But first How about some before and after pics? Just as a refresher.
Before
More recent
Pretty nice if I do say so myself.
So I know you're all wondering where I am at now , weight wise?
Well ( in case you missed it) i am now more than 155 pounds down!
I weighed in this morning at 205 pounds which is 157 pounds exactly but hey no bigee right.
So where do i begin. well lets start with this.
The company whose protein powders for my protein shakes i use, is called syntrax ( technically the parent is Si03, but the product is syntrax. So they asked me to be the inaugural person to head off their new social media campaign called transformation tuesdays. They used the pictures you see above on the website, facebook page and instagram/twitter as well. I was floored that they would ask. It was amazing. Look for Syntrax on facebook and you can find this if you like. But i wont force you.
So thats the first thing. Second is that the hospital I had my surgery done at is holding a recognition night, and I will be on stage during this with my story and pics of me to show others what this is like. It is coming up in a few months in october. That brings me to this next part. I have this event coming up as I just mentioned. My boss recently announced i would be going down to Atlanta GA for business, in September. Before this surgery, I wouldn't have gone due to being so fat, I literally couldn't fly. I couldn't sit in the seats, and lets not get into walking around, which was just not possible. Walking through an airport would've been hell.
But now, no problem, well okay maybe a small one. I literally have zero pants. Thats right ZERO. i have some workout sweat type workout pants and I have shorts, but well pants? umm nope. lol No dress shirts either. Enter, the thrift store! lol
I was able to pick up a polo shirt and a pair of dress pants for quite cheap. Whew! i am working on saving up for more clothes so i can buy a few things before i go away and before the event. Now the fun part is I now wear a size medium shorts and a large shirt in many cases. My neck went from a 24 inch , to a 17.5 that is almost 7 inches off my neck alone.
It will be fun trying on a dress shirt when the time comes. For pants i had no idea what size my waist was. Sure i knew medium shorts, but in pants? Well suffice it to say would you believe a 36? I know I didn't believe it. I honestly have not fit into a 36 since junior high school, folks that is 30+ years ago.
Scary, Trust me I know.
So whats life like now? Well i start off with turkey bacon, or sometimes a little less bacon and a scrambled egg, or no bacon and two, yes two scrambled eggs , well medium eggs extra large , just one please! And i can eat almost two scrambled eggs. Lunch is almost always a protein shake, a scoop of protein shake mix, 6 ounces of 1% milk or skim, and 4 ice cubes. blend and yippie its like a dunkin donuts coolata. I go to the gym quite a bit. Have not hit the weights much yet, so far just a lot of varied forms of cardio. Bike , treadmill, elliptical etc.
Dinner is almost always chicken of some type, usually in a sauce or marinade. Thanks to eating like this, my wife has lost over 30 pounds as well. Sometimes we alternate with ground beef, in some form, or ground turkey, like tonight its taco wednesday. Well little soft shells, ill have one with ground turkey some lettuce a little cheese and yummy. Sugar free pudding or the jello sugar free chocolate mousse still fits the bill for a snack.
So what about my health. Well the chest pain thing still comes and goes, I have become used to it to a degree. We think it is related to my herniated discs in my spine. But we shall see.
Now some friends asked me to talk about the reasons people fail with this surgery. The biggest reason is that they do not get the support they need to use this tool as the focal point to change their life. This is not a fix on its own. It doesn't magically win the big game for you. It is a tool in your life change toolbox designed to help you succeed if you are willing to put in the work. I don't mean just working out either. Mentally many people are not given the mental approach to succeed. Before i had my surgery i had to visit with a psychologist a few times and we were able to whittle down things to figure out why I was having this love of food. I know I have discussed this in the past and we wont go over that again now, but suffice it to say I worked through it. Is my love of food gone? Hell no. But I am able to push it back to where it does not dominate me. My slogan is Food is to live on, not live for. Many people either deal with surgeons or practices that don't care what the patient does after the surgery as long as the insurance pays or the bill is paid in full.
It hurts to see this happen, but it most certainly does happen.
So whats next for me? Well let me tell you. In the bariatric community when you drop below 200 pounds and your weight start with that magic number of a 1, instead of a 2 3 or 4 , we call that entering wonderland. As in One-derland, ha ha. Well i now sit 5 magical pounds from passing that huge barrier. I have no idea how to celebrate this yet, who knows maybe a new pair of pants!, ha ha. Crossing this barrier will bring a tear to my eye, that is for sure.
Well thank you all for coming today I promise not to take a month to write the next post. See you all soon and thank you all for taking the time out of your day to take this journey with me.
Here is this posts cartoon.
