Weekend of NSVs

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Well, it is Monday afternoon and I am pretty exhausted today. I had a hard time getting out of bed this morning but, then, I thought about the glorious weekend full of NSVs that I had and I felt completely re-energized. Let me share.... Friday night was the first time I have EVER turned down eating Mexican food but I had not had a good day with food that particular day so I felt like I would eat too much if I went to the Mexican restaurant with my family. I opted to stay home and ate grapes instead. May not sound like much but I was proud of myself at that particular moment! Saturday was a day of revelation of sorts for me. I went shopping for some spring/summer weight clothing. For those of you who live in the south, you know that we often need summer weight clothing even before it is kosher to wear light colors (and, for those of you who don't

understand this, every good southern girl knows you don't wear summer colors until after Easter!) However, with our temps in the 80s most of the time, my winter clothes are somewhat hot. So, time to shop! I found the cutest pants. They are Liz Claiborne pants, size 10 petite, cropped, but, the most amazing thing (and what I was most excited about) THEY ARE NOT BLACK!!! I actually bought a pair of...are you ready for this???? WHITE pants!!! Oh my God! I have NEVER worn white in my life (after my darling neice told me one time that I looked like Frosty the Snowman!). WHITE!!! I bought white pants AND white shorts! (Guess I'll have to buy some white undies now!!!) I have always worn black, khaki, navy blue, or brown because we all know that those colors made us look thinner (what a fool I was....even those colors couldn't camouflage 250 pounds!) NO MORE! I can wear any damn color I want

to wear!!! I have noticed that I'm not so self conscious about styles of clothes anymore either. I would not have been caught dead in cropped pants before but now they just look normal. Anyway....moving on. Sunday was, by far, the greatest NSV I have had since having my surgery in February 2006. Many of you old timers know this but the newly banded people (or those to be banded) may not. I have always wanted to run. I have dreamed of running most of my life but never had the stamina, ability, or courage. I was simply too fat. My joints hurt all of the time, my feet hurt, my ankles and knees were always hurting. Running was out of the question. I used to enjoy watching my brother run track and would fantacize that I would be able to do that one day but I never told anyone....I was too ashamed. Well, I started running in January. I have run almost every single day since January

4th. I do miss some days but I HAVE to have a damn good reason. I run either for speed or for distance, whichever I feel like doing on that particular day. The first day I ran, I ran a 14:00 mile because I had to walk so much. I'd run a few steps and walk a million steps. I have improved. I now run a 8:10 mile on a good day. I no longer have to walk. In fact, I have been able to run a little over 3 miles without having to walk. Well, now for yesterday.... I ran my first road race!!! I ran a 2-Mile run in 22 minutes. I was ecstatic! I have run it faster before in training, but this was my first RACE!!! I tell you, I had the time of my life! It was incredible. There was a child of about 10 or 11 years old that ran with me most of the way. I walked only to try to get

her to walk a bit due to her obvious exhaustion. I would point out a specific marker of some sort for her and tell her we were going to walk to that pole and then we would run to another specific marker....walk a little bit...run some more. I was afraid she wouldn't make it if I kept running because she was trying so hard to stay ahead of me. She would walk a little and then when I would pass her she would immediately start running again so I knew she wanted it so badly. We got to the last turn before we headed to the finish line and I told her, "Give it all you've got and don't stop running!" She beat me by 2 seconds but I felt like I had just won a gold medal in the Olympics. I was just as excited as Jackie Joyner Kearsey must have been when she won the gold medal several years ago. My accomplishment was just as phenomenal in my eyes. My oldest son met me at the finish line and gave me a big high five and said, "You did it,

Mom....you did it!" Tears were flowing. I read a book recently called The Courgae To Start and although it is mostly about running, it is about self acceptance of being all you can be even if not perfect in a society that forces us to strive for perfection. It talks about doing YOUR best and being proud of your personal successes. It talks about how those of us with non-perfect bodies can be successful in the world of sports/athletics. If you get the chance, pick up a copy and read it....it has some wonderful philosophies even if you don't aspire to become a runner. Even saying that is something of great joy...becoming a runner.....a runner.....I AM A RUNNER! Here I am...one year out of surgery and still walking the greatest joruney of my life. Over the last year, there have been moments of frustration, weakness, sometimes anger, but none of these moments come

close to the feeling of total elation, joy, and pride of stepping over that finish line. I wish for everyone to revel in these moments of joy. Don't look at the negatives of our banded lives (and. yes, there are some) but revel in the positives. Keep working with your band and it will work for you. Even a year down the road, good things will continue to happen in your life as a result of this wonderful, life-saving tool we have. Do nothing to mess up your bands and always keep your eye on the end goal....we will all make our goals if we keep pressing forward....cross that finish line!!! Jenni Currie DOB 2/23/06 247/231/151/145 3 fills 2 unfills

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