First We Fix It

Sept 2012

My Dad is having rotator cuff surgery next week. Because of his medical history and heart issues, it is not a simple procedure. He will be in the hospital at least overnight, either as an orthopedic patient or a cardiac one.

We saw the surgeon for is pre-op appointment last week. He said something really interesting that I found amazing, and also applicable to my weight loss journey and maintenance plan. He said:

First we fix it, then we protect what we fixed.

Isn't that profoundly simple? This is what the purpose of my still-in-progress maintenance plan is - to, at every point along the way, protect what I have fixed. I worked so hard to release 113 lbs, only to "find" half of them when I wasn't paying enough attention. So lesson number one - the weight is never lost. It is just hanging around waiting for me to stop paying attention. My fat likes me - it REALLY likes me (picturing Sally Field at the Oscars). It wants to be my closest friend for my whole life. And it likes me so much, it wants its friends to like me too.

So, as with any break up, I have to prepare myself for the onslaught of its sweet familiar enticing words - "one little bite won't hurt","you deserve this", "here, have a cookie it will make you feel better", "you KNOW you love me! I won't get in your way" and blah blah blah. I have to rely on what I KNOW to be true and not fall for the traps that my body and the television ads try to set in front of me. It reminds me of an old story - Life in 5 Easy Lessons:

Lesson 1 - I walk down the street. There is a hole in the road. I don't see it. I fall in.
Lesson 2 - I walk down the street. There is a hole in the road. I see it. I fall in anyway.
Lesson 3 - I walk down the street. There is a hole in the road. I see it. I go and look into it. I fall in.
Lesson 4 - I walk down the street. There is a hole in the road. I walk around it.
Lesson 5 - I walk down another street.

I am somewhere between Lessons 3 and 4, but am looking for, and preparing for, Lesson 5.

So I am determined, this time, to protect what I have fixed. But unlike Dad's shoulder, my fixes will never be completely healed. I will always have to actively protect them. I will always have to be on the lookout for danger. I will always have to make sure that I find another street when a hole appears in the road.