My technical difficulties over the past few months have kept me from blogging as much as I'd like! Now that I finally replaced my old computer, I'm still having problems with my camera. Basically, no computer I have tried will recognize the type of device that it is, so I can't download my photos unless I put my memory chip in someone else's camera. Soooo... yesterday, I finally Googled how to fix this and found out that I could buy a memory card reader for $8. Problem solved! Hopefully it will get here soon so that I can actually use my own photos for new posts!
This past weekend was a blast. Steve and I both took off work on Friday, so we had a four-day weekend. We drove up to his parents' place in the Adirondacks with a group of eight friends (so we were 10 in all) and had a fantastic time!
On Saturday, I went up to Lake Placid with Marjorie, Steve's cousin and his two sons for the first time and checked out the town and the Olympic ski jump. Steve took another group cross country skiing, and we all met up afterwards for a drink and dinner. I was very happy with how dinner worked out. I had made two lasagne -- one mushroom (with shitake, Chantarelles, Baby Bellos and other mushrooms) and one more traditional one (tomato sauce, ground beef, eggplant and zucchini) and froze them to take on the trip. They heated up perfectly and were a big hit!
Sunday, we all went for a 6 or 7 mile hike up a road to a big lake that was frozen over. It was absolutely beautiful, and well worth braving the cold to see. BTW, after being uncomfortably cold last February when we went hiking, I used hand warmers and foot warmers this time -- they were total game changers!! I will not be doing a winter hike without them again! All in all, it was a great weekend, and I was glad for the chance to spend more time with Steve and our friends.
You want to know something kind of weird? I've kind of forgotten that I was ever fat. How strange is that? "Forgotten" is surely not the right word, but it's something like that. I mean, clearly, I remember what it was like and I recognize that I used to have 80 more pounds on me and that this was part of my experience. But I don't think about myself in relation to that weight, and it's hard for me to imagine that I was really as big as I was. I'm also still puzzled about why I let it get as bad as I did, now that I know how good it feels to be fit and much more healthy. A question for the other long-time bandsters out there -- do you feel like this too?
8 comments:
I had the band in October 2009 and I lost 120 pounds - 40 before my surgery and 80 in 8 months following the surgery. I've actually had complications with my band, had a revision surgery in October 2010 and have only had restriction for a few months following the second surgery so I maintain my weight loss through diet and exercise.
When I see my before photos it doesn't seem real. My life is completely different now, working out and doing physical activity is just part of the norm. I no longer have cable television and I'm always on the go. I eat for health and just to alleviate the feeling of hunger, not so much for taste and enjoyment. My food addiction is gone.
Like you I don't know how I let myself get to that point. I can only imagine how awful I felt with all that extra weight and no wonder I was tired all the time.
My boyfriend and I have been together for a year and 8 months and when I let him see my before photos he thought it was like a cartoon - not real and not me.
I love my new life, it was a complete transformation in so many unexpected ways. Even with the complications I've had - I have no regrets. I'd do it again even with that knowledge.
It is so good to hear you had a wonderful time. I miss your posts so much!
I look forward to your pictures and am so happy that you have found your "normal" so to speak. You certainly are a band superstar.
Ok, Catherine...here are my thoughts and I'm not saything this with anything but love and respect for you...no snarkiness here, just my thoughts.
When it comes to being fat, weight loss and "forgetting", I think that for someone like yourself who did not spend a lifetime being overweight, it may be easier to move past those memories or feelings than someone like myself who was always overweight.
Being the fat, funny one what what defined me. I was the fat girl surrounded by pretty girls and I spent a lifetime being fat, as opposed to just a few years. My parents ridiculed me, classmates made fun of me and I hated myself for who I was. That isn't something one can easily forget.
I may have lost the weight, but I can never forget.
It's funny, some days I walk around like I'm this skinny thing and always have been. Other days I feel totally self-conscious and like I'm right back at 225. The longer I'm in this skin, the more days like the former I have. But yes, I totally get the "forgetfulness" of it all. And I love it! :)
In response to Kristin -
I was always overweight, it wasn't just for a few years or a short stint in fatness. But, it still feels foreign and like it never happened.
That would be awesome! I have the opposite issue: I forget that I'm NOT fat. I look at clothes or chairs or amusement rides and think "I can't fit there".
@Stephanie -- no snarkiness felt at all!
What I think I find most surprising is that -- even though I was only obese for around 6 years -- I felt fat my entire life. That largely stemmed from my parents constantly being on me about my weight from an early age through to the point when I really got heavy.
Until I got banded, I felt fat every day that I can remember .. except maybe for a few days after finishing some insane diet and gaining all the weight back. But now, I don't feel like that at all. That's the weird (and wonderful) part -- I did not expect to ever be free of that feeling.
I'm starting to forget too.
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