Happy New Year!

Golly, it's been a while, hasn't it? Two weeks of lovely vacation with the family and then I had to drag my lazy ass back out of bed at the regular time yesterday. Both The Husband and I were thoroughly out of sorts because of it. Aaargh. But what can you do, right? Got bills to pay, mouths to feed . . .

Anywho, I feel like 2007 is going to be just marvelous. It was last year at about this time that I finally gathered up all my gumption and "came out" to The Husband after eight years of questioning that yes, I wanted to take the steps towards getting weight loss surgery - and six months later I did! So here I sit, another six months later, and I'm already approximately halfway to my goal. Utterly amazing!

It's kind of weird the way different people react to me now. A long-time friend had her parents visiting and they saw me for the first time in at least a year. Apparently, her father couldn't even figure out how to tell me that I looked nice in my holiday get-up because he was stunned at the change. Hee! Nice, but I'm really not going to be upset that you think I look better now. I KNOW for a fact that I looked like crap even dressed nicely when I weighed over 300 pounds. Believe me, you're not going to insult me. It's not like I didn't notice it or anything.

And this friend is also very much overweight herself. I'm hoping that by providing a good and realistic example of how you work the DS will give her the nudge that she needs to get her situation under control. She's dealing with PCOS and insulin resistance, and not even phentermine is helping her get her weight under control. It doesn't help that she likes to eat everything in sight, but for crying out loud, I'm hoping to get it through to her that the DS isn't about denying yourself everything you love about food for the rest of your life.

We were chatting about the surgery and the changes that I've made to make the best of it all, and her only comment was that she "likes her carbs." Well, hell. I like my carbs, too. But I fill up on my protein first and THEN I have my carbs. It may be only a mouthfull or two, but by gum I do get them in there if it's something I really like. This is about learning how to live realistically. Having a protein shake for breakfast and then another one for a snack later or perhaps for lunch as well is not a big deal. Honestly, it's not. There's GREAT tasting protein out there. But protein isn't all there is to this life, you know?

As an example, we recently went to the new Famous Dave's restauraunt in Palmdale, and took both her and her husband with us. Now her husband has been famous for YEARS because of the amount of food that he can pack in. The boy is astounding - stomach of steel, I tell you. When he and The Husband were in the Navy together, they went to an all-you-can-eat Mc Donalds. One price, and you get everything you want. He. Ate. The. Menu. And then went back for seconds. Seriously. So we took him to Famous Dave's because the portions are absolutely outrageous and we knew he was probably the only person we knew who could actually do justice to the food.

We order. The Husband and I are planning on splitting a 1/2 rack of ribs. We get the beans as sides. Our friend gets the rib tips and her husband gets the full rack of ribs just for himself. The food arrives. Friend's husband tears into the food with great gusto. I split off two ribs and begin to happily gnaw away. Friend tries to figure out where to start with her rib tips. By the end of the meal, the only person who had finished everything was this friend's husband - which we expected. We had to applaud. The friend made good inroads into her food, but instead of focusing on her rib tips, focused on the potatoes and beans and cornbread. I can understand that. They're good. It's kind of what I would do before the surgery.

The Husband and I couldn't finish our plate. I had the two ribs I sectioned off, about four or five spoonfulls of the beans, and then about 1/4 of the top of the cornbread muffin. That's it. A whole lot more than the average RNY patient, but a decent- to small-sized meal for a DS patient. I looked at our friend and asked her if she thought I deprived myself of any of the "good stuff." Nope. She didn't think so. "But the question is can you live with this?" I asked. "If you can, then seriouisly consider getting this done." She looked puzzled, but a light seemed to come on for her.

This was the first time I had actually eaten in front of her since about two months out of surgery. When you see someone who has had the DS do the whole eating thing in front of you, it can sure be an eye-opener. I know it was for me when one of my acquaintances took me to lunch at a Chinese buffet before I had the surgery. The girl could pack it away! But it was all carefully chosen and planned out - protein first, then the taste bud twinkles. And she is five years out of the surgery and weighs 150 and has been holding steady. Eating like that. Damn.

It's not an free-for-all eating smorgasborg to be sure. But it's also not becoming the food police. I knew I couldn't stick with being the food police 24/7 the rest of my life. You have to strike a happy medium and be normal. Not American "normal" and eat these enormous servings that they give you now-a-days, but real normal - the right sized portions in the right protein/carb/sugar proportions. That's all. The surgery does the rest. It's a good life, I think. Certainly better than the one 80 pounds ago.

But anyway, I feel like I have a new lease on life. It's a whole lot of fun, and I can't wait to see what the rest of the year has in store. Bring on the New Year!