Another Milestone Reached...

Hi Y’all. 

Time for another blog post.  I know it has been a while since my last one.  I had originally said  I would try and do a post every week. Obviously, I have stopped doing this and I have sort of decided I am just going to do posts primarily when I hit 20 pound points and then if something happens that I think can justify a post (my one year anniversary, getting to the point of having skin removal surgery, etc).  I quite simply don’t have enough content to justify more frequent posts. Before there was rapid change and things to report, now I am still losing but it is slower and it has gone from being this dynamic, exciting period of change to a point of me being more fully adjusted to my new life.

That doesn’t mean that I am not still progressing and changing, because I am.  I still have quite a bit of weight that I can afford to lose but I have been working out and getting in better shape that I really do feel that I am at the point of having a pretty athletic  person hidden behind the remaining fat and excess skin.   I have noticed quite a few situations where my stamina is much improved, my balance is a lot better and my agility has definitely improved.

A good example of this was forced upon me the other day.  Someone decided to accidentally set of the fire alarm in the building we work in. I work on the 11^th floor and we had to take the stairs down to the first floor. A year ago I would have probably been one of the last down the stairs, would have been exhausted, and my legs would have been sore for probable a few days.  Now I was the second one to the bottom, was just slightly out of breath and instead of being sore for a few days I felt good enough to go and do a spinning class after work that evening.

I still continue to notice other changes in my body like my fingers continuing to shrink and bones starting to stick out where they hadn’t before.  My favorite change recently, however, is with my butt.  Needless to say, I have lost a lot of padding in that particular area and it makes a big difference, chairs just feel different.  I find I have to change my sitting posture just because they ways I had trained my body to sit applied pressure in different places than it does now.  One of the stranger changes was one I experienced the other day.  I was sitting on a hard wooden chair and was sort of rocking side to side. It used to be that I had so much ‘padding’ that it was a smooth transition from one side to the other.  Now I seem to shift from one pelvic bone to the other with a sort of gap between (picture having a side-to-side rocking chair and the difference between trying to rock the rocking chair and trying to rock a chair with regular legs).

So, I do continue to lose but it is at quite a bit slower rate.  I did hit the next 20-pound mark, which was at 255, and actually, I am now down to 250. That is a total of 165 pounds lost since I started doing this blog.  Of course that also means it is time for some new comparison pics. I will throw a couple of other pics up here too.

I continue to be amazed at how much of an impact my experience and this blog have had on other people.  Several people have told me that my story has motivated them to make some sort of major change in their life.  I have one friend that has already had the same surgery I had with the same surgeon due, at least in part, to my experience. I have one other friend who is working thru the process of qualifying for the surgery as well.  I also know of at least one other friend that has also now decided to have the surgery and at least two others that are seriously considering it.

My friend Dennis is the one who has had the surgery.  He is supposed to be coming back to work this week and I cannot wait to see how much he has lost already. I am also looking forward to watching someone else go thru what I just went thru.  I also can’t wait to pay forward all the support and encouragement I have been given during my journey.

Now to the other major life change in my life this year and that is, of course, my son Evren. He is now 5 and  a half months old and is definitely moving along in his development. His health issues seem, for the most part, to be behind him although he is still quite a bit smaller than average. But aside from this week where he has been having an unpleasant experience with his first 2 teeth coming in he is a happy healthy little baby boy.

Well that pretty much does it for this post, thanks for reading, and of course thanks for the thoughts, prayers and encouragement.

The Return of "The Incredible Shrinking Man"...

Hey  y’all.

It has been a while since my last post; I know it’s well overdue.  I knew it was overdue but I just checked when my last one was and it was just over a month ago.  I really am sorry for not posting sooner...I 've been busy (being a first time parent will do that), tired (it does that too), and a little bit discouraged and I really just haven’t been in the mood recently but in any case, sorry.

I love how I seem to go thru phases and notice different things at different times.  Some of which I have heard about and have been looking forward to, others have surprised me.  I have been experiencing both recently. 

I’ve known I would reach a point where my bones would start being more prominent, this catches some others off guard when their pelvic bones or shoulders start appearing and they have never seen them before.  I have reached the point where my ankles are having more definition and so are my shoulder blades. Unfortunately another side effect of this much weight loss this fast is loose skin, I have been noticing this recently too.  My belly and thighs are getting a little loose and I am developing what my siblings and I used to refer to (on my grandma Noble) as “batwings” under my arms (yes, I have a pic).

The other one takes a little explaining.  Sitting has always provided its own special set of challenges in several ways.  I wasn’t able to sit in booths in most restaurants because they were too small, I couldn’t sit on the floor for more than about 10 minutes or my legs would be going numb, and when sitting in a chair it was basically just legs flared out to the sides or ankle resting on knee.  Recently all of these things have changed.  I find I can fit into booths now; I am able to spend a lot more time on the floor now which lets me spend a lot more time playing with my son.  I also find myself being able to sit in a lot of different positions with legs crossed or knees up to my chest or on the floor Indian style. 

I have also found that since my weight has shifted and I have less padding than I used to. I seem to constantly need to find some slightly new positions to sit in because they just don’t feel right.  I am constantly making little adjustments to my chair at work and in my car.

My wardrobe continues to dwindle because I am getting rid of clothes faster than I can afford to replace them even when shopping at Savers or finding other good deals on cheap clothes.  One nice thing I have taken advantage of recently is that I have a wonderful mother-in-law that on top of all her other wonderful traits is an incredibly talented seamstress (she made my wife’s beautiful wedding dress).  This comes in handy since beggars can’t always be choosers when shopping at Savers and sometimes all the measurements don’t quite line up.  I know that at least as long as it is close to fitting she can hem it or make some other modification or repair that in a lot of cases looks better than it did originally.

I have recommended several times to others not to pay too much attention to the scale when dieting and instead focus on the NSV’s.  Recently I have been really bad about this.  I have pretty much given up trying to predict or declare the beginning or end of plateaus because as soon as I say something it seems to change.  All I know is that my weight loss has really slowed and become really erratic over the last month and a half and it is really frustrating.

I know part of the reason is that I had gotten out of my workout routine when my son was in the hospital and I really had a hard time getting back into it.  When I finally did get back into the gym routine I decided to really focus on building muscle for a while and really hit it pretty hard. I think not working out for a bit and then working on building muscle which is heavier than fat is part of the reason the scale isn’t moving as fast as I like.

I have since decided that at some point I will need to work on building muscle but for now I still have a long way to go and still need to focus more on just loosing the weight. I also know it is normal at some point for the rapid weight loss to slow…which brings me to…

I had my six month follow up and nutrition reminder/refresher last week.  Turns out I am not the only one struggling with slowing weight loss and finding myself in a bit of a diet rut.  Apparently this is pretty normal around 6 to 9 months and people find they need some new food ideas and new workout ideas. Interestingly I looked like I had lost the most of the people there that I had been in other nutrition classes with before, that was encouraging.

Now we get to the meat of the matter and that is my weight, I mentioned that my weight loss had been frustratingly slow.  A month ago I was at 279, today I am at 271.  I know that is right in line with what they say is a “healthy” weight loss rate but when you have been losing at the rate I had been that seems like a snail’s pace.

Of course, since I am under 275 that means that it is time for more pictures.  I have some 20 pound comparison pictures up, I have also put some other pictures of me up. (And simply because he is cute and awesome I put up some more pictures of my little boy Evren…what can I say, I’m a proud papa!)

