Feb 26 2010 - "I'm Back In The Saddle Again"

I’m back on the weight-loss curve again! Down to 237lbs this morning. I was plateaued at 240 for over 2 weeks, but didn’t change anything – same diet, same exercise, same everything. Maybe now I can get these last 27 pounds off….
Laurie is still in Houston visiting her daughter Bridgette and new grandson Jon Jon, and they are having a ball being together again. I can only imagine how tough it must be to live that far away from her daughter and new grandbaby…. Thank goodness for AirTran and cheap Tuesday ATL<->HOU flights!

Sun 02/21/2010 - how big is a 50lb bag of bird seed?

Wow. Everything is so normal. My weight has plateaued at 240 for now. Its been a week since I have lost anything, but I am OK with that. It has been four months since the surgery, and I am down 108 pounds. My ultimate goal is to get down to 210, but I feel so much better now than before.
My brother and I are at my parent's mountain cabin for the weekend and we drove into Blue Ridge for some supplies - one of the things we needed was bird seed. I bought a 50lb sack and the fellow at the Blue Ridge Feed and Seed ("The Zoo") loaded it into Stella for me. When we got back to the cabin I threw that bag over my shoulder and walked it down to the lower level - and I imagined that just three short months ago I was carrying around TWO of those 50lb bags of seed on my frame. It does make you think......
My meals are going good, I am able to eat pretty much anything I want, but I have had to get accustomed to dating what I want and THAT IS ALL. No guilt about leaving food on my plate. It is just the way it is. No doggie bag (what, am I gonna eat it later?) No apologies. Buy what you want to eat, then eat what you want to eat, then have the strength to say "that's enough". That has been a tough lesson to learn.

Good Followup Visit with Dr. Richard on 02/11/2010

I had a great followup with Dr. Richard. He said that with my trip to Mexico coming up quickly (3/9 thru 3/23/2010), and me doing well under the current regieme, he was not going to change a thing. I am taking 4 doses of Reglan daily, and when I return Dr. Richard will start to take me off of that, first to two doses daily for 2 weeks, then none.
But I really have been doing great - no abdominal pain at all. My appetite has returned, which is really scary because if I am not very aware of it, the weight will return. I have to remember - and remember and remember - that this gastric bypass surgery is just a tool for a lifetime of weight control. It is not a magic potion, for 'it' can be defeated and I could potentially end up right where I started; or worse!
And after going through all of this, I will not permit that to happen. I'm currently at 240 and seem to have hit some kind of plateau. Dr. Richard says to be patient - those last 30 pounds will be the hardest to lose! He also wants me to start exercising, especially in the upper chest area. He said that as men lose weight, it becomes the most obvious in the chest and shoulders, and we can, if not very careful, start to look gaunt. I don't want that!
It snowed today in Auburn, GA, and it was a dry, fluffy snow. Within just a few hours everything was covered and as long as my loved ones and I are safe and sound, I say let it snow! But I am already tired of it. To add to this fun, Laurie and I are packing a ReloCube this weekend to have shipped to Bridgette and family in Houston, TX - and the snow is adding a new wrinkle to this project! I'll post results of all of that later, but here is a link to the pictures of the snow - and the ReloCube.

Feb 07 2010 - Boxers or Briefs?

My underwear is getting really sad. I know I am not supposed to go out and buy new clothes till I get (most) all of the weight off, but my underwear is just really, really sad. So I went out last night to Wal Mart and bought new underwear and socks. Boxers! Hey, it is time for a change.
My weight is down to 240, my blod sugars are in the 100-110 range, blood pressure looks good, so far everything is going my way! I have an appt next week with my surgeon Dr. Richard. It has been over a months since my last 'episode' with abdominal pain. Perhaps the Reglan is working? Something is!

Lunch today, Feb 04 2010 Open-faced Turkey Sandwich with...

