As you read this for the first time I will be 12 years and 2 months post-op from my Lap Band surgery. Oh, and did I mention 270 pounds lighter? I thought about the progression of everything it took to get me to where I am today, a fit, healthy, 67 year young woman enjoying life. It all started with that trip to the seminar about weight loss surgery, then the appointment with the bariatric surgeon, then all the tests and then surgery day. I thought that was hard work, little did I know what I was in store for.
Home from the hospital after surgery and planning my ounce of liquid and my walk around the house (inside) and then- Progressing from my liquids to soft foods and trying to be creative and wishing my progression to solid foods would hurry up
- Taking that first bite of solids (well- semi solid it was a scrambled egg) and chewing it until it was liquid in my mouth
- Now the REALLY hard work began- Planning 3 meals a day, 7 days a week that were protein first, tiny portions, and met all my needs nutritionally. Wait - an egg bake(frittata) in the morning, a 3 oz can of tuna, 5 soda crackers, and 1 tablespoon of mayo worked for lunch, so whew I had 14 of my 21 meals done. Now it was protein for dinner - chicken, chicken, fish, chicken, ooh crab works too, and a dab of very soft veggies. This worked for months, and months, and months. Tried ground chicken, nope; ground turkey, nope; ground beef; nope. No ground meat was going down.
At this point I was about 18 months into my journey and over 150 pounds lighter and really wanted to begin making some tasty dinners and so the experiments began, the food was good, some bordering on great and the weight was still coming off. Breakfasts and lunches and protein snacks were still all planned with dinners having a little variety. I was still Uber-careful and counting every morsel that went into my mouth. Oh wait, I still do!
Fast forward to 2009 when I started my web site and blog site and released my book. I was 5 years post op 232 pounds lighter, having the time of my life and having fun taking traditional recipes and remaking them to fit my weight loss surgery lifestyle. I was swimming 6-7 days a week and developing muscles for the first time in years. Life was great, right? Guess what? I was still tracking all my food, planning all my meals and success was right there at my fingertips. I began sharing some of my favorite recipes.- Now fast forward through that continued meal planning that continued regular exercise and the tracking of my food and come to 2012. Wendy Campbell and I joined forces, took a lot of classes, were super educated by all of the folks at BSCI becoming bariatric coaches, licensed educators and certified support group leaders, as well as remaining successful weight loss surgery patients. Kicking it up a notch on January 1, 2013 I was now sharing the wealth of knowledge at my fingertips with some amazing folks from all over the world via The Original WLS Success Matters Weekly Weigh-In Group™ - a secret Facebook group where folks weighed themselves once a week, shared it on line (for only the group to see), learned and practiced the Success Habits, shared with each other, knew they were not alone and could ask any question in this safe space and actually receive an answer. Folks were able to track their progress visually with our personalized charts and reset weekly after reviewing what they did well and celebrating that, and what they could do better and creating an action plan to make that so. All who were successful with us planned their meals, planned their exercise, planned their personal time - they PLANNED their success and then acted on those plans. In 2014 I had my Lap Band replaced with another Lap Band and through more planning brought my total weight loss to 272 pounds.
Here we are in 2016 still advocating meal planning, exercise planning, having a daily action plan for life with a plan B just in case and facilitating weight loss surgery patients just like you and I through their challenges, as they discover that THEY are the most powerful force on their personal journeys to health.
We do all of this for you, for less than $1.25 per day! - Starbucks would turn you away if you walked in and tried to get your cup of whatever for that $1.25. Why not plan to drink some water instead and join us for our group that begins Tuesday, August 2nd and continues through Halloween.
Here’s the link for more information on our group The Original WLS Success Matters Weekly Weigh-In Group™
If you choose to do it on your own I wish you success and be sure to take the time to PLAN IT!
You deserve to be healthy.