I really love hearing back from people how much they love reading my blog and how it has inspired them to change something in their life.  The feedback that I am most excited about is the fact that 2 of my coworkers have decided to go thru with gastric bypass with my surgeon because of reading my blog and seeing my success. I found out that one of them, Dennis Rogers, has been approved and is scheduled for surgery on September 17^th. I told him that right after surgery he will hate me but that it will all be worth it in the end. I am really excited for him and excited about watching the changes I went thru from an observers point of view instead of the one going thru it.

That brings me to the update about my son, Evren.  As I mentioned last time he had been in Children’s hospital with problems growing and keeping formula down.  He is doing much better now, he still has his rough days (yesterday was one) and we have needed to tweak some of his medications as he grows but he is still growing and is up to 10lbs, 2oz.  While he is still small he is still maturing at a normal rate in other ways as far as muscle development and control. In general, he is doing well and I absolutely love being a father.

That pretty much does it for this post. Thanks for reading and as always thanks for the thoughts, prayers and encouragement.

The diet takes a back seat...

        Hey Y’all, once again it has been about 2 weeks since my last post, I would still like to do an update every week but I am thinking that for the foreseeable future it is more likely that they will usually be every other week unless I have something big to cover. 

I will apologize in advance to those who are just here for an update regarding my weight loss.  A lot happened in the last 2 weeks that isn’t related to my surgery and diet.  We will get to that in a bit, but first the diet.

Two weeks ago I declared that I was in the middle of my 2^nd plateau , well apparently the surefire way of getting thru a plateau is to declare its presence publicly because within a couple of days I started losing again.  Plateaus are so strange from a dieter’s perspective.  You don’t change anything, you are still sticking to your diet and exercise and the scale just stops moving, you stick to your guns, are patient, keep doing everything right and suddenly for seemingly no reason the scale eventually starts moving.  I am glad God knew what he was doing when he made us and knows how everything works because I certainly don’t understand it at times.

It is always nice to see the scale moving in the right direction but I think seeing everything shrinking and having old clothes be too big is far better.  I know all brands sizes are slightly different and some brands just generally fit smaller or larger but I found a regular XL shirt (that’s right no numbers or extra x’s ) shirt that I could fit into the other day, that felt awesome.  I also officially have no clothes left (except socks) from before the surgery, I have shrunk out of everything.

Following a diet will always be challenging, that is why so many fail but I find it interesting that the same is still true even after surgery.  I find I go thru phases where my motivation wanes somewhat or my self-control goes thru waves.  I found a few weeks ago that I had a hard time knowing exactly when to stop eating and would end up taking a n extra couple of bites (an yes 2 extra bites can make a HUGE difference between full and miserable).  Over the last couple of weeks I seem to have gotten better at knowing exactly when to stop and what a difference it makes not being miserable for a few minutes after every meal.

Now, to the numbers.  Two weeks ago, I was at 288, I have had a pretty good couple of weeks and am down to 279.  That means I am within just a few pounds of my next 20-pound milestone so I am thinking O will have an update next week and have some new pictures to post as well.

As I mentioned I actually had a busy and interesting couple of weeks since my last post.  This actually involves my other big life change this year.  That of course is my son Evren.  Evren was born pretty small and has always seemed to struggle to keep formula down and gain weight.  Well the day after my last post  he took a turn for the worse , he started throwing or spitting up almost everything he would eat. We took him to his pediatrician and they checked for milk allergies and some other conditions and checked his weight for 2 days.  In 2 days he lost 4 ounces from 7lb, 14 oz down to 7lb 10oz. atthis point he was admitted to Children’s Hospital here in Denver.  (Luckily Denver has one of the best children’s hospitals in the entire country).  While there he lost some more down to 7lb 4 oz, so a total of at least 10 oz and we think probably at least 2 more before he saw the pediatrician.

We were there for 5 days, they ran all sorts of tests and finally concluded that what happened was a combination of several things.  First, they think that he caught some sort of stomach bug that exacerbated some other conditions.  They also determined that he has really bad infant acid reflux and bad infant gas. 

The staff pediatrician told us that not only would they figure out what was causing the issues but that the may very well return a different son to us attitude-wise.  That is exactly what happened, we have made several changes and they seem to be working and Evren seems a lot more mellow except he still has some issues with gas pains some evenings.

While in the hospital, we experimented with almost every anti-gas bottle on the market and finally settled on Dr. Browns bottles.  We are also on a higher calorie fortified anti-gas formula and a more structured feeding schedule of smaller meals more frequently.  Evren is also on some infant acid reflux medicine and gas drops.  He also has a new bassinet that allows him to sleep at an angle.

All these changes seem to be working and as of last Friday he had regained all of the weight he had lost and was up to 8lb, 2oz. He is also definitely growing more and is finally starting to fill in and have a little bit of baby fat.

I am thinking that will do it for this week.  Thanks for reading , and of course thanks for all the thoughts prayers, and encouragement (especially the prayers for Evren recently.)

Stuck...

Hi Y’all. 

I know, I know…it’s been 3 weeks since my last post, for that I am really sorry.  I really don’t have much to report on for this post.

I had mentioned last time that I thought I had entered a plateau but that it looked like I was wrong and I was losing again.  Well, I think I have picked up on a bit of a pattern.  With my last plateau back in March/April I had a false plateau followed by a sudden small drop setting my mind at ease then the real plateau following right after.  I seem to be experiencing the same pattern, I thought I had plateaued dropped a few more pounds thought I was out of the woods.  Now weight loss has come to a screeching halt.  I have been stuck at between 290 and 287 for a few weeks now.

I have said that I know that plateaus are a part of any weight loss and that I know they are temporary but even knowing these things they are still frustrating and discouraging.  I have however found that they may have a benefit as well.  I had sort of found myself in a rut and was not exercising as much as I should have  and was not sticking as stringently to my diet as I should have been (that is not to say I was being bad , I was just not being as good as I could have been).

There were several factors in not working out much, the exhaustion from new fatherhood was (and to some degree still is) drawing on my motivation.  Colorado also had one of the worst heat waves in its history and that heat just sucks the life out of you (Yes, I know that to my family in Dallas that 105°

 is not hot but for here it is really freakin’ hot).  I believe I am adjusting to fatherhood somewhat, not that it is any easier, just that I am more used to its physical, mental and emotional impact now.

In any case I seem to be back on track now, working out with more frequency and drive and I also seem to have my narrower focus back as far as what I eat.  So I know it is just a matter of time until the scale starts moving again.

I had another exciting clothing related NSV recently.  I won’t go into too much detail here for the sake of all the pictures in your heads.  I will just say that my socks are the only items of clothing I have yet needed to get in a smaller size. ;-)

I also did decide to get a new gray sleeveless shirt for the 20 pound comparison pictures.  I felt that the original one had gotten to the point where it was so loose that you couldn’t tell if what was underneath had shrunk or not.  I am still holding onto it and will do one last round of pics in it when I reach goal weight.  Be looking for the debut of the new shirt when I reach the next 20 pound mark (275 pounds), hopefully soon.

So, 3 weeks ago I was at 294, well the following week I dropped to 290 and the week after down to 288 and that is where I am still setting today.  Hopefully I am closer to the end of this plateau than the start.  I will keep you al informed.

Of course it wouldn’t be a complete blog post from me without an update on the newest member of the family.  Evren is doing great; he is still in the brace for the hip dysplasia but should be out of it by the end of the month.  He is growing like crazy; I absolutely love being able to see huge changes in him from day to day.   And in case you haven’t figured it out or I hadn’t said it enough…being a daddy rocks!!

