Day 7: A picture of someone/something that has had the biggest impact on you

There are several people that I could write about, my mom, my dad, my grandparents…. all of which have had amazingly large impacts on my life. But I thought I would chose someone that may not be as obvious as they others.
And the reason this person has been so influential in my life is because he was the catalyst that caused my complete life change. A new outlook, a million new adventures….. and pretty much made me a completely different person.

A few years ago, I had gastric bypass surgery, in Livingston NJ. After months of being in the hospital, and nearly having my leg cut off. Though I am far from my goal weight… I will say that my life has been completely different in the last two years. I am amazingly more confident with myself, and the things that I do. As everyone pretty much knows, I currently live in South Korea, something I had only dreamed of doing before. I would have never been able to actually move overseas… Not only because of the physical reasons, but many other reasons. I would have never been outgoing enough to make friends in a new country, and would have had major anxiety over the move.

So, Thank you Dr.Michael J. Nusbaum, as you have made an amazingly large impact on my life.

The Easy Way Out

About a year ago, I had gastric bypass surgery, which was the most significant change that I have ever made in my life. Many times people will call this “the easy way out,” thinking that it is something that people do when they don’t want to change their eating habits, or can’t control themselves. If you can’t control your eating habits yourself, and learn to lose weight naturally, then have a surgery for it. I can’t say I never thought that…and that I didn’t think that having a surgery would be a cure-all for what I believed was the root of all the problems I had ever encountered. Now that I have gone through this for a year, I can say that people that think this is an easy way out have never been more wrong.

Gastric bypass is not a surgery that changes your mindset, if your main reason for being overweight is emotional eating…then it can’t be fixed by a physical surgery. Through the decision to have this surgery I not only have had to learn to be disciplined in working out (because the weight simply doesn’t melt off…you have to work for it), but I’ve also had to learn, and relearn how to eat correctly. The most important, and hardest change that one has to overcome is learning to deal with the problems that occur in a persons life in a different way. Which I believe has been the hardest, and best lesson that I have learned through this process. By learning how to deal with situations in a healthy, way, I (and I suspect many other people going through the same thing) have learned that stress and emotion are purely controlled by the person that is experiencing them. No one can make you upset unless you let them do so. Over and over again, I have told myself this, and had to learn and relearn it…the hard way.

By being thrust into these changes through a surgery, I have learned more about health, nutrition, and more importantly myself, then I ever would have otherwise. I applaud anyone who chooses to make the decision to become healthier both physically and emotionally, because I know it isn’t the easy way out, It is harder then anyone can ever imagine.