I know, I am a couple of days late but such is life right?! I’ve sat down to write this several times now and keep getting pulled away.

Saturday was my 1 year bandiversary. On July 25, 2008 I was scared out of my mind, second guessing the decision. Was it the right choice? Would it even help? Would I be successful? Would I heal right being high risk?

Well, a few weeks in as I was back to normal food and still dropping weight, my fears subsided. This has not been a foolproof journey though. The rapid weight loss caused gallstones which resulted in another surgery, only 9 months from the first. While I knocked my sweet addiction easily in the beginning, it has reared its ugly head again. But, the key is to keep plugging along, one foot in front of the other. This is not a miracle cure, it takes work but it does work if you do your part. Would I recommend it, absolutely! This has been a huge turning point for me. Not only with the reduced health risks, but finding me again. The me I had hidden because I was ashamed of my weight. So I wouldn’t stand out. I’m finding that while I am still an introvert, I am not nearly as much of an introvert as I thought. In all honesty, you could probably even call me a flirt now…LOL! And biggest of all for me, is that I can actually say I ENJOY exercise! Who’d have thought it, coming from the child that used to forge notes to get out of PE and even made a B. Yes, a B in PE!

So, my technical goal is still 140 by my 30th birthday in October but I am not 100% sure about it yet. I have blown all my other goals out of the water, but I am quite pleased with where I sit right now (except I’d love a tummy tuck…LOL…c/s and weight loss do no favors to your tummy), so not sure where I will stop actively trying and just maintain. We shall see :)

Here are my stats at 1 year….

Starting weight – 232
1 year weight – 154.0
Total weight lost – 78

Starting BMI – 41.09 (morbidly obese)
1 year BMI – 27.28 (overweight)

Starting clothes size – 22 (bottoms)/2-3X (shirts)
1 year clothes size – 8/10 (bottoms)/M/L (shirts)