That pretty much does it for this week, once again sorry for the long gap here.  Thanks for reading and thanks again as always for the thoughts, prayers and encouragement.

Paying it forward...

     Hey Y'all, thanks for reading.  I am thinking this is gonna be a fairly short post, not a whole lot to report this week.

I am in the choir at the church April and I attend.  The last few years they have done a special men's choir for Father's Day.  I have been in it the last two years.  This year the dress code for the services was a single color button down shirt and jeans.  I love being put in a position to have to buy new clothes and this was one of those times.  I had to get a new shirt because I had long since shrunk out of all my button down shirts.  I know I still have a long way to go but compared to what I used to look like in dressier shirts I gotta admit I looked pretty good.  The men's choir at church along with bar-b-ques with the family made for a really great first Father's Day for me.

Saturday morning I took part in the panel of patients who had already had the surgery at Dr. Snyder's info seminar for those considering surgery.  There were seven of us, I was the second most recent surgery and I was still the largest among the group but I also had by far the highest starting weight among them.  It was fun to be there, show off a little bit to the staff, remember when I had been there sitting in the audience (A day I remember VERY clearly).  It was neat to hear some of Dr Snyder's updated stats a year later.  The national average for deaths per surgery for gastric bypass is around 1 in 200, Dr Snyder's current rate is 1 out of 3800 (that one was actually not due to surgery but happened within his six week statistical window so he still counts it).

It was also neat hearing the testimonial of the others on the panel.  They all got pretty good reactions, especially those that brought pants that were now way too big to show off.  I think I got the strongest reaction though just because my situation be somewhat unique with becoming a parent 3 months after having the surgery.

I told them about me researching and considering surgery for over ten years but how stuff just seemed to get in the way or didn't work out.  We all have lives and sometimes they can be complicated but that shouldn't deter them from going thru with the surgery and if I can get thru it with 2 huge life changes so close together then they most likely could handle the surgery and whatever else life decided to send their way.

So this week I am down to 294 pounds, another 4 pounds this week (4 pounds a week seems to be sort of the norm for me it seems).  That makes my total 121 pounds lost, which of course means more comparison pictures.  I continue to be amazed when I look at the pictures and can see the changes that even 20 pounds can make.

And of course I couldn't post new pictures here without posting some of my Son Evren.  Hope y'all enjoy.
That about does it for this week.  Thanks for reading and of course thanks for the thoughts, prayers and support.

The plateau that almost was...

Hi y’all.  Sorry I didn’t get a post up last week, I was really tired and somewhat frustrated (more on that later) and it didn’t get done.

I put on a little fashion show for my wife the other day... no, not that kind of fashion show.  I decided it  was time to go through a lot of my clothes and clean out anything that didn't fit. I let my wife have the final say on "Should (it) stay or should (it) go?" (one of the best song by The Clash) I am getting to the point where my closet is noticeably emptier. Now if I could just remember to actually take the huge pile of discarded clothes to the thrift store, the pile is almost as tall as my wife.  I am also experiencing an interesting phenomenon of looking at clothes, having a mental ruler in my head of how big my clothes are supposed to appear, thinking to myself this will never fit, trying it on anyway and having it fit me perfectly. 

For a few decades I have been in a mindset of knowing I wanted to lose weight but until now it hasn’t truly happened but because I knew I wanted to I would save clothes that became too small for me but were still in good shape.  Some eventually got tossed as I would move or do some spring cleaning but I still ended up with some smaller clothes to work back in to my wardrobe.  I am now fitting into some clothes I haven’t worn since college (I graduated in 2000).  Granted, some of which I don’t really want to wear now due to changes in fashion and taste but some still look good and/or current.


As I mentioned, one of the reasons I didn't post last week was frustration, my weight last week was 302 pounds, if you are keeping track that means I didn't loose anything last week and I really thought I had hit another of the dreaded plateaus.  I know they are just a part of the process and that eventually I will hit another one but even knowing this it is still really frustrating when they happen.


The good news is that it doesn't appear to be a plateau, just a bad week.  I think it was just my body adjusting to the huge change our family is going through, my wife thinks it's because I have been cheating more recently.  Actually, I am sure both are factors, my wife is right and I asked her to help me out getting back in the groove by holding me accountable and calling me on it if I try and cheat.


This week I am down to 298 pounds (UNDER 300, YAY!!!) I now have less than a hundred pounds to go.  Assuming all goes well I should pas 295 this week so I should have some new pictures next week (I'll have some new pics of Evren too, what can I say I'm a proud papa).


This journey I am on really got started July 7th of last year when I went to Dr Snyder's information seminar.  This weekend, 3 weeks short of a year I get to go again but this time as a participant in the panel of those who have had the surgery.  I am really excited about this, as you know I am really passionate about this and I can't wait to share my story with more people.  I am sure I will talk about this more in next weeks post.


That brings me to the other update I almost always give and that is my son Evren.  I can't put into word how much I am loving being a parent.  Yes I am tired but it is so worth it.  He is finally gaining weight at a decent rate and as of last week was up to 6lb, 8 oz, still tiny but up a nearly a pound in 9 days.  I love  being able to see changes in him (physically and behaviorally) on a daily basis.  Yesterday I noticed that it seemed like he was able to focus better and track better with his eyes, the way he was using them just seemed different.  I have Been told that as far as parents of newborns go we are actually pretty lucky because we are able to feed him before bed, he will sleep for 4 or 5 hours, and go right back down for another  4 hours after feeding and changing.


I think that about does it for this week.  Thanks for reading, and as always thanks for the thoughts, prayers, support and encouragement, they really do mean a lot.

A life in flux...

     Hi y'all I'm back...well most of me, some more of me has disappeared forever.  I am thinking I shouldn't have a problem getting back on my weekly schedule.

The last 14 days have been a whirlwind and the diet has taken some interesting turns but the scale has continued to move in the right direction.

I find that I do pretty well as far as water intake is concerned during the week (or at least when I am in a structured work environment).  I didn't do so well when My wife and I were staying in the hospital for Evren's birth.  The sad part is that it should have been easy, I was being sent down to get apple juice for April every few hours and I could have been grabbing water for me (I did some times, just didn't drink as much as I should).  Now that I am back at work I am doing far better, especially on workout days where I sometimes approach 100oz of water in a day.

One of the top questions I get asked is "Don't you get hungry with those small meals?", going into that I wondered if I would as well.  I had heard from several people that had gastric bypass that not only did they not get hungry but they sometimes had to set an alarm to remember to eat because they never feel hungry at all.  The morning of Evren's birth I had 2 turkey breakfast sausage links at about 6:30 in the morning.  I was so distracted for the day and the events that around 3:00 I realized I hadn't had anything else to eat.  I was just starting to feel hungry, mostly because I finally had a chance to sit and relax and reflect for a little bit.

I continue to shrink out of my clothing, I also continue to be a big customer of Savers, especially this last weekend when everything was 50% off their already dirt cheap prices.  I have lost a foot in jean sizes (from a whopping 58" waist down to a 46" waist).  Most of my shirts are still 3x's but most of them are starting to get really baggy and I am getting more and more 2x shirts into my wardrobe and they are fitting me pretty well.  I have a few 'small' 2x's that are a bit tight but I should be fitting into them in a few weeks.

I find it weird how different parts of my body will start to shrink and then stop at different times.  Early on it was my head and fingers, a few weeks ago it was my feet, and at one time my wife noticed my back.  Recently I have been seeing the changes in my legs, especially just above the knee.

