So Much Wisdom

Posted by Sherry , Thursday, September 30, 2010 Thursday, September 30, 2010

A couple of milestones have come and gone for me and yet I've not gotten my act together to even blog about them.

First, I hit the halfway marker to my “goal weight” a few weeks ago. I put the aforementioned goal weight in quotation marks because I'm fairly certain that I will be setting a lower final goal for myself after I reach this one, but in my adult life, I've never been under this particular weight so it is hard for me to contemplate I could ever weigh LESS than my current goal weight.

If you're confused by the last paragraph, you're not alone. So am I. I deliberately talk AROUND weight numbers. For someone who prides herself on her writing's clarity, this kind of number anonymity proves a challenge.

Its as if I'm in high school, passing notes back and forth about “Him”. You know, “He is SOOOO CUTE!” and “He, like, TOTALLY like likes Angela but she only likes him and I hope he realizes that I TOTALLY like, like him and he asks me to check out his Nirvana CD collection this weekend”.

Then I TOTALLY had to figure out what “Smells Like Teen Spirit” even meant and remember, this was the dark ages, before Google and the interwebs so I had to watch a TON of MTV and read the CD jacket over and over again. I figured out that Kurt Cobain was talking about teen apathy but the quest continued because then I had to figure out what apathy meant. Then I got bored and figured that if I made out with the guy, he wouldn't really care whether I knew what the song was about or not.

I digress.

Basically, I don't tell my number. No, not THAT number! I'm totally open about THAT number. It's 27.

But there is NO WAY I'm posting on a web site how much I weigh. Forget it. My HUSBAND reads this!! Couples need BOUNDARIES, people. He may poop with the door open and ask me to pop his zits, but that doesn't mean the mystery isn't still ALIVE!

He's been with me through wedding planning induced madness, fertility treatments, a 36 hour natural childbirth, post-partum depression, sleep deprivation, PMS and the plate throwing incident of 2004 when Friends went off the air but I'm pretty sure he'd start packing his bags if he knew how much I weigh.

Also, my sister reads this and no matter how fat I am I always want her to think I'm thinner than her. Because sisters love each other like that. Oh, and mom? Jess threw a party, WITH BEER, when you went to visit grandma that one time. Neh neh neh neh boo boo!

Anyway, I'm kind of private about my 'number' but I still want to share with you that I'm over half way to my goal!

The second milestone (See, I said I had a 'couple' of milestones to report but I know you're bored so I'll get right to it) is that I'm no longer 'obese' but now officially in the overweight category of fatness.

Awesome! Now when people use the term 'overweight' to describe me because they are trying to be polite, they will also be accurate. I love accuracy!

I remember at the beginning of my Lap-Band journey I would scour the blogs looking for wisdom from those who were at their halfway points. For me, halfway to my goal seemed so much more attainable than 'goal'. I just couldn't get my head around the fact that I might actually settle into a 'normal' weight someday. I still can't. Halfway to goal seemed within my reach.

So I'd read bullet pointed posts about “What I've Learned,” nodding my head in agreement, getting excited about my turn to use bullet points and be wise and inspire. Unfortunately I can't seem to get bullet points to format correctly on my blog and, well, I'm not much wiser.

The one phrase that keeps running through my head is one that we learned in our childbirth class.

Husband and I decided together that we really wanted to have Ruby naturally, without any kind of interventions or drugs. We TOTALLY make decisions about my body together because he TOTALLY had a vote on whether or not I'd push a 8 pound watermelon out of my vagina without an epidural – or illegal drugs.

In any case, we got all hippy dippy and took Bradley method courses where we held ice in our hands, dealing with the pain of the numbing cold --- because your vagina ripping open and cold hands are TOTALLY in the same category of pain --- and practiced visualization techniques to help me focus on something other than the pain and the fact that he was eating a turkey sandwich while I was getting giant hemorrhoids from the 4 hours of pushing. You know, really helpful stuff.

But there was one phrase that the instructor insisted our partners say to us over and over again, no matter what was going on, no matter how hard it was, no matter what we said or how we screamed. She said our partners should tell us WE CAN DO IT.

Husband must have said that to me over 1,000 times while I was bringing our baby into the world. And its pretty much the only wisdom I have to impart to all of you new bandsters today: YOU CAN DO IT. YOU CAN DO IT. YOU CAN DO IT.

