To expand on my Introduction post - The Long Short Welcome - I'm about to give you the time-lapse version of the last 5 years. So we can get all that Nice to Know about You stuff out of the way fast.
November 2015 - Gastric Bypass. Went absolutely swimmingly. I followed the PreOp diet I was given to the letter. To the fucking letter. More on PreOp diets later team - this is a hot subject of mine currently.
I thought I knew what to expect. I had researched my decision for about 4 years before I put my big girls' panties on and talked to my GP about a referral.
Year One was easy. I could have done next to nothing and I still would have lost the majority of my excess weight. When your calories drop down to 400-500 per day, and you still have a rather abundant body, you will lose weight.
It's the other thing I did in Year One that I think has set me up for the life I have now (five years later) that's one of my key takeaways for you.
Made the WLS Success Habits part of my every day. You want to know what these are ... keep reading my friend.
I was allowed fruit at four months, and a very small portion of carbohydrates.
Year Two wasn't really all that hard either. Not in terms of running my new body. In terms of other people and their opinions and my concern with their opinions, that's a whole other story. Or post. Or posts.
I tried alcohol. I had a small piece of two of pastry and cake and sweet desserts.
Year Three was a great year. I dumped the concern that I had for what other people thought, I absolutely embraced lifting weights and exercising as a big part of my life. My want, my original want was actually a reality ...
For the rest of this life, I don’t have a goal weight or size – I just want to be healthy, to be able to throw my body around and do all the things that make me happy.
I learned about slider foods, that if I wanted to have something carby, sweet, delicious, that I could. In small amounts.
Year Four was a lot of work. I was still exercising regularly. I was still being somewhat mindful of what I ate. The amount of attention I paid to how much I ate wasn't as great as it had been. I had skin removal surgery - a medial thigh lift - and liposuction on my legs.
I obtained my Precision Nutrition Level One coaching certification.
Year Five was actually enjoyable. I healed, I exercised, I ate nutritious food, I grew some muscles ... and I coached some people to do the same.
Even these paragraphs are a highlight reel. Reading it back, it sounds like a walk in the park, however, I can assure you that it wasn't. The surgeons only operate on your stomach - they don't go anywhere near the shit that goes on in your head and if I've learned anything, it's that the head is the hardest habit to conquer. And one of the most long-running habits that a lot of us have created, is the shit-talking and the abuse we give ourselves where no one else can hear.
We can have all the surgeries we want.
We can buy all the things.
We can eat all the kale.
We can do all the burpees.
We can have all the friends.
But if we don't pay our mental health and our self-love as much, if not more attention, then self-care will remain restricted to a bubble bath and a glass of wine and we will never be the healthiest versions of ourselves ... the one who sleeps well and wakes up with a little purpose, who values content and who enables their body to do the things they want comfortably.
In Year Six, I give up alcohol. I decide to train for a World Record. I coach for WLS NZ and I try and educate other bariatric patients that this lifestyle isn't done when you reach your 'goal weight' in your first or second year.