So, as i mentioned earlier the scale is still moving in the right direction.  Last week was a big jump, I went from 314 pounds to 306 pounds... that's right, I lost 8 pounds in a week.  This week has been a little less dramatic I dropped another 4 pounds  down to 302.  So as you can see I should cross one of those BIG DEAL milestones this week and that is the 300 pound mark. and I should be pretty close to 295 so I will probably have some more pics in probably 2 weeks.

I do have a few pictures that I will put up tonight, One being another comparison pic, a couple of others are just some event pics that show my progress in a different context...and of course I will put some pictures of our little boy Evren.

Which of course brings me to his birth.  I am sure most of y'all already know but my son Evren Ryder was born Wednesday, May 16th at 10:57 am.  He was 5 lbs, 14 oz and was 19 3/4 inches long.  Mommy, Baby and Daddy are all doing well other than being really tired.  I knew I would, but I am absolutely loving fatherhood, it's not exactly what I expected (actually wasn't sure what to expect) but it is wonderful.

With that it is time to draw this to an end.  Thanks for reading and as always thanks for the prayers, thoughts and encouragement, they really mean a lot.

Preparing for a new challenge...

Hi y'all, this is definitely going to be a short one tonight.

As I mentioned last week I am wanting to start doing some competitions and races as I get more fit and had specifically mentioned sprint triathlons.  I know I am going to need a lot more training specifically in running and swimming.  I decided to start on that this week, and got a pretty good idea of just how far I have to go, and that is a long ways (and boy was I sore over the last few days).  Luckily I have 3 and a half months to prepare and am confident I will be able to handle the race come race day.

I am down to 314 pounds this week, that is another 4 pounds this week.  That brings my total to 101 pounds, which of course means pictures. Head on over to my pictures page to check those out.  I may get creative and do some comparison picture compilations later this week but for now I am just going to put up the new pictures.

Now, of course to the baby.  April and I are scheduled for a Cesarean tomorrow at 9:30 in the morning.  I am a little bit nervous but more than anything I am excited, I can't wait to actually meet my son Evren.

Once we notify family and put something out on facebook I will try and come here and put some sort of post.

Thanks again for reading, and as always thanks for the thoughts, prayers and support.

Old habits die hard....

   This  weekend was interesting and a bit of a step backwards for me.  I found myself in two challenging situations and  could have handled them far better.  The first one was a 'couples' baby shower for April and me (that is to say that it was intended to be a couples shower and only one 'couple' actually attended and that was April and me), the second was a get-together  with our bible study group.

The problem was the same at both events and that is 'grazing'. At both events there was an abundance of snack and finger food and while I behaved myself as far as what I ate I didn't behave myself as far as how much I ate.  The problem being that since it was over a long period of time  my pouch was able to empty some of the food so I never got to that point of feeling full so I just absentmindedly kept snacking until April finally rescued me and moved the food out of my reach.

I have wanted to loose weight for a very long time and have tried many times, and it is so exciting to finally be seeing success and in a big way.  As some of you might recall from earlier posts I started gaining weight around 4th grade so I have been overweight for roughly 27 years.  I have said before that I don't want to get to a point of just not being fat but I actually want to reach a point of being fit.

Towards that end I have been thinking about some sort of fitness challenge or competition to get involved.  I have come up with two that I think look exciting and fun. The first is sprint triathlons.  Sprint triathlons have the same 3 parts as normal triathlons except shorter distances, usually a 750 to 1000 meter swim, 12 to 15 mile bike ride and a 5k run (Which is significantly easier than the Ironman  Triathlons that my friend and fellow gastric bypass patient, Richard, now does).  The other event that I think looks really fun is an event called the Rugged Maniac 5K obstacle race.  It is exactly what it sounds like, it is a 5k race with obstacles that were actually designed with the help of Navy Seals (crawling thru mud under wires, swinging over holes filled with water, etc) along the way.  My wife thinks I am nuts but I think it looks like a blast.

Now to the numbers, I am somewhat bummed to announce that the pictures will have to wait another week but I am down under 320 to 318.  Which for those of you keeping track is a total of 97 pounds or 63 since surgery.

That of course brings me to the baby front.  As I mentioned last week Evren was in a butt down breach position and we has an appointment to try and manually manipulate him into the correct position.  As my wife would attest this attempt to move him was neither a pleasant thing to experience or for me to watch, and unfortunately the attempt was unsuccessful, his butt was just too stuck in the pelvis an they couldn't get him to move at all.  So now we have a Cesarean scheduled for next Wednesday the 16th.  Of course he could still turn on his own (the OB doesn't think this  is likely) or April could go into labor before then.  In any case I will be a new daddy by this time next week.  Am I Excited, you better believe it, am I nervous, not really although the reality of it is starting to sink in a little more now.

Given our plans for next week I will try an get a blog post up Tuesday night (with new pics) but I hope y'all will forgive me if I don't get anything posted next week  other that a 2 line post announcing the event.

So I thing that wraps it  up for this week, thanks for reading, and as always thanks for the thoughts, prayers and support.

Adjusting to the changes…

Hello all, I know I am a few days later than normal but at least it is this week.

One of the neatest things about losing this much weight is that you lose weight in parts of your body that you never pictured as fat or had thought of as a place to lose weight.  I mentioned a few weeks back about having to get a spacer for my wedding ring because my fingers were getting to skinny.  I also mentioned that the side of my head, just above the ears seems to be thinner now.  Well this week I have noticed that my feet are shrinking.  I had read about that happening and knew it eventually would but now watching it happen is strange. 

I find I have to re-tie my laces and tighten them down more every few days and for some reason they seem to be coming untied more than normal right now, not sure why.  Luckily I have lost enough that bending over to retie them isn’t as much as a chore as it used to be (that’s right, I was so fat that tying my shoes without sitting down to do it used to be challenging).

I can’t put into words how great I feel (and I know it will only get better as I continue to lose).  However I recently have been given reminders by my body that I am still big and fat and out of shape.  I have been working out a lot recently and while most of me feels great after a good workout (I don’t even really get sore much after a good lifting workout). My ankles, However, which have been under massive amounts of stress for years, seem to always be sore from the added stress of a lot of walking, jogging and working on elipticals.  I am working on strengthening my ankles and I know they will get better as I continue to lose but right now having just this one part continually feeling achy when everything else feels great is really frustrating.

I am finally at the point where I am experiencing the inevitable “problem” that all successful gastric bypass patients eventually experience, that being that I am running out of some categories of clothes.  In this case it is dress pants and jeans.  The thing is that I need to get new pants but don’t want to buy (or pay) for “new” when it will also not fit in just a few months.  So the other day we to the first of what  I am sure will be many trips to Savers and found a good pair of dress pants and a good pair of jeans (I would have been set if I had a 29 inch inseam). 

My closet continues to empty out.  I also continue to add some smaller clothes that I bought a few years back when I tried a traditional diet, lost some, bought clothes I figured I would be shrinking into and then gained weight back before fitting into.

The scale continues to move in the right direction (although I know I will have to deal with another plateau at some point) and I am down to 322, another 4 pounds gone forever. I am thinking I should hit 315 in the next week or so which will be 100 pounds lost (can't believe I have nearly lost a hundred pounds), which of course means more pictures so be looking for those shortly.

I said I would try and update this blog every week and I do intend to try.  However, as I am sure you can imagine, becoming a parent for the first time could mess that up a bit. So I will try and stay current but hope y’all understand and don’t miss me too much if I miss a week or two in the next few weeks.

Which of course, brings me to the pregnancy update.  Mother and baby seem to be doing ok and Evren is still moving a lot.  One complication is that Evren is currently in a butt down breach position.  They are going to try and manually manipulate him into a head down position on Friday and if they can’t they will schedule us for a cesarean the following week. 

