Let's get right to it. This morning, after working so hard and for a long time, it finally happened.
I stepped on the scale and saw this:
That is correct, We have a Winner!
Finally breaking the 200 pound barrier.
The website and forum that I belong to, is called Bariatric Pal, located at www.Bariatricpal.com . There is a saying there that is simply, Wonderland, or One-derland, depending on who uses it. This term is for when you no longer have the 4 , 3, or 2 in front of your weight, and can sigh a little and know you are in the right place physically with a 1 starting your weight. It is a place many overweight people haven't been to in much of their lives, and as such is an amazing place to be.
This total is the lowest I have been since junior high school and not far from what I weighed in elementary school.
After a rather tough month for weight loss I have finally managed to get to One-derland. This is no small feat for me, although I do have smaller feet. Ha Ha.
Trying to reach this goal involved a real extra heavy commitment. I stayed on the straight and narrow as far as nutrition , well at least as much as possible. Protein, protein protein, can you say Protein? LOL I do not jest. Turkey replacements all around, turkey bacon,( which isn't bad by the way) protein shake for lunch and usually chicken of some sort for dinner with the occasional ground beef, and a little veg thrown in. (especially broccoli, why do I love broccoli so much?)
I made a variant on my mothers hamburgers n brown gravy recipe. Ground beef, and egg, seasoned bread crumbs, finely minced onion ( alot of it) garlic powder, mrs dash, brown patties, and then slowly bring the gravy in to the patties when almost totally cooked and let them finish in the gravy. YUM!
But I digress. I also upped my workouts to 6 days a week. I alternate days using the treadmill and the exercise bike. I upped my exercise bike to a minimum or 7.5 miles and maxed out at just over 12 miles at a time. While it is certainly tiring, I have increased my stamina a lot. I'm still not up to a full out run yet, i really have to get on the ball with learning to run. Running after you've lost so much weight is difficult because you don't have real super control of your balance. So speeding up my treadmill to a very fast walk is the first step, and I am doing that.
So whats next you ask? Well the only goal left in weight loss for me is the magic number 170. This is the number that my surgeon gave me when we had out initial consult meeting. This is the number that blew my mind and made me laugh as i thought such a thing impossible. A dream worth having, but a dream nonetheless.
Now, i can see that dream coming true.
There is a very important event coming up on the radar as well for me. For the first time in many many years, I will be on a plane. I will be going to Atlanta to meet the amazing people I work with , who happen to be in our Atlanta, GA office and also to meet some of the department heads from our new parent company. They are flying in to Atlanta from our Austin Texas headquarters.
Myself, a co-worker, and my boss, will be flying down in mid September for a few days and then flying back.
Why is this so important you ask? Well I will finally fit in an airline seat. The last time I flew was on a trip to Las Vegas my wife and I took together with friends. That trip while i was not as fat, the seatbelt would not fit around me, so i hid it under my arm when the stewardess came around to check. Inside I was mortified that she would figure it out and would announce my shortcoming to the whole plane. At various times we had thought about going away but we knew I would have to purchase an extra seat under current airline policy rules. Also as a health issue, sitting on a plane for a long time would've been a very bad idea with the circulation problems i was having in my legs.
This time however i have zero worries about sitting in the plane and fitting in the seat. Bring it on!
Funny part is that I literally had nothing to wear..enter thrift shopping! Goodwill here has a great store, takes some work to look through, but I luckily found a few pairs of dress/casual pants, a pair of levis denim shorts ( I always liked that look and missed my old jean shorts.) and even a casual shirt or two. We have saved up to pick up a couple of dress shirts as these are just necessary anyway, I want to make that good professional impression. Here's a fun tidbit. two years ago when I graduated with my Paralegal title, I wore a dress shirt with a 24 inch neck and a collar extender to boot. We will be shopping for a 17 inch neck now, no collar extender needed. Thats huge, no wonder my sleep apnea and breathing problems have lessened greatly. All that fat sitting on your throat is like walking around with someones hands on your throat choking you at all times.
Well so I got a surprise , when my wife, who had been secretly saving up for this moment, presented me with this gift.
This is a Gretsch Jim Dandy Parlor acoustic. With my new found smaller body, I find this just fits me well. It's one of those things. It is Gretsch's least expensive guitar by far, but it plays and sounds like a much more expensive version, it's easy to move around and I LOVE IT!
Well on to the next goal. See you all soon with more to say.
Until then here is this posts cartoon!
