Ten Years

Ten years. Hard to imagine it has almost been ten years. In August I will celebrate the ten year anniversary of my gastric bypass surgery. Anyone who has known me for any length of time knows I have battled my weight for my entire life. In fact, the name of this blog seems a bit strange, Jonah is Not the Whale?  Well, when I was a child there was a kid in the neighborhood who called me Jonah. So much for his biblical knowledge. Jonah was not the whale. However, I suppose I can draw a parallel between being trapped in the belly of a whale and being trapped in the vortex that is a lifelong battle of obesity. A parallel between being tossed through the ocean waves inside a whale like being cast through life through varying thicknesses of fat.

So, why now?  It must be the ten year thing. Ten years ago, I walked the earth at nearly 300 pounds. I had tried every diet known to God and man. To be quite truthful I remember being on weight watchers at the ripe old age of 13. No friends, there were not points back then. There was the weekly liver meal my mom and I would choke back. There was baked cod that came as a frozen dinner, there was the ever popular vegetable soup we would make vats of and consume in the hopes it would somehow fill the void originally occupied by cookies and potato chips. There was the Mayo Clinic diet which was a strange concoction of food including hot dogs.  To be fair, this diet came to us on a xeroxed piece of paper and really looking back, I am not convinced this was really a Mayo Clinic thing, probably more a cruel joke. There was the rice diet, Atkins, South Beach, on and on....  I think my favorite was Richard Simmons' Deal a Meal.  I was ready to roll with my food mover.  I sweat religiously to the oldies...for a time.  I took diet drugs which likely led to my current mitral valve prolapse. Finally my dieting life came to a head on Aug 19, 2004. I had a roux en y gastric bypass. I finally lost the weight. I even became a local celebrity and made a commercial.

However, in the years that passed so many things happened. My sister-in-law, who had the surgery the day before me, passed away. My right arm in this process was gone. I had a hysterectomy, yes, hormonal nightmare.  My oldest child made choices that I cannot divulge at this point, then tragically left our home. We pursued an adoption from Haiti that  spanned two and a half years.  We moved to a different state, and are moving again in a few months. No, none of these things caused my weight gain, however the are the things that bring me back to my old friend, food. I went from very few carbs to carb loading (as I like to call it). No, this is not a training for a marathon carb loading, this is a sit in font of the TV after a long day eating crunchy snacks sort of thing. Ugh. My dirty little secret.

Anyway, I have made the decision to start a nine month journey. On Aug 19, 2014 I wish to be the weight my doctor prescribed. I guess I am not ready to share what that is, or how much I have to lose.  However, take heart my friends, I am nowhere near 300 pounds.  Thankfully!  I do not even qualify for weight loss surgery at this point as my BMI is 31. However, I am not ready to be back to that point. So, here I sit, Weight Watcher app in hand, points tracked and ready to roll. Yes, WeighT is my favorite. I even went out and bought a new scale yesterday. I guess I thought the shiny glass platform and fance green lights with a digital read out would help me to hate the scale less.  No such luck. Nonetheless....here I go. Again.