That brings this post to an end.  Thanks for reading, and of course, thanks for the prayers, thoughts and support.

Where did all this energy come from…

So, I got to help my brother Matthew on a very exciting day this weekend.  My brother and his family are the deserving recipients of a Habitat for Humanity home.  This Saturday was move in day.  I have helped my brother and his family move a bunch (some might think that moving was Rachel’s favorite pastime).  In the past I would try to help out as much as I could but would get winded after a few boxes and I would try and avoid any heavy lifting of furniture or appliances if I could help it.  Frankly I was slightly more than worthless when it came to helping someone move.  I tried; I just didn’t have the stamina.

Saturday was different.  My brother and his family have accumulated a lot of stuff.  We filled his U-Haul twice, a pickup truck twice and four minivans worth (and they still have some to move).  I was energetic most of the day handling my fair share of boxes and doing my share of the heavy lifting as well.  I also helped set up some of the furniture.  Granted at the end of the day I was really beat, but it was one of those rewarding tired feelings.

My stack of clothes that I have shrunk out of continues to grow and even though I have some smaller clothes that are starting to fit I am fast approaching the point where I am going to have to buy some new clothes, especially for work.  I am hoping I can find some stuff at a thrift store that will work; I really don’t want to spend the money on new threads just to shrink out of them after a few months.

The pounds are still falling off of me at an impressive rate; I am down to 326 this week, which is another 5 pounds in a week. I am quickly approaching the 100 pounds lost milestone, closely followed by my halfway point in this journey at 110 pounds lost and the 300 pound barrier. I already have gone from having a 4 as my first digit to a 3 and I can’t wait to see a 2 as the first digit.

I have really enjoyed doing this blog.  At first I just figured I would have just a few people read it here and there but that it would mostly be a journal for me to just have a record of my journey.  I have been amazed by the response I have received from doing this.  I have had several people tell me how inspiring my story has been to them in them deciding to try and lose some weight.  One thing I am really excited about is that there are two of my coworkers have actually decided to go to the informational seminar my surgeon does and are seriously contemplating having the surgery themselves (good luck Dennis and Ursula). 

Now to my wife and soon arriving son.  April is doing better now that she is off work.  Her blood pressure still spikes from time to time when she does too much but it quickly comes back down as soon as she rests. We are one day short of 36 weeks, 4 weeks to go to the official due date but based on family history Evren could decide to show up at any time (in any case I want him to be healthy but can’t wait for him  to get here).

That about does it for this week, thanks for reading, and as always thanks for the prayers, thoughts and support.

The Restaurant Conundrum...

    My apologies to "The Big Bang Theory" and their episode naming convention for this weeks post.  I could be wrong, again, but I expect this to be a fairly short post.

As this weeks title might suggest We found ourselves in restaurants this weekend, four of them to be exact (although we only had to pay for one of them, great parents and birthdays are a great combination).  They were all very good but at least two of them  (Hacienda Colorado and Crackerbarrel) have extremely gastric bypass averse menus.  Hacienda Colorado has huge portions of typical starchy Mexican food and Crackerbarrel is kinda like eating a Paula Dean's house, butter and fat in almost everything.

I am happy to report that even with these challenges I think I did pretty good this weekend.  Had a sashimi sampler at an Asian fusion place (also proud of my mom for finally trying sushi for the first time, yay mom!).  I had half of a beef enchilada and a bite or two of beans at Hacienda Colorado (and am still enjoying leftovers from that one 6 meals later) and had just a scrambled egg and sausage patty (I know, pork is kinda fatty but I had to get some protein) at cracker barrel.

I also had a bit of an epiphany while at these restaurants.  I have a card from my doctor about my condition and instructing restaurants to allow me to order from the kids or seniors menus.  I didn't really come across a senior menu but did come across kids menus.  I am a bit of a foodie, and I have come to the conclusion, especially when cooking for myself that if I am going to only be eating a few bites  I am going to strive to make them as good as I can without cheating on my diet. Meaning really good ingredients, and rather bold flavors. (made a small tortilla pizza the other day with Italian herb chicken, caramelized shallots and roasted cherry tomatoes with fresh mozzarella that was absolutely amazing and lasted me for four meals).

I've explained this to say I noticed that for the most part all of the food on kids menus are apparently the most bland menu options they can find. I am sure that those of you with kids probably are saying "well duh", and I would have probably learned this in the next few years but as a childless adult used to eating huge portions you don't spend much time looking at kids menus.

Now down to the heart of the matter, and that is of course how the diet is going as a whole and how the scale is moving.  I lost another 5 pounds and am down to 331.2.  I have reached a point where I seem to be adding to the pile of clothes eventually going to a thrift or consignment store almost daily (including the dress pants I wore to work today).

As y'all know I can't do a post here without mentioning my wife and the fast approaching appearance of my son Evren.  This was an interesting week, we ended up in the hospital  with a Preeclampsia scare.  It turned out to not be Preeclampsia and they instead determined that the stress of work and the knowledge that she was going to be loosing her job was causing her blood pressure to be higher than it should.  So, April has started her maternity leave already and is on it until her layoff day in June.  She is also on an 80/20 version of bed rest where it is 80% rest and 20% being somewhat active including a 10-15 minute walk.  We obviously want the pregnancy to go as close to 40 weeks as possible but I will breathe a lot easier as soon as we can get to at least 36 weeks (9 more days)

Thinkin' that is it for this week.  Thanks for reading and as always thanks for the prayers, thoughts and support.

The Incredible Shrinking Man

Perseverance (finally) trumps plateau...

     Hi everyone, here is my update for the week.  I really do expect this one to be on the short side (yes I know I have said that before and I have ended up being a bit long-winded but this time I really mean it).

As I am sure you are all aware, I have been battling a really stubborn plateau. Well I am happy to announce that it seems to be over (YAY!!!).  I have finally started loosing again, although somewhat slowly.  That could be due to the fact that I have been doing a lot more lifting during my workouts the last couple of weeks or so although I don't know if just starting lifting a couple of weeks ago would make too much of an impact on the scale yet.

Which brings me to my next topic, the scale.  Ask any doctor,  nutritionist,  personal trainer or anyone who knows much about weight loss and/or psychology and they will tell you that you shouldn't look at the scale more than once a week at the most.  I am REALLY bad at this, and even worse when in the midst of a plateau,  I reached a point where I was anticipating the end of the plateau so much that I was checking the scale almost daily (if not literally daily).

The frustrating thing is I know better.  I know how plateaus work and on top of that I knew I was still doing alright because even though the scale wasn't moving my body was definitely changing.  Now that I am confident that I am finally past this plateau I will have to work on my self control and stay away from the scale except for Monday mornings.

Speaking of Monday mornings, that was today, so I jumped on the scale and it showed 336.2, which was up just a bit from Sunday morning which was 335.6 which I know for you math purists would be rounded up to 336 but I figured it was close enough to 335 to justify some new pics (not the least of which because I wanted to see them too).  So the new pics are up on the pictures page.  I got a lot of comments on the side by side face picture I did last time so I decided to throw together a couple more of them. This time I did my face again and my full body pics facing forward and I did all five update pictures since starting this last summer.  Hope you enjoy 'em.

Look, I have a neck!

I wish I could find the words to describe how great I already feel, it's amazing.  I was at Comfort Dental Amphitheater (Fiddler's Green for you purists out there) in Denver for our church's Easter service. I decided to walk up to the top to see if I could get a good picture of the venue. If I had attempted that last year I would have needed to stop to rest part way and been completely exhausted when I got to the top. Yesterday it was just a nice walk up to the top, not a big deal at all (other than being a really uplifting NSV!)

