Here I am back in the world I love.
My transformation continues. I’ve had my band for over a year, I am continuing to lose weight, and I am beginning a regular swimming regimen. I swim laps for an hour 4-6 times per week. Sometimes it’s really hard to get to the pool, but once I am in the water and have completed about 10 laps, the world goes away. I feel weightless (and for someone who was 424 pounds at her highest weight this is a great feeling) and able to conquer the world. I can solve all of my problems while I swim, and often come up with some great ideas for my business. Now I wonder if I am going to be able to scuba dive soon. I have certainly improved my strength and endurance by swimming, but I’ll have to get a wetsuit on and wear gear and weights that add significantly to my bulk. I really want to get back to diving. This was one of my goals for having surgery and getting healthy. If I give it a few more months I can lose some more weight and increase my endurance. Maybe I’ll plan a trip to go diving for my birthday. Achieving one of my goals would be a great birthday present now wouldn’t it?
Here’s me at the top of the world loving life.
I checked on my “mileage” and had enough free miles to do round trip airfare from California to Hawaii and off we went in September 2005, 16 months after my lap band surgery for a fabulous week on the island of Kauai. It was really hard to stay totally within my new lifestyle restrictions, but I found a rhythm that seemed to work for me. I would have an egg white omelet and fruit for breakfast, yellow fin tuna sashimi or poke for lunch, and grilled fish for dinner. There was more wine than usual (every night with dinner), but my days were full of walking, swimming, and yes, I did get to scuba dive. The sense of accomplishment when I hit the water in full gear and started down on the anchor line was incredible. Not only were the inhabitants of the Pacific Ocean sharing their habitat with me, but I was able to return to a sport that I loved. The ocean is filled with the most incredible life and being able to once again quietly swim along and view all of it around me was a spiritual experience. I was definitely earning my freedom. That is, freedom from the body that had been restricting my life and making my horizons so narrow. The knowledge that I could once again reach the summit of the highest peak on the island and still be able to breathe, swim in the ocean, dive below the waves in scuba gear, and LIVE my life was all the motivation I needed to keep on my weight loss journey.
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