“It’s not about perfect. It’s about effort, and when you
implement that effort into your life. Every single day, that’s where
transformation happens. That’s how change occurs. Keep going. Remember why you
started.”(Jillian Michaels)
In the post “Easy,” you learned
about the process of living a bariatric lifestyle. What I have not informed you
about is how a 57 year-old man deals mentally with losing over 100 pounds in
eight months. There are times my body wants to react to life as I did as a 320 pound.
A look in a mirror reminds me I am a “new creation” (2Corinthians 5:17) in the
path on my life transformation. I can’t eat as much as the heavier version of me
used to. My stomach won’t allow it. I remind myself regularly asked for both
the positive and negatives of this new lifestyle.
A good friend of mine (who had
this surgery) made an observation similar to this at a recent holiday dinner
(soon after she had bariatric surgery). I cried after the meal was over with. I
felt like I’d lost a close friend since I couldn’t eat as much as everyone
else. I have felt that way as I gave up many of my former habits like eating
and drinking together at a meal, getting rid of clothes I loved because they no
longer fit me, realizing my days of gorging on sweets is gone or seeing minor
amounts of loose flesh in my midsection and legs that would be a reminder of
who I used to be (and never wanted to become again).
When I was choosing a form of
exercise for my life transformation, I picked what I knew I could do for as
long as I lived. I knew I wouldn’t stay consistent to a gym, but walking was
something I could commit to. I do two miles a day (about an hour) five days a
week. I don’t do seven because that would be too much. I get 2 days to rest. I
have been doing this exercise regimen for over a year now. I do my walking in
the morning as soon as my wife goes to work in the morning. My walks go quickly
as I listen to audiobooks on my smartphone from my OverDrive app.
I have become accustomed to
eating my food in smaller meals throughout the day. Regular grazing has often become
my new habit. I am much more observant of when I am unable to eat more food.
Bariatric vomiting is not fun. It happens when one eats too much, eats too
fast, or your stomach doesn’t like what you’re eating. Instead vomiting
normally (which would be a relief), stringy mucus comes out. With me this goes
on for hours, and is not pleasant. When I am eating, I have to make sure I
eating the healthy high protein foods first before I eat anything else. My
stomach fills up quickly. Since I don’t get enough protein and other nutrients
with bariatric, I supplement with protein powder and oral vitamins. The bariatric lifestyle is a balancing act I
expect I will be working on until I breathe my last breath of air.
Any life transformation you may
undertake, it’s important to remember proverbs 27:17 (TPT): It takes a grinding wheel to sharpen a
blade, and so one person sharpens the character of another. If
you try to do this journey alone, you will be
unsuccessful. A community of people is needed to encourage you on this new path
(that you wish to take). Who are you encouraging, or who needs to encourage
you? Either way prayer to your heavenly Father can make it all work out the way
it needs to.[i]
[i] Friends and blog members Eric Rose and Marisa Sbrana
provided the ideas for this post. Thank you to you both.
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