As y'all know I couldn't do a post here without mentioning my other significant change in my life and that, of course, is the fast approaching birth of my son, Evren.  Well Evren, who had been lying across mommy, using her as a hammock, has decided it was time to turn head down.  We are just entering week 34 so this turn is right on schedule.  Mommy is now getting used to kicks in new areas and pressure on new organs and as I informed her the other day is doing the stereotypical third trimester pregnancy waddle.  We are nearly done with our nursery and are getting quite the the nice stack of diapers (of course we have been told that regardless of the size of the stack we will blow thru them at a rate we can hardly believe).

Well, I think that about does it for this week, hope you enjoy the new pics.  Thanks for reading, and as always thanks for the prayers, thoughts and support.

Plateaus & Victories...

I know I am a bit behind after saying I would try and do a post each week, sorry.  I said there may be some posts that were shorter due to not a lot to report, this may be one of them.

Last time I  posted I spoke about plateaus and how they are inevitable in any weight loss situation.  Well on that front not much has changed, I am still hovering right around 340 pounds.  I did learn however that the average time for plateaus is usually around a month so I should hopefully start loosing again soon.

I have had plateaus on other diet attempts and usually they are the beginning of the end for me because I usually am not able to power thru them and I slowly come off the diet.  I can definitely say that this time is different and I think that part of the difference is that I know more about the process and what to expect.  Before I would get frustrated and try and force myself to loose (thru more exercise or more strenuous diet) for a week and nothing would happen and I would get discouraged.

This time I know more, I know it may take 4-5 weeks to come out of it and I know that exercise is important but will not automatically kick me out of it.  I also know that the main reason it is happening  is because my body is trying to reshuffle and re-balance to take into account the fat loss and the change in lifestyle and when my body figures it out I will start loosing again.

I also find that this plateau, like everything else since getting married is easier with April here to help and support me. Even though the scale is not changing I still am and she reminds me of this fact every day as she notices different parts of me that are still changing (upper belly last week,  my back this week).

I had my 6 week follow-up appointment and along with saying the plateau is pretty normal at this point they also said I seem to be healing extremely well.. I was also able to graduate to the next (and last) phase of the structured diet .  This phase is pretty simple, the mail rules are pretty much the same as before, protein first, then complex carbs.  The difference is that now I can eat normal stuff regardless of toughness or texture.  I still have to eat very small (1-1.5 oz) portions and I still want to avoid anything carbonated, any thing really high in carbs and anything high in sugar (less than 15 grams of carbs or 5 grams of sugars  per serving).   The other big change is that from here on I have to separate my eating and drinking so that I cant drink for 15 minutes before and 30-45 minutes after each meal.

I mentioned last time that I had started C25k and that it was a hard not not agonizing workout.  Well...that happens when you do it wrong.  I am primarily doing it on a treadmill for now (although I do plan on moving to running with some friends at some point) and that first day I did 1 minute of running and 4 minutes of walking (was doing it from memory and hadn't looked close enough) when in reality the start is supposed to be 1 minute of running and only 1 and a half to 2 minutes of walking.  Well after making that change I can say it was pretty rough and my joints still haven't fully forgiven me.  So I am still planning to continue with it but at a slightly slower pace and try to focus more on lifting and strengthening my legs more (as my sports therapist has recommended).

NSV's (Non-Scale Victories) is another concept I introduced here last time.  I had a few more today.  I had to finally break down and but a new belt today because my old one had extra belt holes drilled into it and I was on the last hole and the tail of my belt was getting ridiculously long.  I also bought a new shirt today and was shocked when I tried a 3x and it seemed to be too big so I had to go down to a 2x.  For a guy that has been wearing 3x and 4x for years and even flirted with 5x a year ago at my heaviest this was a big deal.

I also seem to have had a psychological NSV today. I know I have lost a lot and come a long way but I my head it never felt that different.  I can't really put my finger on what exactly changed but I have mentally felt smaller today for some reason.

I have to thank all of you for all the support you are providing me with in this journey.  I am constantly shocked when I post something on Facebook about my progress and get dozens of supportive comments or when I learn about people that I never expected to read this who are following it closely.  I cannot tell you how much all the support means to me and how thankful I am for all of you.

Along those lines I want to send a special thanks to my buddy at work, Justin.  I work with A LOT of really great people and they really care for each other.  Well for Valentines Day candy was given out to everyone by some people in the office.  Including some on my desk.  Don't get me wrong I appreciate the sentiment but the last thing a gastric bypass patient wants to see on his desk when he comes back to work is a lot of candy.  Justin though of this and got rid of all of it.  I mention this now because I just found out about him getting rid of it this week.  I just want to say thanks buddy, it meant a lot.

Not much else to report, My wife is doing a lot better with the pregnancy and we are getting more excited as the birth gets closer.  I said at the top that this post may be a short one but as always I ended up being more verbose than I expected.

As always thanks for reading and thanks for the prayers and support.

Clearing some obstacles...

      So, I had promised to try and update this once a week even if I didn't have much  to really post about, I had figured last time that this week would be kinda short as I was sort of in a holding pattern between appointments and hadn't seen much of a change recently...boy was I wrong.

It doesn't matter what kind of diet you are on or what approach you take to loosing weight if you have more than I would say 40 pounds to loose, at some point during the process you are going to have a plateau.  It didn't end up lasting very long but I had a bit of a plateau recently. I got to 347 pounds and then just hovered between 350 and 347 for about a week and a half. I had been sticking dogmattically to my diet and had been getting a lot of excercise too.

You may say "It was only a week and a half couldn't be that big of a deal." and you are right but when you go from loosing a little more than a pound a day for a month to nothing and even gaining a pound or two, especially when you have a pretty long diet history without success you still get a little depressed.

As I mentioned last post I had gone back to work last Tuesday.  Tuesday evening I started thinking something might be wrong.  I couldn't even eat the small Quantities I was supposed to be eating. I would eat maybe a third of an ounce and be full and feel full and somewhat bloated for an hour or so and I suddenly didn't have much energy.  Turns out I had what they call a stricture, and it is a complication that between a quarter and a third of people who have the surgery I had end up developing.
 
Because of the stricture, which I found out about on Wednesday but that they couldn't fix until Friday I had to revert back to the previous phase of the diet with the 5 really soft foods.  This was really discouraging because after 2 weeks of only those 5 foods I was really tired of all of them.

I will try not to get to graphic here but try and explain what a stricture is.  When I had the surgery they removed a majority of my stomach and a few feet of the small intestine and reattached the remaining stomach pouch to the small intestines. Where they make that connection scar tissue forms as the connection heals.  in several cases the scar tissue  shrinks the hole to the point where even soft or pureed food have issues passing thru the opening.  In my case the hole had shrunk to about the diamiter of the tube of ink in a Bic ink pen.

"So how do they fix it?" you may ask... and I am glad you asked.  It is actually pretty simple, really. I had to go back to the hospital where they put me under and stuck a camera and a balloon down my throat into my stomach pouch, they put the balloon into the hole and inflate it, stretching the opening until it is back to the correct size.  They say that 50-60% of those that have a stricture will develop it a second time So I may have to do that again.  Which is fine, it wasn't too bad really, I was in and out of the hospital including paperwork, prep and recovery in under 3 hours and and had no discomfort at all from the procedure.

