The new me....without surgery

I want to share a story with yall that I havent posted on my page or any of my blogs.

Over a year ago, at my heaviest weight of 355 lbs I decided I was tired of being overweight. I decided I was going to look into gastric bypass surgery because I had seen how it was able to help others. I went to the seminar and made it through 2 visits to the surgeon. However, if insurance was to pay for this, it was their policy that I go through a 6 month diet plan with my regular doctor. So I started just that.

So the first couple of visits I was like yeah whatever....Im not gonna lose this weight so lets just get through this so I can have my miracle surgery. Before long I realized I wasnt getting much support here from my doctor, family or friends. Everybody was like "you dont need to do this to yourself". And then everyone has a horror story of someone they knew that was almost on death bed after the surgery. I continued to ignore this.

Then one day last October, I was hit by Diabetes like getting hit by a freight train. It literally scared the hell out of me. What had I done to myself? I was killing my body with junk food! I hadnt been feeling good for a week or so and when I went to the doc, they found my blood sugar to be 575......a level at which my doctor said I was dangerously close to going into a coma. So I was mad at myself and in denial. I was terrified of needles and now the doctor is telling me I have to prick my fingers every 2 hours and then give myself a shot 3 times a day. I can vividly remember sitting in my living room alone, crying like a little girl trying to give myself a shot......knowing that this was all my fault. Long story short on that, I got used to giving myself a shot, it wasnt really all that bad, but definitely an inconvenience and a setback in my life.

So it was time to get serious. I cut back my sugar intake and got it well enough in control after 2 months that I could come off of insulin shots and just take my pill. Basically all I did was cut out simple sugars and I lost upward of 30 lbs in a few months. I guess that goes to show how much junk I was eating.

Fast forward to June 28th, I started my current lifestyle change (diet) and to date I have accomplished one of my goals......to be under 300 lbs. For the first time in over 10 years!!!!!

And the greatest news of all, thanks to my 56 lbs weight loss and diet change I am no longer on any diabetic medication. The doctor took me completely off of it all a couple weeks ago and I am happy to report that my sugar is now staying within a normal range!

I am so pleased that I am doing this without the surgery. Some things come in the form of a blessing in disguise and I feel that the inurance companies policy was just that. It took that 6 months for me to see that I can do this.

So now, I am in the gym 3-4 times a week and I am eating much better. My blood pressure is now normal and my cholesterol has went from 200 down to 116....which is still a little high but im still working on it.

Sometimes it takes a brick wall to get people to realize that we just arent trying hard enough. As the late Randy Pausch said in his last lecture....."Brick walls are there for a reason. They are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. The brick walls are there to stop people who don't want it badly enough"

Now I embark on the journey of losing atleast 50 more lbs.....wish me luck