I get a lot of people asking me about weight loss surgery and/or training and how it has affected my life. Would I do it all over again, is it all worth it, what kind of impact does it have on a person’s life, do I regret it. Inevitably its usually the same questions over and over again, yet it never bothers me to answer them, because it always keeps my perspective in check.
There are times in our life that we can find ourselves in a rut or stuck in a situation that’s just become stagnant or even unhealthy and we don’t really think about it that way but when you reflect and take a step back, you can see it more clearly than when you are in the middle of it. Most of the time when this happens to me, its because I have been sidelined by injury or illness.
When I don’t feel good or am having to put training off due to an injury it makes me grumpy. Emotions go a little catawompas and I get far too restless for my own good. When that happens I either force myself to do something I shouldn’t or my old habits of complacency kick in and I get to a point I don’t want to do anything productive.
These past three weeks since ITOC 2016, I have been sick with bronchitis/pneumonia. I would come home from work (when I actually made it in) and lay on the couch, not able to do anything. The few times I did try and push myself to train it put me back down even harder. I watched a lot of Netflix and snuggled my furbabies while doing absolutely nothing productive. It was a bad bug.
That being said, I could have probably been sewing or working on my aventail but at the time, I had zero energy and felt helpless. All the while that little voice in my head was reminding me that I had put on 3 pounds and really what did it matter, I was sick, so I could eat and drink whatever I wanted, as long as it made me feel better. I could work it off later. I convinced myself I needed comfort…and that’s where problems for addicts kick in.
I am wholeheartedly, 100% a food addict. I want bread, cookies, cake, Coke, and donuts when I am sick. On the upside I also want all the good things I should eat too…but you are laying there, watching TV and you are bored to death because you aren’t out training, running, working out or fighting. Thus, you turn to old habits…and that’s when the little voice gets to you. It tells you that you can be in control, that it will be alright and once you feel better you will work it all off…Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy!
But it usually never happens that way.
When I am nursing an injury, the pain keeps me in check usually. I don’t necessarily fall back into the old habits, I try and work other parts of my body that I can and keep my body moving. When I am sick…its a whole different story. We all joke that men turn into babies when they’re sick…well, I turn into my 450 pound self and ignore my good habits in lue of comfort.
Today, I feel like myself again. I went to the doctor yesterday after my full Z-pack of antibiotics and my lungs are clear. I am running at about 60% energy level and my body is regaining strength again. I did my first lifting workout since I got really sick and this morning when I woke up sore…it was from lifting, not from being sick. That felt good.
I woke up in a great mood and felt a little sassier than usual so when I threw on my star spangled scarf, I added a little Wonder Woman (literally) bling into the mix, just to ward off any lingering blues.
When I got into the office today I clicked on the looking back feature in Facebook. I like it because it always gives me perspective and lets me see how far I have come and it also lets me track if I have been sick or had allergy issues in certain months…(that’s actually been a great help for my allergist).
Today as I was browsing back through the years one of my favorite photos popped up. It was 10/26/2009 and I had spikey hair, great nails, and I remember the day vividly, I had finally fit into this adorable wool kilt that I’d had hanging in my closet for ages. I took a picture because I had just had my hair done the night before and I felt really good.
As I was remembering this day 7 years ago, I decided to do a comparison shot, just for me. I did it with the pretense that it would be a good reminder not to backslide like I had done the past 3 weeks and a way to kick my ass into gear. When I sat down to put them side by side, hehe I was quite surprised that I actually liked today’s shot much MUCH more. I honestly thought I would hate it but I didn’t. They’re pretty similar and in 7 years I feel like I’ve only gotten better.
Coming off being sick, not training for 2 weeks and being happy with the results I saw in that photo instead of being annoyed with what I saw in the reflection was very telling. I knew I was looking with old eyes and I’d fallen into another bad habit…not seeing whats really there. Even though I felt good this morning, and was digging the Sassy Girl, I honestly thought the comparison was going to be bad, even as I was taking the photo. And until I looked at the two together, I just KNEW it was going to be bad and I would just use it as a reminder…
But that didn’t happen.
When I am talking to people about WLS, one of the primary things I tell them is to take photos. Even if you hate it, you will find they help, sometimes in strange ways. So when someone gives you shit about taking a selfie, remember too, that they can also be therapeutic.
They are snapshots in time that give you a little more perspective on what your world was like at that given moment and sometimes, they give you a little more perspective on what your world is today…
Maybe all my super hero bling worked and warded off the negative image I had conjured up because of complacency…or maybe…just maybe…it just helped me see through it.
Either way…I am happy it worked!
The Badass Valkyrie 
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