I quickly realized that the stricture, at least in part, had been responsible for my plateau and after it was fixed I started loosing again right away.  I weighed Sunday morning and was down to 342, I am guessing I may be under 340 now but don't like to weigh too often.  I am guessing I will be near 335 next Sunday or Monday and that will be another 20 pound milestone so I should have a few new pictures next week.

I had been doing a lot of walking and slowly building up from just a few blocks at a time in the first week or so to a couple of miles a day recently but I didn't think it was enough and really wanted to get back to the gym and really drive myself.  I am still under a lifting restriction but as long as I am careful I can do cardio.  The office building I work in just underwent a pretty major remodel, in the process they put in a workout room and some locker rooms.  It's not to bad of a setup 4-5 treadmills, a few elipticals, a few stationary bikes, a universal weight machind and a couple of weight benches and some free weights.
 
I decided to give it a try, I will not be going back, it will be back to 24 Hour Fitness for me (didn't like their elipticals and the locker rooms were really poorly designed).  I really love elipticals so I tried it first and the mechanics were just not right for me and there was no way of adjusting it. So I just decided to do the treadmill.

I had never aspired to be a "runner", but I do aspire to reach a point of being fit not just skinny and I think that being a well-rounded fit person would include running so I decided to start "Couch to 5k", for those who don't know "Couch to 5k" (or "C25k) is a structured program designed to take novice beginners and get them from no running at all to being able to run 5k without walking in 2-3 months.  So today was day 1, which was basically a 5 minute warm up followed by alternating run for a minute walk for four minutes fo 30 minutes and a 5 minute cooldown.  I have never really enjoyed walking on treadmills but I really enjoyed it today and am looking forward to progressing in the program.

As many of you know I like to put a little bit in here about the other major change in my life and that is that I am gonna become a daddy in roughly 1 and a half to two months. So the update is that Aprils bursitis in her hips is finally starting to relax and April is feeling a lot better.  Little Evren seems to be doing fine, heis kicking up a storm and taking the occasional nap on mommys organs which of course is not fun.  We are expecting him to turn head down in the next few weeks , right now he is laying horizontally like he is relaxing in a hammock.  We also had a baby shower down in my hometown of Loveland this weekend and got lots of good stuff for Evren. Thank you to anyone that was there.

Well as always thanks for reading and of course thanks for the toughts and prayers and for the encouragement.  Be on the lookout for some new pics next week.  God bless.



One last thing I gotta mention just because I am so pumped (and it's still months until preseason football starts). My favorite QB since Elway retired, Peyton Manning, is the new starting QB for my beloved Broncos!!! How freakin' awesome is that!!! GO BRONCOS!! (sorry, had to do it).

"A Return to (semi) normalcy"...

      Today was my first day back at work and it was immediately made clear to me that I had not been keeping up with this blog as well as I should, for that I am sorry.  I have decided I am going to try to find something to post every week even if it ends up being a dozen lines and an update on my weight.

Well as I mentioned I had to return to work today after having a month off.  My feelings were understandably mixed.  I was really excited about seeing my friends and showing off my progress to this point.  I definitely don't get tired of having people come up and tell me how good I am doing and how proud they are...what can I say I am human and like to have my ego stroked from time to time.  It was however a bit rough getting back into the groove and I am still not entirely caught up on everything (although I did get all my email managed).

I had my 3 week followup appointment last week, everything went smoothly. My weight loss rate seems pretty normal compared to others who had surgery the same day as me ( there was one guy that was A LOT bigger than me that had already lost 45 pounds after 3 weeks).  I also got to see my friend Marie as she was there for her 6 week followup appointment.

I finally got my last drain removed, Which was by far the highlight of my day. I was really stinkin' tired of that g-tube and having to change the bandages every day and my skin getting raw from all the tape. The frustrating thing was that due to my complication I had  with the g-tube it had already slid most of the way out but they wouldn't pull it any sooner and when they finally did there was only about an inch and a half still in.

I also graduated to the next diet stage.  This stage has a lot more options.  basically if it is flaky or can easily be torn apart with a fork or your fingers you can eat it so most meat is ok as long as it is a tender cut or cooked until it falls apart or it can be pureed with a little liquid to a slightly chunky consistency (I know pureed meat sounds kinda nasty but it is actually pretty good if it is flavored well).

There are also some other limitations to the diet.  First and foremost protein comes first then complex carbs.  I can't have anything that is really sugary since that can cause dumping syndrome (I haven't had it yet and from what I have heard I don't want to), I also cant have anything really starchy (rice, pasta, bread, potatoes, etc) because starch turns to goo gets stuck together in a glob and then gets stuck trying to pass thru the small opening to my small intestines.  I am also supposed to avoid anything that is crunchy or hard to digest (onions, lettuce, corn) for a few more weeks.

My normal quantity is still one ounce of food every 2 hours.  I know that doesn't sound like much, and it's not, my wife who eats like a bird is eating several times more than me (granted she is in her third trimester and is now eating for two)  You may ask if I am ever hungry eating that small as a quantity, I can honestly say i have not been hungry once since leaving the hospital.  I have however overeaten a time or two, it feels like after Thanksgiving dinner after you have too much turkey and stuffing except somehow more acute and instead of just waiting for it to settle you usually end up throwing up a little bit (sorry for the graphic image there).  It is a lesson you learn very quickly just to avoid  that feeling.

I am amazed by how habitual how you eat is.  As part of the diet leading up to the surgery I was supposed to practice eating really small bites and as y'all know I struggled with this.  Well post surgery I have done pretty well but I have had a few slips and swallowed a few larger bites.  This is another agonizing experience that I have quickly learned to avoid.  I have also learned that eating when distracted is a bad practice because this is what has caused my overeating (by just a small bite or two) and the bites that were too large.

In the world of weight loss we have what we call "NSV's" or Non-Scale Victories, these being accomplishments or milestones due to the weight loss or getting more fit stuff like finally being able to jog a mile without stopping to walk part of it or having to buy new clothes.  My first NSV was probable the fact that I have been completely off my high blood pressure medication since the day of surgery.  I had another NSV this weekend and this one I think is pretty cool and happened far sooner than I expected.  I had to go buy a little spacer for my wedding ring because I had already reached the point where my fingers had shrunk to the point where it no longer fit.

Non-Scale Victories are really cool and all but so is seeing the scale continue to drop and as of this Monday I am at 346 pounds, if you are keeping track that is 35 pounds in 28 days which under other circumstances would be an insanely fast and unsafe rate of weight loss but following gastric bypass is considered a perfectly reasonable rate of weight loss and I am now officially under 350 for good which is awesome. Sorry, no pictures this time but I only have 10 more pounds to the next comparison pictures point so maybe a week, two at the most.

Just a quick note on the other major event in my life.  My wife's hip bursitis seems to slowly be getting better but she still has some pain.  Evren seems to be doing great every time he is measured at the doctors office his measurements and heart rate are dead center average so all is well with him.  His due date isn't until May 23rd but April's family historically has almost always come 2-3 weeks early so we are expecting Evren to be her in just under 2 months.  I know it will be a huge change and that we will be indefinitely bordering on the edge of exhaustion but I can not wait.

Thanks again for reading and as always thanks for the thoughts and prayers.

Lessons learned...

     So,  I am now 19 days post-op, and as of this morning I am 28.3 pounds down since surgery (62 pounds down since starting this journey last July). I have learned a few things over the last few weeks.

