Envying the Joneses? Well, yes and no and meeting my 60%

So, I've been doing some thinking lately - this may be a bit random, but stick with me - I think I can tie it together...

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When I first began this journey, I was counting down the days until I was banded. I couldn't wait... it was a start of a new chance at life... so many opportunities, so many dreams. I had a paper calendar and crossed out the days between each doctor's appointment for those first six months. And wrote, re-wrote, and checked off the list, everything I had to accomplish before I could move forward. Check, check, re-schedule that appointment (damn!), check... I don't remember being so focused before that except on my wedding (I had an entire binder I carried around) and on my pregnancy. And then... the moment of truth - I completed all the requirements and submitted my paperwork to the surgeon and expected to wait 4 weeks, so darn scared that they would turn me down. You see, if they had said no, I think I would have lost it. Could we have managed to do it self-pay? Yes, but it wouldn't have been an easy decision to go that route. Lo and behold, my approval ended up only taking about 4 days. When I heard I was approved I shrieked inside, did a little happy dance at my desk, and wrote down my surgery date for about 6 weeks later. YIPPEE!!! I can remember the feeling of elation. And I remember clear as a bell, Dr. Carmody telling me in my pre-meeting about a week before surgery, that if I followed the rules, I could reasonably expect to lose 60% of my excess weight in the first year. I was 277.5 before surgery, so assuming my excess was 127.5 (i.e. a healthy weight for me would be 150 as he said), 60% of that would have been 76.5 pounds. And what have I lost to date? Well, as of today 78.1 pounds. And I hit that 60% excess loss as of exactly a year out - the first time I hit "onederland" (i.e. 77.5 pounds lost) was on March 5, 2010 - my surgery was Feb 20, 2009... So yay me! I write this, because with the last month or two having been a bit hard, I think I forgot to celebrate that I've done everything I was supposed too, and that now I'm in that point where things WILL be slower, and take more effort... I can't compare myself to everyone else who has lost over 100 pounds, or gotten below 200 before me. I am not them. They are not me. While we are all on a similar journey, ours is each our journey alone. So, I need to stop comparing myself to the Joneses. (or Amy's, Catherine's, Dash's, Jen's, etc....). My "Joneses" have SO MUCH TO LEARN FROM. But I need to remember that what they share (and we all celebrate) is their success. Not mine. And I know they support me in my journey, because they consistently celebrate my successes (thank you). Interestingly, I'm at a point in my journey now where I don't count the time since surgery, since my "new chance at life" anymore. I'm living that life. I have other things going on now that I am excited and/or focused on/about - and I still think about my band every day, and sub-conciously rub my port (my buddah place) probably daily. And I am SO THANKFUL for the science behind this that has allowed me to truly start re-living a new life. But today, someone asked me how I had lost the weight and while I told her, I actually had to stop and think about how long ago it was. Well, 15 months ago almost to the day! And I wouldn't trade a day of it. Bumps, stalls, plateaus and all, I wouldn't trade it. Yes, the last two months have been terribly frustrating and slow. BUT... I am starting to move again. And it is down. This morning was 199.4, hopefully tomorrow will be a tad lower than that. We'll see - we have a friend's 50th bday to go to tonight. But I feel like I've been able to re-center myself a bit this last week. I hope so. And if nothing else, I've met that goal that my doctor set for me and THAT is a good thing. I'm healthier, I'm happier, and I can do things I haven't been able to in a long, long time. And today, I realized that as I played on the bouncy house slides at a bday party with Lucia that I could run up the stairs and slide down the slide so much easier than ever before. Yay. So remember to celebrate YOUR successes, and YOUR journey. Cheer on our fellow band-bloggers, but don't "Jones" for what they are accomplishing. Just cheer them on and celebrate with them. Just my thoughts for a Saturday afternoon before we go to our second bouncy house party of the day and I bounce some more, not afraid that I will pop them anymore!