Shew, what a busy day! I literally ran from one thing to the other. But it was such a good day — and it’s not even over yet.
This morning I had a complete body composition test at Porter Hospital. A full analysis of water weight, bone weight, lean body mass, and body fat. And like my doc discovered before, I’m pretty muscular. That made me happy. That will help tremendously with weight loss. It brings on other challenges — we’ll delve into those at a later time, but for now, it’s a really good thing. It was interesting to see the full report. My right arm weighs 8.9#s and my left, 8.7#. I don’t know why I find it fascinating, but I do. What that tells us is that I’m pretty proportional overall. My legs were similar in their closeness. Hopefully that means I really am proportionately heavy and will lose weight at the same level overall as well.
Next I raced home after chatting with Mel to get Kenzie. It was free pancake day at IHOP after all. And it was Ryenne’s birthday — her 17th. Can’t believe how fast the girls have grown up. They were 2 1/2 when they met all those years ago. So, that was nice. I had am omelet. I was famished.
From there we stopped at Walmart and then I took Kenzie home. I had the great fortune of meeting with a friend who had undergone gastric sleeve surgery about a year and a half ago. She looks great. I didn’t have a clue this is how she began her journey. I just knew she had worked hard with a trainer and ate differently. It was amazing to listen to her journey, both the good parts and the difficult parts. Things I hadn’t even thought about. Things like other people’s reaction to the changes along the way. She had an interesting perspective.
The other thing that kept hitting me is what a blessing it is to be doing this. Having surgery. The fact that at the end of my rope there is a tool left to use. But that that’s all it is. A tool. I am also thankful to have 90 days to prepare. It feels like it’ll take forever to get to surgery’s door some days, however, for the most part, I’m thankful. Thankful because of the hoops I have to jump through and the things I’m learning pre-surgery for post-surgery life. Little tips and tricks. It also gives me time to get my head around things. It’s not a small deal.
Speaking with my friend also helped alleviate some fears I have around letting go of food. I have turned for so many years towards food. In times of comfort, sadness, happiness, celebration. I literally cannot picture my life without the crutch of it. She assured me that with the stomach reduction my overall desire for eating will diminish. Especially the first six-months, which is when you really come to terms with “if not food, than what?” And that gives me some confidence. I have time. I don’t have to have it all figured out before, or even immediately after surgery. So, lunch was good. I also ate until I felt satisfied, which was about a 1/4 of a regular size Mad Greens salad. That is by no stretch a miracle. Satisfied, full, those are not words my body understands. I don’t ever look to them as cues for when to stop eating. EVER. I have overridden my body signals for YEARS. My entire life. I also don’t very ofteIn experience hunger. I graze all day when I’m home, especially. I have to learn these behaviors, and I’m glad I’m trying to start now.
Finally, I had PT. I got to meet with Heather, who is my favorite. Not just because she takes it easy on me, generally, but because I just love her personality. Today she pushed me a little harder, which was good. I’m ready for it. I’m also ready to return to nearly normal activity. My knee is still tender, but it’s getting better every day. I saw my knee surgeon yesterday and he feels in 6-weeks I should be back to as normal as I’ll get. Heather agreed about another week of PT and I should be good to go. I can continue rehabbing at home.
Tonight Frank and I are going to dinner with friends from church. It’ll be a nice night out. These are great people who I’ve grown to adore over time. I’m excited to experiment with making the outing about the social aspect rather than what I’m going to eat. So many new things in just one day.
Shrinking Shay 