Time to Celebrate a Big Loss

It's almost my anniversary. I'm not sure how to celebrate. Do I buy a cake? Nah....... That would be defeating the purpose of my celebration . I guess I should explain. I had bariatric surgery on Oct. 5th, 2004. It was one of the best things I have ever done.
I was always the biggest person in the room. for my whole life, I was the fat guy. I heard all the insults, caught all the second glances. I even heard the innocent truth from many young children.
I guess I was ahead of the times. All of the reports say Americans are getting larger and larger. The rate of obesity has never been higher.America is becoming fatter and
fatter, with no slow down to the weight gain.
I had my surgery at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Fairfax Va. My surgery was on a Monday morning and I was released on the following Friday. Without going into details, I was restricted to the house for two weeks. No driving...........That was tough. It was a month before I could go to work and 2 months before I could start driving again.
In the 1st month, I lost 54 lbs. By the second month, I had lost a total of 77 lbs and 9 inches off my waist. The last month I kept records in my journal was Jan. 2005. I had lost 97 lbs in 3 months.
Needless to say things slowed down a couple of months after this. At the end of the 1st year, I had witnessed a low weight of 189 lbs. I gained a few pounds back and I hovered at 195-198lbs.
Fast forward to today. I'm seeing a slight weight gain. I'm currently at 205. Still a far cry from the 370 I weighed at my surgery date. And this is an amazing 200 lbs or more from my highest weight.
Life has changed in more ways than I could have imagined from two years ago.
Walking across the parking lot at Walmart is not a challenge now. On our recent vacation to the mountains of California and the canyonlands of Utah, I was able to move more than 100 yards away from the car. Something I couldn't do in 2000. Life is good. I feel great. Now to decide on the celebration. Laters, Paul

We took this picture on our vacation to the Grand Canyon on July 2000.













This is from our vacation last month in Utah.