As I am in my 5th week of Shingles (get the new vaccine if you are over 50, even if you had the old one!!!), I am left with just 3 places that itch like the dickens... But so MUCH better.
In the past few days I've come to realize a few things of interest to nobody but myself... I no longer have any specific idea what will be a healthy weight for me. I was the scrawny kid, wore 28s with a belt for a very long time. I have the pants from my early Navy years to prove this. I weighed 150-155 from the age of 13 till I got married at 20. Despite growing 6 inches... I worked out, could lift the same weight as the "big guys", bucked bales (rural Kansas), and wanted to be 190...
I retired from the Navy in 2001, at 240. I hit 300 by 2010, but held steady. Had my left knee replaced later that year, and got back on the bike again. August, I suffered that bicycle crash, breaking my back and more... I got to 256, before that was unsustainable at the time. (I do not reccommend injury as a weight loss method...)
I tried diet, after diet, after program after scheme. And my weight kept going up, 360 was a wake up call. 30 months ago I injured my left ankle after recovery from right Achilles tendon repair... I managed to lose 30 pounds before things went off the rails. I mention it elsewhere here.
A year ago May I was 378. Nothing worked. I was miserable. Couldn't exercise due to that sprained and failing left ankle, and my right knee was failing. I sought, and was approved for weight loss surgery. I did lose 22 pounds prior to surgery in Oct of 2018. But it was not the right way. Starving myself... I learned through a nutritionist the better ways, and that has carried over...
My surgeon said I would get to 280. After that, I was on my own. There are charts showing any number of percentages, and one showed I had a 10% chance of being at 190... This is a number I thought impossible. I'd be uncomfortable with. But now? I don't know...
I'm 257 yesterday. 99 pounds since surgery, 121 from my heaviest. I've passed my surgeon's expectation. And I am healthier, and my fitness is increasing. My blood wrk is vastly improved, my BP is low again, no meds. My heart rate is low again. I BREATHE easily. Healthier and more fit were my goals in the past, not so much weight. I'm there...
And the weight goals I set, I've all but acheived. 256 is just a pound off. But that is my lowest in 8 years, and 100 pounds down since surgery. My next is 240, and I was going to reward myself with a lightweight bike. Well, the lightest I've ever owned. Why not get on that bike, and dream bigger? Oops, smaller...
200 as a goal? Hmmmm...