Today marks 5 years of weight loss maintenance for me! I praise the Lord for helping me change my life forever. In 2008 I began the journey to health and wellness. For 2.5 years I worked in counseling to figure out why I was overweight; what were my triggers; how would I be healed; where would I begin. At my highest, I weighed 328 lbs. summer wears for mother of the bride or groom

In Oct of 2011, I underwent gastric bypass surgery. That day was actually the easiest part of this entire journey. 3 weeks after surgery my d ... octor released me to workout anything but my core and I did. 8 weeks post-op I was fully released to workout. For the next 9 months after that, I worked out 5 days a week for 2-4 hours a day. I followed my doctors instructions. I was a vegetarian for 7 months. I changed my entire life and the life of my family.

After a total of 11 months of painstaking work...Through arthritis, bursitis, fibromyalgia, shin splints, bad knees, hip pain, carpel tunnel and just plain old fatigue...I worked. I worked the hardest I have ever worked in my life. My work paid off. I lost over 130 lbs (literally the weight of my trainer). A whole person!!!

5 years later, the weight is still gone! My life is still changed. Today I weigh 207 lbs. That's just 2 pounds outside of my Maintenance Range of 195 lbs - 205 lbs. It is a very healthy weight for my large and almost 6 ft frame.

Weight-loss surgery is not the easy way out. There is so much work that has to happen after you get off that table in order to be successful. While it worked for me, it's not for everyone. The truth is...it only worked because I worked it. It was a tool to my success.

I thank God for all of you who have encouraged and helped me to remain accountable over the years. You are an integral part of the success of my journey.

Whatever part of the health and wellness journey you are on, I encourage you to keep pushing. Keep trying. Keep starting. You are worth the effort, the time, the money, the resources and the energy. It will not be easy, but I promise it will be worth it.
# wls # Maintenance # 5Years