Ok, this is my last blog entry of 2012! As such I think it merits positive reflection.

Last year, I brought in the 2012 New Year weighing 221 lbs. I was wearing size 18/20 clothes. I was fat, the vein in my right thigh was throbbing and numbing up, and I felt sluggish, all around awful and was steadily heading to Diabetes in a pre-diabetic state. My health was bad, my spirits were low, I looked blah.

This year, I am grateful for the changes that have occurred in my life since my plication at the OCC on July 20th. I began my pre-op diet at 221 lbs. I lost the 5% of my body weight necessary to do the procedure (a whole 15 lbs!) and entered the surgery room at 206 lbs. In the last 5 months and 8 days post-procedure, I have lost 44 pounds! Add to that the 15 lbs I lost pre-surgery, and I have lost a total of 59 lbs to date! I now wear size 9/10 jeans, HALF the size I was at 6 months ago! I have gone down 6 sizes of clothes and I feel great! I feel thin and feel very happy. I just went in for my physical check up and blood work last week and the Dr. was raving about my results! I am hundreds of miles away from pre-diabetes! My good cholesterol is UP! More than most adults, yessssss, and my bad cholesterol is way down. WOW! Everything was wonderful. I am in tip top shape! It just feels like such a blessing to bring in 2013 in this new healthy way. I feel proud of everything that I have accomplished and could NOT have done this without the plication as the most fantastic weight loss tool ever!

I still get fantastic restriction. And if I ever feel that my restriction wasn't as tight at a meal, then I make sure the next meals to eat much lighter and that fantastic restriction returns. For me, I have finally learned that if you stretch something regularly, well, the natural response is stretching. But if you keep it in its current shape it stays that way. There are so many many lessons I have learned throughout this journey. I feel great when I look in the mirror and every single time I put on my skinny clothes! I never take that for granted anymore. This is the last time in my life I will have had to go through this weight loss journey so I give it the highest precedent in my life and honor it daily by eating smart.

This week I have lost 1.4 lbs!! Yea! I am just 13 lbs away from my goal weight of 149 as set by the OCC! Under 20 lbs away from goal! And while I enter the new year weighing 162, Three pounds off from the 5's I was hoping for, it doesn't even matter really, because I know in a week or two, i'll be there.

Happy 2013 Everyone!

:) :)