TOTALLY.

18 Response to "So Much Wisdom"

LDswims Says:

What an awesome blog! Such fun to read and incredibly inspiring! You rock, halfway-to-goal lady!

Theresa Says:

You never let me down, such style and of course such wisdom! Way to go!!

Camille Says:

You can do it and you will do it. I'm in the same spot as you. I'm halfway and six months out. My mantra right now is "I think I can, I think I can."

Kristin Says:

I love your writing, Sherry. Congrats on halfway! That's awesome.

~ Katie ~ Says:

Congrats on being halfway! I had to stop and figure out where I'm at because it hasn't even crossed my mind and I'm halfway too...So thanks!

You are an awesome writer :)

Gilly Says:

*sigh* I love reading your blog so much! I think it's amazing that you're halfway there. (really? only halfway?? You looked pretty effing fabulous this weekend! I dare to dream!)

We CAN do it, puddin! I know this for sure because I squeezed a 10lb 6oz watermelon out of MY vagina. I win!

Gen Says:

LOL I LOVE THIS. I birthed 4 babies, no c-sections - one of them without drugs (and that was truly the best experience, no shit, I felt like Gilly, I mean Superwoman!) So, yes, if we can do that....

Halfway was no big deal at all for me because I knew I could get there...its the second half I'm worried about. I have been around the same weight, give or take 5 -8 pounds, for nearly 6 freaking months. I am stuck.

Love your blog and you look gorgeous, no matter what you weigh! (BTW my number is a carefully guarded secret, which is why my DH does not read my blog).

Jenny Says:

This was a great post! Congrats on being half way!

Anonymous Says:

I love this post. Congratulations on being to the halfway mark. You look amazing and I can only imagine how great you will look at goal! And to the whole 36 hours of labor without drugs thing I ask; why, why, why? You guys are scaring me to death here. Maybe there is a reason I only have dogs. I can deliver babies all day long but the whole pushing them out part seems like a bit much to me. I would like a nice scheduled c-section (with bonus tummy tuck) please, with a nanny to take care of me and the baby until I heal. I don't think that is too much to ask for.

Fluffy Says:

Such a good post...and BTW - YOU CAN DO IT!

Cindylew Says:

Wow...we're in the halfway club together...I'm honored.
You're gorgeous and one of the lovely ladies I wish I had the chance to chat with out in Chicago.

Jacquie Says:

I am TOTALLY laughing my ass off right now! You are hysterical! We are still on the same timeframe as I am also a smidge past my halfway mark! I'm so happy to be sharing my journey with you, TOTALLY!

Marie Says:

I totally get your post. I don't come out and say the number either and I don't tell anyone what I way! haha! But then again others don't necessarily tell me either! And no one has asked! (Thank God)! Congrats on your half way point!

Canadian Bird Says:

Congrats on the milestone! I'm with Gilly... can't believe you're only at the halfway point. There's something to be said for height! I envy you girls that. Mind you, I never minded being short when I was thin. LOL
Blessings,
Robin at Band on the Run

HODGE Says:

Loved this post and I'm SOOO proud of you! "you're halfway there, whooaa ooohhh".....umm, and thanks for 'totally' telling on me. first of all, NO one and i mean NO ONE will eVER, EVER know my weight number! i mean, really - whooo does that??!
and lastly, mom if you're reading this....sherry is such a tattle tale- ground HER!
you look SOO FAB sister! love you love you love you

Catherine55 Says:

I loved this post too! You are definitely going to do it!!

I was quiet about my number on my blog for the same reasons. I made mention of "Onederland" on my blog and think I finally actually posted a number in the comments when I got to the 160s or so. Now that I'm in the low 150s, I'm more open with the number.

Funny enough, I've gotten a bit shy about telling non-band people just how much weight I've lost now that I'm at my goal. Oh weight. . it's such a weird thing to talk about! :)

Joey Says:

Welcome to "overweight", baby!!

I've been waiting to read your blog until I had a moment to actually sit down with a cup of tea and not race through it.

Congratulations on the half way point! So far I think that has been the biggest milestone for me.

When I started my blog I made the conscience decision to put all my numbers up. I think for accountability.

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