One of the things I’m most happy about with my weight loss so far is the fact that my acid reflux has all but completely disappeared! It’s a miracle as far as I’m concerned. I thought I was stuck with it. I thought I would never get rid of it and that I would have to start taking a prescription medication to tolerate it. I was already chugging apple cider vinegar and popping the max amount of antacids in a 24 hour period. There was really nowhere for me to go except to the doctor for a prescription.
So far, I’ve lost just shy of 18 pounds (almost at the halfway mark!!!). Back in December I noticed something. I wear a uniform to work (I work in law enforcement) and part of my uniform is a duty belt. It’s not as adjustable as a regular belt is and can be a little stiff around the waist. I took a 2 week vacation where I didn’t wear my duty belt. While I still had problems with my acid reflux, I wasn’t having a *constant* problem with it. When I noticed the difference was when I went back to work after my vacation and had to put on my duty belt again. It pushed on my abdomen just below my stomach when I was sitting down (which is quite often). This caused increased pressure in my stomach, which then pushed the stomach acid up and out of my stomach and into my esophagus, causing the acid reflux.
Now, my duty belt is actually a little loose on me. My work clothes are also no longer as tight on me. They don’t restrict my movements or cause any undue pressure on my body. I’m generally more comfortable in my own skin than I was at the start of this journey 7 weeks ago. I’ve made an amazing amount of progress and I really couldn’t be any more proud of myself than I am. I’m losing the weight at a decent rate, even if it is about 30-40% faster than I had meant it to be. I’m still doing things the right way and the healthy way. I’m making better choices and opting for the healthier things in life. I do my best to always enjoy my exercise. And I make my meals as tasty as I can while also sticking to my calorie limits.
My acid reflux was a somewhat severe bane on my existence. I’ve had it almost constantly at some intensity for the past 2+ years…ever since I got up to around 240 pounds…my heaviest weight in my entire life. Gaining that much weight changed so much about my body. It gave me new stretch marks, which were part of the catalyst to me finally deciding that something had to be done. I had to do something to stop gaining weight. I had to do something to regain control over myself and my body again. I had to lose weight.
Before I started really trying to lose weight, I went bowling with some friends for my birthday a little over a year ago. I saw a picture of me from that event. I was absolutely horrified at how I actually looked. I had managed to put a sugar coat on my reflection in the mirror and didn’t see myself how I actually was. That picture changed all of that for me. It violently ripped the sugar coating off and showed me how it really was for me. It showed me how disgusting I had let myself become. I just had to do something. I knew I was no longer healthy. I could no longer lie to myself about it. I couldn’t do much because this was before I had the surgery to implant a spinal cord stimulator in my lower back for my severe back pain due to bulging discs in L4 and L5. Because of this, I was pretty limited as to what I could actually do. I changed what I ate and tried to make healthier choices. I went on walks for hours at a time about 2-3 times a week…up to 10 miles in 3 hours! Then, I had the surgery and recovered from that. I got a gym membership (we all know how that ended, tho). I managed to struggle myself through losing about 35 pounds last year. So far this year, with determined effort and inspired motivation, I have lost half that amount of weight in 1/6th the amount of time!!!
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