Five years.

It’s hard to believe it has been five years since weight loss surgery-and sometimes even harder to believe the woman I see in the mirror is me.               

162 pounds lost.

The physical transformation has been incredible. My body changed. My face changed. The way I dress changed. But maybe most importantly, the way I carry myself changed.

I wear the dress. I take the picture. I walk into the room with confidence. I don’t spend my energy trying to hide or worrying about how much space I take up. I allow myself to be seen.

Five years later, maintaining this transformation still takes work. There have been fluctuations, challenges and plenty of reminders that surgery was a tool-not a finish line.

But I look at how far I’ve come and feel incredibly proud.

Yes, I lost 162 pounds.

But I gained something I never could have measured on a scale-the confidence and freedom to show up fully as myself.

And that may be my favorite transformation of all. 

Surgery done by - Team of Dr. Jose Rodriguez Villarreal,  MD, FACS