Day 181: Monday weigh in: Mini-goal achieved!

So it's Monday morning and time for my weigh-in. I woke up, said my mantra and prayers and stepped on the scale for...

Body weight of 260 pounds. That's a 4 pound loss for the week, 133 pounds lost since surgery, and 160 pounds lost overall. That's also a mini-goal for me because that is the weight I was when I got out of the Army back in 1993. I'm convinced now that my mental and emotional condition are directly tied into my weight loss. When I'm feeling good on all three conditions of physical, mental, and emotional, I consistently lose weight. If any one of those conditions is compromised, I lose less.

Still, 160 pounds lost is such a massive change for anybody to deal with, the emotions are going to be flying. My average weight loss over the last 26 weeks has been just over 5 pounds per week. I have to say, the surgery has not only changed my life, it probably saved my life. If I continued the way I was going, I would probably have died a lot earlier due to obesity related health problems.

If you are on the fence about the surgery, I highly recommend getting off the fence and getting it done. I don't advocate this surgery for anyone that isn't morbidly obese. If you just need to shed some weight, change your exercise and eating habits. But if you are morbidly obese like I was and nothing else seems to be working, talk to your doctor and start your journey. I was speaking to a neighbor not too long ago and she was saying she wanted to get the surgery. I looked at her and immediately asked why? She's 23 years old and weighs 135 pounds and is about 5'5". She's curvy, but hardly overweight. I explained to her that medically, she doesn't need the surgery and she's not heavy enough to qualify on any level. I have no problem with people with weight issues getting this surgery, but I also don't think that it should be considered unless you have a major weight issue (100+ pounds overweight) with corresponding health issues. In her case, I recommended that she change her eating and exercise habits if she's concerned about it, but she really doesn't need to. She's curvy and women are supposed to have some curves. I think she looks fantastic, but in her self image she thinks she's too heavy and that's a very hard issue to overcome.

Ciao!