Andrea Michaels's Blog - Posts Tagged "good-shape"
Reinvention: How I Became a Hot, Sexy Grandma
I was 59 years old when I discovered that my husband was a dog. I filed for divorce and felt very sorry for myself. For a week. Then I started thinking about what I needed to do to change my life and make it what I wanted it to be. I knew I wanted to be happy, successful and positive. I'd spent enough time “stuck” and feeling fairly worthless in my domestic situation. Fortunately, and YES, I mean “fortunately,” my husband made it possible for me to take action and get out of a very unhealthy and negative marriage.
While I was soul-searching, a friend of mine had gastric bypass surgery and went from tubby to svelte, so I was inspired to investigate. My mantra--for once in my life I wanted someone to say, “She has a really good figure.” Honestly, that meant more to me than good health. But, let's face it girls, we all want that. After all, I had just shed 240 pounds of excess weight (my husband), and it was time to shed some more.
Exercise you say? Well, I had been raised by my European princess of a mother to believe that exercise was the work of the devil and that knitting, sewing, and particularly shopping would provide all the exercise I would ever need. And oh yes, cooking fabulous food and consuming it came in a close second to shopping. So I never did a sit up, a push up, nor rode bikes or took long walks. I sat and read. My eyeballs exercised instead of the rest of me.
So, I had the surgery. Fully committed to success, I lost almost 100 pounds. Of course that meant a lot of flabby skin, so I followed the bypass with additional surgery to rid the excess.
Losing the weight was a lot of work. The surgery was not the automatic panacea. I still craved every delicious morsel in which I had always indulged. I still loved to cook. I still liked to eat. Drinking was never big on my list, so that wasn’t a problem. After the surgery, I started with liquids, tablespoons of clear liquid only, progressed to more substantial liquids like soups, then to small portions of mush (mashed potatoes, pureed veggies) and finally to tiny child-sized portions of normal but bland food. Now I can eat whatever I like (almost), though it is an every day struggle not to overeat and put all the weight back. It’s just that when I do gain a few pounds I make sure I also take them off.
My closet demands this.
I also broke my old pattern and joined “Curves for Women” and exercised every day, seven days a week if I could. At first, I would often try to avoid it and sometimes laid in bed arguing about whether to get up and go to the gym or not, but ultimately I went. As my reward for going, I would allow myself my favorite triple grande, non-fat latte from my beloved Starbucks. Only one. If I exercised first. Mind games, but they worked.
So how do I now see myself? I walk by a mirror and sometimes it’s hard to know it’s me. Am I confident? Yes, absolutely. My wardrobe would rival Heidi Klum for style. I love wearing my size six designer clothes. (I was a size 22 before the bypass.) Now, if you didn’t see me from the front you might think I was a teenager. I am shapely. Unfortunately it’s hard to talk to people without turning around and facing them, so my age still shows. But the fact that I’m in good shape, muscular (I now also do weight training), have stamina and have a great positive outlook shows in all that I do. I can even keep up with the youngsters, including my grandchildren.
It's one of the things that contributes to my happiness. There is no longer any negativity in my day-to-day life. I get up, look in the mirror (after make up, before that I still might be devastated) and realize a pretty cool old lady is looking back at me. I head to the gym, then to Starbucks and then off to enjoy my day, knowing I look good, feel good, and have the energy to take on the world.
Reinvention? I took a fat, unhappy, rapidly aging, tired old woman and turned her into a pretty hot and sexy grandma.
What about you? Do you have a reinvention story to share? Let me know.
Andrea
While I was soul-searching, a friend of mine had gastric bypass surgery and went from tubby to svelte, so I was inspired to investigate. My mantra--for once in my life I wanted someone to say, “She has a really good figure.” Honestly, that meant more to me than good health. But, let's face it girls, we all want that. After all, I had just shed 240 pounds of excess weight (my husband), and it was time to shed some more.
Exercise you say? Well, I had been raised by my European princess of a mother to believe that exercise was the work of the devil and that knitting, sewing, and particularly shopping would provide all the exercise I would ever need. And oh yes, cooking fabulous food and consuming it came in a close second to shopping. So I never did a sit up, a push up, nor rode bikes or took long walks. I sat and read. My eyeballs exercised instead of the rest of me.
So, I had the surgery. Fully committed to success, I lost almost 100 pounds. Of course that meant a lot of flabby skin, so I followed the bypass with additional surgery to rid the excess.
Losing the weight was a lot of work. The surgery was not the automatic panacea. I still craved every delicious morsel in which I had always indulged. I still loved to cook. I still liked to eat. Drinking was never big on my list, so that wasn’t a problem. After the surgery, I started with liquids, tablespoons of clear liquid only, progressed to more substantial liquids like soups, then to small portions of mush (mashed potatoes, pureed veggies) and finally to tiny child-sized portions of normal but bland food. Now I can eat whatever I like (almost), though it is an every day struggle not to overeat and put all the weight back. It’s just that when I do gain a few pounds I make sure I also take them off.
My closet demands this.
I also broke my old pattern and joined “Curves for Women” and exercised every day, seven days a week if I could. At first, I would often try to avoid it and sometimes laid in bed arguing about whether to get up and go to the gym or not, but ultimately I went. As my reward for going, I would allow myself my favorite triple grande, non-fat latte from my beloved Starbucks. Only one. If I exercised first. Mind games, but they worked.
So how do I now see myself? I walk by a mirror and sometimes it’s hard to know it’s me. Am I confident? Yes, absolutely. My wardrobe would rival Heidi Klum for style. I love wearing my size six designer clothes. (I was a size 22 before the bypass.) Now, if you didn’t see me from the front you might think I was a teenager. I am shapely. Unfortunately it’s hard to talk to people without turning around and facing them, so my age still shows. But the fact that I’m in good shape, muscular (I now also do weight training), have stamina and have a great positive outlook shows in all that I do. I can even keep up with the youngsters, including my grandchildren.
It's one of the things that contributes to my happiness. There is no longer any negativity in my day-to-day life. I get up, look in the mirror (after make up, before that I still might be devastated) and realize a pretty cool old lady is looking back at me. I head to the gym, then to Starbucks and then off to enjoy my day, knowing I look good, feel good, and have the energy to take on the world.
Reinvention? I took a fat, unhappy, rapidly aging, tired old woman and turned her into a pretty hot and sexy grandma.
What about you? Do you have a reinvention story to share? Let me know.
Andrea
