WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR JANUARY 2017

Here's another, enjoy!!!

OK. Trying once again to post my bio. This time I have it saved in another window so if it goes away I won't lose it all.

In November of 2011 I hit my highest weight of 350 lbs. I joined Weight Watchers for the 7th or 8th time. Weight Watchers worked the best for mewhich is why I kept going back. It gave me a structure I found easy to follow. Problem was that I would eventually fall off the WW wagon and regain all that I had lost plus a few added pounds.

In addition to joining WW I started working with a therapist to work on my emotional eating issues. I also hired a Personal Trainer to keep me motivated to work out. Over 6 months I lost 20 lbs. Then I slowly regained 10 of those lbs. even though I was doing the same things I had been doing when I lost the weight. 16 months later I was holding steady at 10 lbs. lost so I decided it was time to see a doctor who specialized in weight loss.

March 2013 I started seeing a weight loss doctor. He ran a number of tests to make sure I didn’t have any underlying problems that were causing my weight issues. No reasons for weight gains, but my blood sugar had risen to the point where I was diabetic and I was put on metformin to control my blood sugar. My BP was no longer under control with medication and I was put on a second BP med. Add to that the fact that my knees were getting worse and I had problems walking from the parking lot into work every day and I was a pretty miserable person. Meanwhile, I had lost 20 lbs. in the first 3 months of working with the weight loss doctor and was slowly starting to gain it back. He suggested that since his methods weren’t working after 6 months that it was time to consider bariatric surgery. I informed him quite emphatically that the reason I was working with him was because I didn’t want to have surgery. He told me that there are some people for whom the only answer is surgery and that he thought I was probably one of them. He asked me to at least attend an information session to learn what surgery entailed. I agreed to do that much.

So I investigated surgery options and decided to have Roux-en-Y aka gastric bypass.

The greatest thing about losing this excess weight is the benefits to my health. Within 3 days of the surgery my blood sugar became normal and has not gone up since then so no more blood sugar meds. After 3 months I stopped one of my BP meds and got off the second one 6 months after surgery. While my knees are still stiff if I sit for too long, they don’t hurt like they once used to and I can walk up and down stairs. I no longer worry if the parking spaces closest to the building are all taken and have even been known to park in the farthest spot so I have a longer walk on nice days. Yes I must take supplements now – a multivitamin and calcium daily, and B12 once a week. However I took supplements pre-surgery, and what I take now is far less than I used to take so I consider that a win as well.

In Feb of 2016 I had my 2 year check up with my surgeon. I weighed 200lbs. I was sad that according to my BMI I was obese. My doctor told me that BMI is not always the best measurement for all people. He quite specifically did not want me to get down to what would be normal for me. He was concerned that it would be too low and would be unhealthy as well as too difficult to maintain. He suggested that it might be time to look at surgery to remove my excess skin since I was concerned about specific places where I wanted to lose a bit more weight.

May 2016 I had an abdominplasty and liposuction on my thighs together with thigh tightening. While I was back at work in 2 weeks as opposed to 4 weeks after my bypass surgery, the recovery has been much slower than from the bypass surgery. The wounds themselves are fully healed. I still am not back to lifting the weight I was able to lift prior to the surgery. However, 2 weeks ago I finally moved back up to 15 lb on my bicep curls and I now can do squats where I was not able to do them pre-surgery so I'm pretty pleased with my progress.

The surgery in May removed 20 lbs of skin/fat. Afterwards I lost another 5 lbs. so I am now quite literally half the woman I used to be. I love being able to say that.

So there you have my weight loss story. You might wonder why I am here if I have managed to reach my weight loss goal. Well, I did not give you my full weight gain story of how I got to be 350 lbs. in the first place. Suffice it to say that particular journey is riddled with many weight loss attempts followed by gaining everything lost plus some. To successfully keep the weight off I need to continue to track my food and exercise. I cannot say "Ta Da! I'm done." and go back to my old eating habits. Having a support group to report my successes and failures and to help keep me motivated to keep going is very important to me. People in this group have become friends that I count on to cheer me on and to give me a reality check when I need it. I can only hope that I give back as much as I receive from here.

What a new liver can do for someone. Isn't the transformation incredible?? My guy
Becca

Hi Lenora - I know you mean well and I am glad that you have such a strong, supportive faith, but I am an atheist. Having said that, I do have my own strong convictions, which are based on a Humanist, scientific and Stoic tradition. I also find a lot in the Buddhist traditions without the metaphysics. I have done a lot of reading in all these areas and I find my mind calm and happy regarding my convictions. They serve me very well and also, I believe, my close circle and the wider world. I have a strong appreciation of morality and love. Science is a never ceasing wonder to me. I am curious about everything and fascinated by the history of religion, about which I have read a great deal. Knowledge is power.
I hope I will have the strength to be with my friend in whatever way she wants me to be. I think she does have some kind of a belief in a God, though I'm not sure what form that takes. We all, I think, fear the ending of our lives, even those with a strong faith and the hope of heaven, which has always puzzled me. I have recently been studying our different approaches and attitudes to death and it is giving me more resilience.
My friend has two sons, both married, and one grandson. She has recently published her autobiography, which is excellent. On Amazon. "Loose Connections" by Maleika Rose Stanley. Her life story is fascinating.
I am sad that she will soon be gone from my life, maybe this year. It will leave a huge hole for me. Those of you who have been on this thread for a while will know that my female friends are of major importance in my life. She has been one of those few to whom I can tell everything and share both victories and defeats, celebrations and shame. I will miss her hugely.

Love to all of you, whatever your faith, whatever your way of life, whatever .......... We all share in this "being human" business.



Heather UK xxxxxxx

Chris, Becca, such loving pictures of your loved ones!

Heather, my heart goes out to you as you deal with your friend's illness.

While I've seldom, if ever, feared my own death, losing those I love is an ongoing fear. And, since I've been in a philosophical mode already this week, I'll lay this one on y'all. I've been using it as a guided process ever since I found out about the whole thyroid thing, and it's helping. Please do not pound on my pointy little head about the religious overtones; the book it comes from is science fiction, and it is not from a religion, or at least not from an existing one.

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.” Frank Herbert - Dune.

I'm neither suggesting it for anyone, nor proposing it as a remedy. But what I've allowed it to do is help me sit down for ten minutes, repeat it either aloud or silently, and get up with my mind at peace. Getting my mind out of the "what if" hamster wheel has been enormously helpful.

Off to work out as soon as my MP3 player is fully charged...

Love y'all,
Lisa in West Texas - back up to 78 degrees today and 70s all week long.