Surgery Date: May 2007

I was tired of being tired and worried that at 47, I already had one knee replaced due to osteoarthritis and my orthopedic surgeon said probably I would need the 2nd one done in the future. I knew that my weight was not helping my knees. So, I decided to change my life…with Dr. Bagnato’s help, of course.

For me, that meant learning to like, if not love, exercise. Trust me – I NEVER thought I would ever say that sentence, ever, before my lap band surgery!! But while I cannot say exercise is always ‘fun’ – I do it at least five times a week.

I discovered that going to a gym was hard for me; it was way too easy to come up with an excuse to ‘forget’ to go to the gym. But luckily, thanks to my knee replacement surgery, I already had an exercise bike in my home office. Once I gave up the excuses and climbed on, I found it wasn’t bad at all! I am fortunate to have a TV in my home office, so at 10 p.m., I climb on and watch TV. I would usually have been doing that anyway, now I just combine it with biking. In less than 45 minutes, I can bike between 5 and 10 miles. It gets me tired right before bed. I found though, that I resented biking if I forced myself to bike every night. So I take at least one night off every week; but I never let myself take more than two nights off a week.

I discovered that I feel deprived if I do not have a dessert at night. But what matters is portion control. So I buy fat-free pudding cups (90 or 100 calories) and microwave one for my dessert (lemon is my favorite). It helps with my sweet cravings, but is sensible too. And I try to drink at least 8 – 8 oz. of something every day. Crystal Light packets are my constant companion, because I do not like the taste of water. I take them everywhere I go; including when I teach my university classes, I am drinking it or hot tea.

And the other thing I still do – and will always do – is track my eating and exercise amounts. I keep a food diary to track all my food and drink and I use this neat website, to keep track of my exercise. I track my daily, weekly, and yearly miles biked. The minute I get off the bike at night, I log on to the website and update it (I also log other things in my life too). It keeps me honest – I can immediately see if I have skipped biking or not done enough for that week, etc., and set out to catch up.

Am I near my ‘goal weight’? I think so. I have lost 8 dress sizes. My weight loss is slower now, of course. I wanted to feel and look better. . . and I do. I love my new body. . . and will do the work to keep it up. Good luck with your journey to health.