lost and found in retirement
Voices in the campground woke me this morning rather than the patter of rain drops. That was welcome. After a casual morning of breakfast and a hike through downtown Troy, I headed into Dayton with my friend Paula.
Rain drops on the tent woke me and sounded so nice this morning until I realized I would be pulling up camp in the rain. Rain and wind followed me for 40 miles of my 46 mile ride from Urbana to Troy. Crossing through Tipp City, the rain and clouds evaporated and were replaced with sun and blue skies.
Today I am off for a week of cycling the Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure, commonly known as GOBA. I have wanted to do this ride since I began cycling four years ago after Bariatric surgery.
People who have lost considerable weight see a new person in the mirror. It’s not uncommon after dropping 100 pounds that the person actually looks at their reflection in the mirror after avoiding it most of their life. As the pounds drop and the self-confidence grows, life takes on a new look.
A misconception about weight loss surgery is that bariatric surgery makes for a skinny person. Bariatric surgery is a tool that makes weight loss faster and maintaining a healthy weight easier. It is the patient who controls the success of surgery. There is no money back return policy on weight loss issued at surgery.
This is the most difficult post I have had to write in my eight years of blogging. This summer I am having weight loss revision surgery that will remove my Lapband and replace it with a gastric bypass (roux-en-Y). It is difficult to talk about since I have very much attributed my weight loss and subsequent change in life to my Lapband bariatric surgery.
If only I would have eaten that cookie after lunch. If only I had taken a run after work. If only I had not gone to happy hour. Too often, I ask myself questions like these when I step on the scale in the morning. It is foolish to blame increasing numbers on the scale to a single event.
You may not know that America celebrates the bicycle and cycling during May. It isn’t one of those Hallmark moments celebrated with greeting cards and gifts. It is a celebration of the joy and freedom that a bicycle can bring to our lives.