Even with little sleep, I have seriously never felt better. When I had lapband surgery back in March of 2014, I knew it wasn't going to be a "fix" for my obesity. They say it in every meeting you go to and you read it in every piece of information they give you, but you don't realize how challenging it will be until you have had your surgery and you still want to do the same things you have always done.
I've said in the past that my weightloss has been slow, and it has. I got on the work out train quickly after surgery, and have consistently been working out hard for nine months now. I strongly believe that working out and eating about 60% of the amount that I used to eat are what caused me to lose between 32-38 pounds in those nine months. But I stalled... and stalled.... and stalled even more. I would lose two pounds and then nothing for months, two pounds and then nothing. Heck, then I GAINED six pounds over the holidays-- I let myself go a bit, but I knew that would come to an end very soon.
It was obvious to me that just like I told myself I understood at the beginning-- the lapband is not going to fix my obesity. I HAVE TO.
You see, lap band can help me suppress my appetite, but it can't keep me from buying a candy bar in the check out line of the grocery store. And it won't tell me no when I decide to go through Dairy Queen for dinner after I just worked out. That's all me. I have to be the one to fix what is broken.
Exercise has been a life-saver. It is my one true passion in my life at the moment. I literally live for it and love it. Every single day. But exercise alone isn't gonna get me where I want to be.
It all finally clicked about six days ago. I, and anyone else out there, can eat healthier if they really want to. We can do anything we want as soon as we let go of every single excuse we have allowed to hold us back. Nothing can stand in our way unless we let it. Man, do I know that to be so so true now.
Like I said, I gained 6 pounds over the holidays and on January 5th weighed in at 219. My lowest at that point had been 213 where I lingered from October through December. Since then I have been eating paleo and paleoish.
On three to four days of the week, I eat completely paleo. This lacks seasoning and isn't super tasty, but is still doable if you plan ahead. Examples of meals are ahi tuna filet(my go to), chopped steak, chicken, tilapia, salmon, vegetables except for potatoes, corn and beans. On paleoish days, I eat food cooked from paleo recipes that I borrowed from my aunt. I typically prep food for three days ahead so that I don't have to worry about cooking every day. So no dairy, no sugar, no breads, soft drinks, juice-- only water, all natural produce, meats, etc.
The past few days I have been consistently weighing in at 208 so that's 11 pounds difference in 18 days. (43 in all!) That's pretty incredible considering how stalled I've been since my surgery in March. It also means that I am now considered Obese! I say that enthusiastically because back in March I was Morbidly Obese according to the Body Mass Index scale and then I was Moderately Obese, and now I'm just Obese. Next stop-- Overweight... as long as I stick with this new way of life.
But here's the kicker.... it's not even hard to do. I'm completely fine with eating paleo. When I've been out to eat in the past two weeks-- though it's only been twice-- there is always something on the menu I can have, even if I have to substitute veggies for potatoes. All you need is a plan to follow and you are set... JUST DO IT!
Here's an example.... I put the picture below together tonight. The left picture is of me back in 2009ish and the right is of me a few minutes ago as I was getting ready for bed. I actually probably weigh the same in these pics or even less back in 2009, but man do I look SO much healthier in the picture on the right. That just shows what living healthy will do for you, even if the scale doesn't always show it.
This is seriously the most important of any lesson that I have learned-- YOU are the only thing stopping you from getting what you want. I've never been more sure of anything in my life.
Don't believe me? Just watch-- I'm about to show you...
