Andy Lien

15 years ago.

It was metformin 500 mg for pcos 15 years ago that I had my stomach stapled at age 17.

15 years ago.

At age 17.

Then, at age 21, I had my stomach stapling converted to a gastric bypass.

It was a pretty big deal.

I know–if you didn’t know me then, you might not have known that Weight Loss Surgery (WLS) is in my past.

I’ve been chewing on this for a few weeks.  Wrapping my brain around the fact that I had a body-altering Weight Loss Surgery (WLS) almost half of my lifetime ago is…well…humbling.  What’s more humbling is that I have plenty of weight left to lose.

As you might be able to ascertain by the timeline I’ve laid out, I didn’t succeed in my mission to lose weight after I had my stomach stapled in 1994, which led to the gastric bypass surgery in 1998.  Sure, the stomach stapling surgery helped me lose plenty of weight, but I’d gained it back–and more–in fewer than four years.  Did the surgery fail?

No.

I did.

And, after my gastric bypass surgery in 1998–eleven years ago this past June–I’m still considered Morbidly Obese.

Again, did the surgery fail?

No.  I did.  Again.

I’ve got at least 150 pounds left to lose to get down to being just plain “Overweight.”

So, with that as a goal, I’m gonna go for it.  I’m going to mark today as Day 1.  Today is the day I am reactivating my Weight Loss Surgery of 15 years ago to lose 150 pounds.

Reactivate?

Sure.  Nothing has changed in my body.  I’ve had it checked in the past years.  For one thing, my stomach is still smaller than an anatomically unaltered stomach (by way of the stomach stapling surgery).  And, my small intestine is still shorter and still where it was reattached to the smaller stomach (by way of the gastric bypass surgery) instead of the unaltered GI tract’s usual set-up.  (I’ll talk about the surgeries on a later date…there’ll be plenty of time for explanations.)  Taking those two truths into consideration, there is absolutely no logical reason why I can’t reactivate my Weight Loss Surgery to successfully lose a large amount of weight.

There are plenty of behavioral reasons, though.

How will this time be different?

Well, in the past 15 years, I’ve figured out that Weight Loss Surgery will not be successful unless I modify my behavior.  Without modifying my behavior, it’s basically the equivalent of having my jaw wired…which only changes the rate I can take in calories, not the number of calories consumed altogether.  And, I can’t modify my behavior without 1.) knowing I need to change what I do and 2.) also modifying the thoughts and emotions that affect my behavior.

That’s a mouthful.  It’s back to the old adage, “Free your mind and your ass will follow.”

Really.

I’m not alone.  I know there are many more people out there who “failed” their own Weight Loss Surgeries.  I’ve decided to turn the “failure” into a lesson and change my attitude toward being successful.  You’ll never hear me utter (or type) that I’ve “failed” ever again.  It has hereby been abolished from my self-talk vocabulary as a toxic and defeatist word.

I’m ready.  I’m ready to change.  I’m tired of talking about losing weight like a bad relationship that I won’t get out of…it’s a tired topic.  I need to do it.  For me.  For all sorts of reasons.

And, I’m going to do it now.

So, please check in on my progress.  I plan to write every day.  Whether it’s a snippet or a lengthier article, this venture will have my daily attention.  I will employ the 1500-calorie diet put forth by the Mayo Clinic and I will post my weight loss progress on Wednesdays (Weigh-In Wednesdays).  I’ll write about the methods, thoughts, emotions, setbacks, triumphs, and fears.  And, through them, I will leave behind what has been haunting me since childhood.

15 years down, 150 pounds to go.

It’s about time.

It' s a metformin hcl 850 mg tablets little awkward, but it is documentation. December 18, 2009.