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.