End of October 2009 (4 months out)

Well here I am at the end of October about 242 pounds. They said that the surgery was just a tool, one part of the three part approach to weight loss (surgery - amount of food consumed - amount of exercise done). I had realized how the surgery helped restrict the amount of food consumed, but I didn't realize how it contributed toward exercizing. Today, I rode the elliptical for an hour, non-stop. Last winter, I was lucky to ride the bike for 10 or 15 minutes, and I usually warmed up on the hand cycle for only 5 minutes. I have been pretty faithful in working out daily for the last 4 weeks, and the payoff is additional strength as well as endurance. I have been working out for 1.5-2.5 hours daily. Wow, I would never have believed that I could have done that a year ago.

We had our monthly support for weight-loss surgery last Wednesday. A couple of things I took away from the specialists who spoke with us were we are on a vicious cycle of: trigger, emotional response, bad behavior. We need to recognize our emotional responses to our triggers, and replace the bad behavior with a good behavior. Or face our emotional responses and change our mental framework.

Another lady spoke with us about our body image. Although I think we all go through this to some degree, I think that the women are affected by it worse than most of us guys. I do realize that I won't have the body of a 20 year old, but I am not 20 either. I am pleased with what I see in the mirror, but I don't know that anyone else cares to know. LOL

The last thing that I realized was that I am not looking for people to say much about how good I look, as some others say they are hurt if someone does not notice. I could care less. Now don't get me wrong, I appreciate the compliments, thank people for them too. But I follow it up by saying that I still have work to do to get down to my goal weight. Actually, I want to lose about 35 more pounds in the next 5 months. That's doable, but I don't dare slack off on exercise or portion size.

I am 242, and want to be close to 235 by November 13, which is less than 3 weeks away. I should be close (I pray). I have gotten a new enthusiasm about what I eat and how much I exercise. I write down everything I eat, keeping track of the calories and the grams of protein. I write down how much exercise I am getting on each machine and the weights. This is helpful to see where I am and where I have been.

I also have written down my weight, blood pressure and sugar. I look at the weight I have lost and that helps if I get discouraged. The blood pressure is great, and I have cut my blood pressure medicine in half. And my sugar is down to around 100, so it is significantly lower too.

I meet with my personal trainer on November 13 to re-evaluate where I am at. November 12 will be my 5 month anniversary for the surgery and that is why I set the 235 goal for the 13th.

My biggest downfall is the protein bars. I think I have eaten them to often (140 calories, 10 grams of protein). I also have had trouble slowing down my eating to take a half-hour. I need to continue to work on that. I have taken my vitamins and supplements faithfully. I should drink more water than decaf coffee. Although since I sweat a lot more, I am drinking a lot more water in the morning.

My two thoughts to encourage people on this journey is to set short term goals and write what you do down. At least that is helping me right now. Will write again on November 13. Take care.