Thursday, August 24, 2006

Now *THAT* feels better!

You may wonder what the most annoying part of my weight-loss has been. Then again, you may not wonder that at all. Be that as it may, if you keep reading this blog entry, you're going to find out.

When my wife and I got married in 1993, I weighed approximately 225 lbs. My wedding band was a size 11.5, if memory serves. About 7 years later, I had the ring sized up to match the "upsizing" that my body had done...this time to a size 13. When I hit 295, even that was getting pretty tight.

Then came my weight loss. By the time I got back to my wedding weight, I had to switch the ring from my normal ring finger to my middle finger, because it was constantly falling off while showering, washing my hands or just "rough-housing" with my daughter. That really took some getting used-to, although I'm not sure I ever really did "get used-to" it completely. It annoyed me pretty much all the time.

But I kept losing and my fingers kept shrinking, to the point that it started falling off my middle finger, too. Nearing my goal weight now (3.8 lbs left as of last week), I figured my hands had probably shrunk all they would and I could safely have the ring sized down. So I took it to a jeweler this weekend. They were able to "shrink" it back down to a size 11 without having to cut the ring, which was a plus, although the final "pattern" on the ring isn't quite "exactly" what it used to be, it's still my ring. And it FITS without feeling like it's about to fall off, too. I like that. A lot!

You may wonder what the best thing about my weight loss is, and then again, you may not. Anyway, the best thing....hmmmmm. Running? Better fitting / new / smaller clothes? Feeling great? Substantially less medications? Compliments? All great things to feel great about, to be sure. But the best? The best is getting to go through this with the woman who gave me that wedding band on May 1, 1993. The best is sharing this experience with her. The best is giving her that ring again and allowing her to slip it back on my ring finger where it belongs.

She's the best! By far!