I HAD SO MUCH TO GAIN… ONCE I LOST
How many people can pinpoint the moment they found the courage to make their dreams come true? I can. The date was July 23, 2012. The day I went under the knife – for weight loss surgery – a gastric bypass, to be specific. Nearly two years later I am down 115 lbs. and still losing (albeit slowly).
Before the surgery, I was that very large woman in the corner, holding up the wall. The mom at school that all the Yoga moms pointedly ignored. The writer who went to her first writers conference but didn’t have the nerve to talk to anyone and made a complete mess of her first pitch in front of an editor.
As the weight came off, I started putting myself out there. I joined the Emerald City Writers Conference committee and started to get to know other members of the writing community. This time I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the conference. I rocked both my pitches and it gave me the confidence to start setting larger writing goals and sending out more submissions.
Just before the one year anniversary of my surgery, I learned that Crimson Romance wanted to publish my book, Drawn to Jonah. (I have since decided that July is my LUCKY month!). Almost another year has passed since that floating-on-cloud-nine moment and Crimson has published two more of my books. I am frantically trying to pick up my writing pace in order to compete with the market of fast-turnaround series’.
Speaking of picking up the pace, this weight loss has inspired me to train for and complete my first 5k. I was my daughter’s running buddy for the Girls on the Run 5k over Mother’s Day weekend. I was so proud of her and pretty darned pleased with myself for not embarrassing her by collapsing in heap after the first mile.
Did I mention that all of these momentous milestones happened after I turned 40? Yep. Best darned decade of my life… so far. It’s pretty awesome being half the person I used to be. And I am making the most of the new and improved me.
Author Bio:
Jennifer DeCuir writes small town contemporary romances while wrangling two kids, a husband, and three neurotic pets. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, where she can never get enough sunshine or caffeine. Her Scallop Shores series, published by Crimson Romance, is based on her hometown of York, Maine. When she isn’t writing or reading, she is probably adding to her obsessively huge yarn stash and wondering what gifts she’s going to crochet for Christmas this year.
Social Media Links:
Twitter: http://bit.ly/160UYHt
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/HdgQXi
Website: http://bit.ly/1bbkFom
Pinterest: http://bit.ly/1aE8XBg
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/1k35SPl
Books:
Drawn to Jonah (a RONE 2014 Nominee and 2nd place winner in the 2012 ECO contest)
Quinn finds new purpose in life caring for the local handyman’s daughter and teaching the sexy single dad how to read. He knows he owes her a huge debt, but he’ll start by giving her his heart.
Amazon link: http://amzn.to/1bSSBHr
B&N link: http://bit.ly/1aHR9IP
Five of Hearts
Shannon is a single mom to triplets. Dean is a former boy band member hiding from the latest fake paternity scam. They couldn’t be more wrong for each other. Sometimes falling in love is more about chance than choice.
Amazon link: http://amzn.to/Mp0ahN
B&N link: http://bit.ly/1eK6ypW
Wynter’s Journey (A 2nd place winner in the 2013 ECO contest)
A childhood promise brings Wynter and Sam together again after tragedy ripped them apart over ten years earlier. Fate has given him a second chance to tell her how he feels. This time he’s not going to run.
Amazon link: http://amzn.to/Qlv4cG
SSLYblog 
I’m sharing this on my fb page! I wish I follow in your footsteps, health wise. Right behind you in getting a sequel finished to submit to Crimson and would love to attend the Emerald City event some year.
Good luck with your own weight loss journey, Kathleen. I’m registering for Emerald City today. 🙂
Your story is very inspiring, Jennifer, and you have such a fabulous glow in the photos I’ve seen. I just rejoined Weight Watchers, so it’s great to read such an encouraging story. Congratulations on all you’ve accomplished in the last year or so.
Thank you so much, Liv. Good luck with WW. Can’t wait to read about your own success story. 🙂
What an inspiring story! Congratulations.
Thank you, Peggy. I’m pretty happy. 😀
Wow, Jennifer! You’re living proof that women in their 30s and 40s have so much more depth than a person just starting out. Way to go, both personally and professionally.
Becky, I remember being so scared of getting old when I was a teen. Now I’m excited for all the opportunities that I would have only squandered as a reckless kid.
Wow! Inspirational, and something I needed to hear and now need to remember daily! Congratulations, Jennifer–on making the most of life, living your dreams–congratulations on it all. And continued success in everything, too!
Thank you so much, Leslie. I need to remind myself of how hard I’ve worked to get here — so I don’t go back to the bad habits that made surgery necessary in the first place.
Wonderful post, Jennifer. I applaud your courage to share with everyone your struggle. I wish you the very best in your writing career!
Carol, I was on the fence for years, not quite having the courage to go through with the surgery. I wish I’d found a post like this that would have convinced me to take the leap sooner.
Congratulations to you! I had gastric by-pass surgery in 2001, when it was not so easy or popular. I have lost and kept off 130 pounds, not as much as I wanted to loose, but much better then what I was. Keep up the great work!
130 lbs is definitely nothing to sneeze at. Huge congrats for keeping it off. That must have been so scary to have the surgery back when it was a much more involved process. I can’t imagine the recovery process was very easy. You are a brave woman. 🙂
What an amazing post! You go and go and go!
Thank you, Lynn. And I appreciate your stopping by to visit. 🙂