New Picture added...I've offically lost the first 20 pounds!!!

Hi all. So I passed the first 20 pounds lost checkpoint this weekend (Yay!!). 

As promised I have posted an updated picture showing my change so far. You can see some differences, the shirt fitting a little looser, my face looks a little thinner too.

I know part of it is because of the exercise I have been doing along with dieting (I love eliptical trainers by the way) but I am feeling quite a bit better already and my average blood pressure has dropped by a little bit.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the new pic...20 down, 180ish to go!

Again, thanks for your support and prayers.

Second nutritionist appointment (2 down 4 to go)...

So this will probably be a short post, but I said I would try and do an update after any surgery related appointment.  So here goes…

So I had my second appointment with the dietitian doing my 6 month medically supervised diet.  It went pretty well. The dieticians (they were training a new staffer) were impressed with my weight loss, especially since I had lost 6 pounds in 6 days.   I personally think that is too fast but am also sure that was not true weight loss. My appointment last week was later in the day and I had drank a lot of water that day and had a big yet healthy lunch, yesterday I went in earlier and hadn’t had much of anything to eat or drink yet.  I am guessing 3.5 to 4 pounds actually lost and then a difference in what I had eaten the 2 days.

We went thru what I had been doing diet wise and they thought it sounded great, their only thing they wanted to adjust was adding more protein to my breakfast, should be easy enough to do.

I am also supposed to be making some small changes to how I eat.  You may recall that last time they wanted me to try cutting out milk from my diet and try cutting my food into smaller pieces.  I have almost entirely cut milk from my diet, I still have some on my cereal a couple mornings a week and a glass of milk maybe once a week (for anyone that knows me, this is a significant change).  I have tried cutting the food small, it is just hard to remember, guess that is the point, try and form the habit now so it feels more natural when I have to do it.

The new adjustment starting this month is cutting out pop; this isn’t about the calories or the possible negative effects of artificial sweeteners in diets.  The reason is because of the carbonation and the effect that all the carbonation and extra gases can have on my stomach at the size it is going to be after surgery.  I don’t think this one will be too hard, but we will see.

So that is pretty much it for the appointment. 

I started working out again yesterday after having to take a few weeks off die to a hamstring injury; I jumped on the scale at the gym too (using the gym scale as my weekly baseline scale).  I am down to 393.8 which is a total of 18.6 pounds since I officially started this blog.  

Pretty sure I will cross the first 20 pound mark this week so, as promised, I will get a couple new pictures up this weekend showing the progress so far…so stay tuned.

Thanks again for following me on this journey and thanks for all the prayers!

First appointment with the surgeon...

Sorry it’s been a while since the last post. Just didn’t have much to report. I’ll try and post something after each appointment.  I am sure they will increase in frequency as the surgery eventually gets closer…probably mid February at the earliest.

Had my first appointment with my Surgeon (Dr. Michael Snyder) yesterday.  Aside from them losing my file and needing to fill out all the first time paperwork again it went well.

The appointment was basically just a quick one-on-one consult. We discussed which actual procedure I want to get (roux-en-y gastric bypass), Dr Snyder thinks I am a prime candidate for this particular procedure. Discussed medical history and co-morbities due to excess weight (in my case primarily sleep apnea and high blood pressure). 

We also discussed what the doctor thought would be a good ideal weight for me to get down to.  Dr. Snyder thought that 215 sounder like a good goal based on my body frame size. I had initially wanted to aim for 200 but in all honesty I have never seen what I look like as a full grown adult at approaching a “healthy weight” so for now I am more than happy with the idea of 215 pounds for a goal.  If I get there and think I can afford to lose more I will cross that bridge when I get there.  For the record getting to 215 would be a total weight loss of 200 pounds, basically losing a full grown healthy man.

We also discussed some tests and labs that I have to have done before the surgery.  Some are just for Dr. Snyder’s benefit, some are to qualify for insurance.  Basically I am going to be getting a full blood lab workup, a psych eval (that should be fun, or at least interesting), and a test to check my heart.

After that I also had to talk to the case manager to make sure I knew everything I needed to do to satisfy the insurance guidelines.

For the record I am now under 400 pounds, hopefully never to return.  I am at 399.6 pounds.

I have an appointment with the dietician next week number (2 of 6 with her), I will post another update after that appointment.

Thanks for following and thanks for all the prayers.