referral close to 3yrs ago now. Today, she was happy to inform me that my A1C level...