As I had mentioned in my last post I had graduated to a new diet phase consisting of one ounce every 2 hours of  5 'real' foods, those being re-fried beans, nonfat yogurt (preferably Greek), low fat or non fat cottage cheese, egg whites or egg beaters, and pudding, I am also drinking an ounce an hour of protein shake and 64 ounces a day of water.  I had mentioned how my first bite of re-fried beans was an amazing experience since it had been about 2 weeks without food.  My opinion of re-fried beans has definitely changed over the last 10 days and I am nearing the point of never wanting to eat them again (same for the rest of the five foods).

I have however found that four of the five foods  can be combined in some decent ways.  I went and bought a small 3" frying pan and have become fairly adept at making really small omelets, which are pretty good when you add a little bit of re-fried beans or cottage cheese.  have also found re-fried beans with a little bit of cottage cheese or plain Greek yogurt is pretty good. I haven't really tried combining the pudding with anything else just doesn't sound pleasant.

I found out pretty quick that even with the small quantity I feel full really quick, to the point that I have to wait a few minutes after eating to drink anything or I start feeling sick and bloated.

Yesterday I decided to try an experiment.  We brought home a small box of a strawberry protein shake from the hospital. It was slightly thicker than milk and not very high in protein so I decided to add some vanilla protein powder to it to supercharge it.  While it tasted really good it turned out really thick, sort of like cake batter and when I drank it it just got sort of stuck in my pouch and took about 20 minutes for it to finally drain.  I was miserable, it hurt a little but more than that it was a constant bloated feeling and some stomach cramping.  I will not be doing that again, ever.

I still have one tube stuck in me (and am really sick of it) but I have an appointment Wednesday and it will be pulled then.  I will also be moving on to the next phase of the diet where I can eat more soft food and puree some harder food to make it edible.  I also get to increase to 2 ounces assuming I don't feel full first.

I know most of of this post has been on the negative side but the truth is I am doing great and am really happy with my decision. My incisions are healing nicely,  I am hardly ever in any pain.  I am also NEVER hungry, even with the small amount I am eating.  One interesting change that has happened is that my body is metabolizing so much less food and generating so much less energy that I am frequently cold but I can always cover up more. I have done some research and this is actually normal after this surgery and while my food intake will increase some causing me to burn more calories and generate more heat I am also losing a really great insulator as I loose weight so. I am thinking we are gonna have to start keeping the house a little warmer now but that is ok because we were going to have to do that anyway with Evren coming in May.

Speaking of Evren, We had an appointment for him yesterday and he seems to be doing great, all the measurements seem to be spot on and his heart rate is absolutely dead center average for how far along he is.  April on the other hand has developed Bursitis in both of her hips and is in quite a bit of pain, but she is seeing a physical and massage therapist and it is getting slowly better.

So, I have hit the next 20 pound milestone so as promised I have posted some new pictures showing my progress.  I also did a side by side closeup of my face just since surgery two and a half weeks ago, I think the change is pretty dramatic.  It occurs to me I never put any other recent pictures from Evren's last ultrasound so I will throw a couple of those out there as well.

As always thanks again for reading and checking out the pictures, I hope you like them.  Once again of course thanks for the thoughts and especially for all the prayers.

Recovery...

Quick disclaimer this post may be a little medically graphic in some areas.

I have to admit this has been a harder recovery than I expected.  I am feeling a lot better and especially  because of still being on an all liquid diet I am currently dropping weight like a rock I am only 10 days since surgery and I have lost 15 pounds.

I am still feeling quite a bit of pain, especially just to the left of my belly button when ever I try to move too much.  The surgeon said that is normal because they did quite a bit of rearranging in that area.

In general my recovery is going pretty much textbook, with one exception.  They put in what they call a Gastric feeding tube or g-tube in to the remnant part of my stomach.  In general they don't put these in for everyone, mostly just for those that use cpap at night for sleep apnea. At night the tube is hooked up to a collection bag and some fluid is drained off.  The neat thing about this g tube is that it goes to your remnant stomach which is technically for the time being still functioning and connected to the intestines.  So if you are running behind on water or protein intake .you can actually inject water or  liquid protein into the stomach thru the g-tube.

Well, Wednesday night we were trying to flush out the tube with water and it felt like it didn't go into the stomach. so Thursday morning we went back to the hospital and they clipped the stitch holding the tube in place saying this sometimes cleared it up.  I went home and we tried flushing the tube again it felt weird again and this time overnight all the watter leaked out thru the hole for the g tube and another hole that had a pain medication going into it.  And the tube for the g tube had come out by about a foot. so we went back to the surgeons office ( the visit the previous day had been to the emergency room).  They took a look at the g tube and decided to keep it in place where it was (a foot out) but we are not using it any more.  Since then we have just been taping it in place, cleaning around it, and otherwise leaving it alone.

While at the surgeons office the nurse did take out the tube that had been dripping pain meds in around the incisions. This took me down to 5 incisions healing and 2 tubes.

We also found out at the surgeons office that I am allergic to some medical adhesive.  We had been using a translucent plastic tape and that caused a really bad rash.  We have since tried a few others and I get a little bit of a reaction from them and my tummy is getting pretty raw just from repetitive changing of bandages and re-taping.

I came home still on oxygen and was on it for right at a week, the oxygen tube going into my nose just about drove me nuts, and even after I got rid of it I still felt like I still had it at times.

I have been going for frequent walks to get some exercise, sometimes it's out around the neighborhood other times when it is too cold it is just pacing back and forth in my living room and dining room.  My cats loved chasing the oxygen hose as I paced in the house.

I find I am not really liking sleeping at night.  I can't sleep on my side yet because it hurts the incisions so I end up on my back all night and my butt that had already been hurting from the hospital bed still hurts from laying on my back all night. On top of that I don't know if it is because I have lost some weight in my face or what the cause is but my cpap mask is not fitting well and is causing a sore spot on the bridge of my nose.

Yesterday was a big day for me. Everyone who had gastric bypass last week had a class about nutrition and the next phase of our diet (there were six of us) and an appointment with the nurse in the surgeons office where she removed one of my drains (JP 'suction' drain), this was one of the strangest things I have ever felt the end of the drain looked like some sort of cloth mesh that was used fur sucking up fluids this was about 8 inches long and then about a foot of hose. The mesh was laid along the incisions collecting fluid. The nurse had me breath in deep and exhale slowly and pulled out the drain I felt it snaking its way around my innards to the exit and then I felt nauseous and crampy for about 5-10 seconds then it was over. So now 6 incisions or holes healing and only one hose still in place.

The great thing about yesterday was that I hadn't had any thing solid to eat since the Saturday before surgery and yesterday we got to go to the next phase of the diet, this includes 5 soft foods that I can now eat, those 5 foods are re-fried beans, low calorie yogurt, Egg Beaters, Cottage Cheese (low fat, small curd), and sugar free pudding.  I can have one ounce every 2 hours along with my hourly ounce of protein and 4 ounces an hour of other liquids.

They want you to only try two new foods a day until you are sure you can tolerate them, then you can mix them as desired if you want.  My first food was the re-fried beans.

Believe me when I tell you that after not eating real food for a week and a half an ounce of re-fried beans never tasted so good, they were delicious.

I have now tried the re-fried beans, the egg beaters and some Greek yogurt (better for you, more protein) and so far so good, no reactions or issues although I did feel my pouch telling me I was full for the first time this morning.

So for the most part I am feeling pretty good now, I still have some pain on occasion (especially when I move too much) and coughing or sneezing is pretty excruciating and I still feel fatigued.

 I am thinking I will have another post or at least some pictures next week some time as I will probably hit my next 20 pound check-mark. Until then thanks for reading and of course thanks for the thoughts and prayers.