My Weight Loss Journey…

September, 2018 my doctor told me if I didn’t lose weight, I was going to die, and the hernia that they were going to repair was going to likely have to be re-repaired.

Ugh. And Double Ugh. I had kept my head buried in the sand for a while, and the scale went up and up. It was reading 427 pounds. Serious UGH. Nothing I did would budge that stupid scale down.

Until my head changed. I realized that it had to move. And it had to change. So, I scheduled an appointment with a bariatric surgeon who came highly recommended for his low complication rates.

I started my 6 months of tests that would ultimately lead to bariatric surgery, and started working out with a personal trainer twice a week.

When I started working out, I could barely walk to the end of my cul-de-sac without wanting to die, and honestly, getting onto the exercise bike required almost an act of God. (And probably 5 minutes of contortions to make it happen)

Fortunately, I have the most amazing personal trainer, who has stuck with me through thick and thin. Reminding me to drink my water, and get my protein, and get some movement in every day. Coach Chris has been SO supportive. I dropped 50 pounds before I had bariatric surgery, and gained strength and flexibility, and stamina. Amazing.

I had the BPD-DS bariatric surgery procedure 4–18–19. I’m not going to lie. It was hard. I had to have a liquid diet for a full week before surgery, including protein shakes, clear fluids, and not much else. Because of insurance, and dealing with insurance approvals, I actually ended up on the liquid diet for 10 days pre-surgery. I almost gave up, then insurance pre-approval came through.

Going to 450 calories per day and staying there for a while is pretty rough. those 10 days before surgery, I was crabby, and I was cranky. To say I was irritable would be to put it mildly. I was an absolute crab-bucket.

Surgery was pretty easy, especially compared to having hernia surgery 6 months before. What I didn’t expect was that the recovery would be both easy, and very hard.

The surgery part was easy. I was able to get my fluids in. See — when you have bariatric surgery, you start by having to sip tiny amounts of fluids at a time. It’s the biggest…