My Journey With Weight Loss – Everything May Not Be Rosy

Today was weigh in day. For the 2nd week in a row the scale hasn’t moved, I am stuck at 88 lbs lost. Now I could take 2 different paths with this. The first is I get frustrated and let the negativity get to me mentally. Really, I don’t like that path, it’s dark and gloomy. Instead I turned it around. Wahoo, I have still lost 88 lbs, 51 of those pounds has been in the last 9 months. Moreover, right now I only weigh 4 lbs more than I did when I graduated high school at 18. Hmm, I think that’s pretty good for a 55 year old woman. Yep, I’m going with that 2nd path.

I want to talk about a couple of downsides to achieving weight loss and getting fit. Please note, the upsides are so more important but I don’t want anyone to think there aren’t some things that kind of suck. The one downside that can be off putting is the expenses that come with being successful on this journey. Now I don’t have the added expense of going to a gym, I do all my workouts either on my treadmill or outdoors. Walking/running, doing strength exercises and using weights can all be done without added expense. But, when you lose 8 dress sizes there will be a new wardrobe required, for me that happened twice (ok, for those of you who like shopping and have the money this one might not be a big deal). The more significant one is the cost of food. It would be far cheaper to live off of KD or Ramen noodles every day but that certainly wouldn’t get me to my goal. Instead it is healthy food which sadly costs far more than processed food. I eat a lot of fresh fruit and veggies every day. If I am going to have things like pasta I try to make it myself (note I have not had a lot of success with making whole wheat pasta but I am determined to find a recipe that works for me). I focus on healthy carb choices. Instead of processed food I make as many things as I can from scratch (just the sodium decrease from doing that is amazing). Yes, it costs more and can be a lot more work (especially for someone like me who is not a big fan of cooking) but the end result has been worth it. So, if you are on a tight budget, be prepared.

The 2nd big downside to me is the excess skin that I now have. When you have been obese for as long as I have, not to mention my age, skin does not bounce back. Instead I am left with elephant skin thighs and a very wrinkly tummy. There are a couple things that can be done about this. I read about a treatment using oral collagen medications that may have some success. However, it apparently can be inhibited by things like the amount of weight loss (the more weight lost the less effective it may be), the length of time that weight had been carried and age. Pretty obvious to me that isn’t an option as I would not be the best candidate in any of those categories and really, I don’t like the thought of pills just to maybe make my skin look better. The second is skin removal surgery. This option is expensive and quite frankly after having 4 knee surgeries I have no interest in going under anesthetic for cosmetic reasons. Further my experience with surgery is that it severs your nerves leaving you without sensation in the area of the incision. Apparently sometimes those nerves will grow back but in my case I have a fairly large area of my leg that has zero sensation. Now don’t get me wrong, I understand that people with significant weight loss may need this surgery for medical reasons, it is just not going to be my thing.

What then will I do instead? Easy, I wear that excess skin as a badge of honour. I worked damned hard to get where I am and I am going to remain proud of how I look. Instead of that loose skin, I look at the muscles that I have developed, I see the strength in my face, I see the person I want to be. All those positives outweigh the negatives and that helps me to keep going.