The first year my husband and I were married, we planted a garden. We had both worked along side our parents as children, and were no stranger to family farming. But this experience was far more than either of us bargained for. We began to realize, we really didn't have a clue how much work there was to be done to bring forth a harvest in an abandoned field. 

We worked hard on our garden. It was quite a large undertaking for the two of us. We claimed our ground, too much ground, actually. We rented a tiller, cut through huge weeds to clear out space in an untended field. Everyday after work, we would work in our garden. With very little rain that year, we transported water in our trash cans, for a mile in the trunk of our small red Vega, because we didn't have a water source.

Then, after all that work, the bugs and critters ate more of our crop than we did. We did harvest mounds of cucumbers and squash. So much in fact, we couldn't give it away fast enough. I guess even animals, insects and root rot don't like squash. 

Looking back, I was reminded that successful weight loss is like growing a garden.

In the beginning of my weight loss surgery journey in early 2006, the Lord was also planting some "seeds" in my life. I came across a scripture in the Book of Isaiah. Although, at the time I was preparing for my physical weight loss journey, I had a lot more "inner" work to do than I knew or ever dreamed there was to do. As I read this passage from I began to see and experience it's implications. At the time, this verse became significant to me in a spiritual sense, but little did I know how much promise it held to keep me growing forward emotionally in the years ahead.    

"This year you will eat what grows by itself, and the second year what springs from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit." Isaiah 37:30

The First Year

During this time in history, the Israelites were returning to their homeland from a place of captivity. I would guess that the land was probably not tended in their absence. It would take about three years for a vineyard to produce fruit. There was work to be done.

This verse in Isaiah 37:30 tells us that the first year they got a little bit of a break. The existing vines would produce enough to sustain them.

Just like the first year after weight loss surgery, weight loss does seem to progress "by itself"—compliance with diet and exercise and things go fairly effortlessly. But then, comes the second and third years.

The Years Ahead

The second year you seem to be sailing along on the heels of your success, just as the verse implies, whatever comes, even though you may have to put forth a little more effort, you hardly seem to notice—you're still in the honeymoon stage of weight loss, everything is just fine. Then as you come to the end of the weight loss phase, things become harder. Something seems to be nibbling away at our hard earned success. Not only does weight loss seem to require more "work", so does compliance. Sowing is easy compared to tending and reaping.  

As weight loss surgery patients, we have all faced the statement, "Oh, you took the easy way out". Yeah, right!  Any one who has experienced bariatric surgery first-hand knows differently. Easy. The relatives, husbands, wives, close friends, sisters, brothers, sons, or daughters, even trained health care professional and physicians—they all work along side. They are a great support team, indispensable, but they are just that—support. They keep us strong and steady. They help us stand when we need a helping hand. But they don't, and can't, do the work for us. They see the results of our efforts, but it's another matter to go through the emotional and mental experiences of the weight loss journey. In order to accomplish long-term weight loss success, there is an inner work that has to be accomplished to bring forth lasting fruit—a work that only we can do.

Have you ever planted a garden? Just like weight loss surgery, I was somewhat prepared for the physical work, but I wasn't prepared for the emotional work. Just like the Israelites, spiritually, I had to been held in the captivity of obesity and I need to be set free. Just like planting a garden, the fruit of freedom is like the fruit we harvest from the ground, it doesn't just come up by scattering a few seeds here and there. We must prepare the soil, water, prune and tend the field. Sometimes the weeding seems endless. Then there are those pesky critters to contend with.

If you have ever planted a garden or even a small tomato plant or a blueberry bush, you know that every seed you plant or plant you set doesn't come to fruition. Nor does the garden just grow and produce healthy fruit on it's own. I'm certain there were things that stole your harvest and it took some effort to find what was nibbling at your success.

Just like our first garden experience, I found out quickly that planting and watering the garden was the easy part. Dealing with unlying causes of not producing fruit was the key to success. Gardening under the tutelage of my parents was different, I didn't have to worry about the success of the garden I just helped water, weed and harvest.

Just like weight loss surgery, there is work involved. The first year goes easy, but long-term success comes with lots of hard work, for years to come. Weight loss success requires emotional, mental and spiritual work.

Richard and I had no idea what was eating our tomatoes, nibbling on bean stalks, digging up the roots, or stealing our harvest. Just like life after surgery, finding the root causes of what ails us, things hidden from sight, hidden hurts, deep down where no one else sees is what we really need to focus on. Some have long roots that have entwined themselves around our heart so tightly that they have choked out our self-esteem and self-worth. Some plants grow just fine on the ground, but others need to be guided upward or even sheltered, and protected.

Just like growing a garden, the promise of success comes with diligent work. In the end the victory is as sweet and delicious as fresh as hand-picked fruit. It's the difference between a store bought tomato and a fresh summer variety picked straight from the vine. The fruit of your labor is so much more rewarding than "grocery store" shopping.   

So it is with permanent weight loss. There is a lot of work to be done to be successful, but so worth it. Just as the rewards to planting come with great rewards, so does the "emotional" weeding we do for weight loss success. The end result provides us with health not just for us, but also to those around us. Easy...no, but the reward is a harvest of long-term success.

Yes, you can. You have many more miles to go!