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.