Luch today was just absolutely yummy: an open-faced turkey (no bread), a scoop of cornbread dressing and a serving of steamed squash. 2 Clementines. Totals: 650cal, 33gProtein. I also had my powdered IsoPure Protein in a pint of chocolate Milk: 330cal, 66gProtein. Totals so far for the day: 980cal, 99gProtein.
Dr. Richard wants me to get back onto more solid foods, and it looks like that is working just fine. My weight this morning was 240lb - down 108 total, 30lb to go. Stella is really working well and she is a blast to drive.
Life is good. I go back to Dr. Richard for a checkup next week, on Feb10. So far, no more episodes of that unexplained abdominal pain. Thumbs up and fingers crossed!

It's February! Have you ever tried Wakame soup?

things have been going very well for me as of late. I have been able to eat fresh fruit again, and am doing well in getting my protein in mixing the powder with milk, most notably with Nesquick flavored reduced fat milk. Laurie and I had BBQ for dinner over the weekend, but it just didn't work for me - I barely ate two or three bites and even then I had to be certin to chew it very thoroughly. For lunch yesterday I tried spinach lasagna from the cafeteria at work, and while it was very tasty, I only ate a few bites. I also had a side salad, and that was quite good, and with 1000 Island dressing, satiated my lunch needs.
In fact, I am finding that salads are becoming a larger part of my daily meals. The roughage is good, the variety is nice, and it seems to be working quite well.
I also found Wakame soup, a Japanese Seaweek soup - quite tasty! And Amazon.com has a deal going on right now.
Bridgette and RJ and baby Jon are moving into their first apartment in mid-February, so Laurie and I are arranging for some of Bridgette's things to be shipped out to her in Sugarland, TX. That ought to keep us busy for awhile!

Hey Hey - sorry I have been absent for a few days (11/28/2010)

It has been a few days since I last checked in, and for that I apologize. My weight loss continues, as of today 1/28/2010, I am at 242 pounds, down 106 pounds in 3 months (10/22/2009 surgery date). I have returned to a somewhat regular diet, but I still have not recovered my taste for beef. I miss a good rare steak, but if it were set before me I would not eat it. Yesterday I went to lunch with a colleague and we ate at a Mexican restaurant. I ordered the lunch special (burrito, taco, tamale) – he asked ‘can you eat all that?” I responded that, no, I could not. But one thing I had to get over was that I could NOT eat ‘all that’, but be satisfied with what I could eat and not feel bad about leaving half of the meal or more. No doggie bag, no leftovers, no guilt. Eat what I want, then push the plate away. It is harder than it sounds, not because4 I am hungry, but because I feel guilty for NOT eating it all.

Since I was here last I bought a new (to me) car – a 2007 BMW Z4, picture attached. Her name is sTella II. Stella I was my 1990 BMW 750iL, and Stella II is quite the scooter! I had to travel to Luxury Motors in Chicago to picker up, lots of pics are here and here. I also spent a great day of fun with some coworkers and friends at the golf course, pics of that outing are here.

I’m working hard to get my daily protein in, eat more solid food, and NOT have a reoccurrence of the pain I had on 11/29 and 01/02/2010 (coincidence that those two dates were also holidays?) Dr. Richard prescribed Reglan for 30 days and has me continuing the Protonix, so far so good. I promise to be more prompt!

I had been thinking about a nice “I Love Me’ present for once I reached my weight goal, but I went ahead, 30 pounds early, and found the right car. Bridgette (step daughter) and her husband RJ and baby Jon live in Sugarland TX and are without a car, and they really need a car – so I am shipping my 1989 BMW 325iS (“Booger “) to them now that my 2007 BMW Z4 – Stella – is here! But Stella was in Chicago and Luxury Motors.com wanted $600 to ship her to me. I found one-way plane tickets from ATL to O’Hare for $114, so Laurie and I took off on 01/22/2010 and we spent the weekend in Chicago, picked Stella up on Monday, and drove back to Atlanta – in the snow! 754 miles, we got as far as Bowling Green, KY before we had to stop for the night. Then up at 4am and finished the journey home before noon on 01/26. What an adventure!