It was a great date but it ended up poorly overall hehe.  Now if only Jenn wasn't 3,000 miles away .. sigh LOL

Here are some recent ones.  It's been a while since I put any up.

Me with my Camaro on Valentines Day :)

Heading to Toby's Dinner Theater with a date .. Mom just HAD to get a picture like I was 18 again or something LOL.

At work serving the citizens of Baltimore City

At a school reunion with some old friends from 4th grade.  That's me on the left showing off the greatest band ever :)

haha!  Thanks!!!

I did a barium test a while back and watched me swallow it on the x-ray machine / computer.  It went down, through my sleeve and directly into the small bowel.  Liquids dont stay in your sleeve so your not going to feel full ....  at least I dont.  It was neat to watch but it made me realize why a protein shake does not fill me up.  I was quite surprised how quick it left my sleeve.  It literally only took seconds to go right on through.

This is something I posted on Facebook in my weight loss support group for the hospital that I had surgery at:

Last night I went bowling and had a great time with an old friend. Sitting there at the table in between frames waiting for my turn I'm surrounded by horrible bad food. They had gotten a big plate of french fries with sour cream and chicken tenders fried in grease, hamburgers, beer, etc. I drank a cup of coffee and ate nothing. I had a greek yogurt when I got home.

Looking around me at all the food that I used to devour and love, I had some mixed emotions. Part of the time the huge plate of french fries were even sitting directly in front of me as if it were mine when it got pushed around the table. I stared down at it briefly and then looked away. I at first thought, "Wow .. that is inconsiderate of them to be eating this crap in front of me." But then I said to myself, "Nah, I can't expect others to change because of what I decided for myself."

Then I looked around and noticed that all of the overweight / unhealthy looking people were eating this junk. Her son reminds me a little bit of me when I was a kid. Overweight and shoving those hot steaming chicken tenders in his mouth before they could even cool off nearly burning his mouth chewing with his mouth open to let some of the heat escape. I thanked God that he showed me a new life and a new meaning of food. I was no longer the little boy shoving it in as fast as I could.

I asked my daughter, "Jess, do hey have anything up there that I can eat?" She replied, "I don't think so Dad."

It's no wonder so much of America is obese. I know its a bowling alley .. but really? The only things they offer to eat is fried greasy crap. It's hard NOT to be obese in today's America. Today my friend posted on Facebook that her kid wanted Gino's for Sunday lunch so burger and fries it is! I wish my mom would have taught me better and I wouldn't have had to get 85% of my stomach cut out. He wouldn't be getting Gino's burgers and fries if his parents were not taking him there to get it. I'm guilty of doing it too for many years. I'm just thankful that I'm more aware now of it.

Now looking at my friends around me eating artery clogging french fried greasy carbs of fat and calories, I look on them in pity .. not in envy as it used to be.

Thanks St. Agnes team for saving my life :)

I think I was too hard on myself in the video .. but making it was a way of putting it out there as a way of saying .. i need to do this! I have people that are going to be waiting for another video hearing how good I've done .. 

I have lost a lot of weight in just 1 year and it took a lot of willpower and motivation to do that.  Sometimes we are our own worst critic I guess.  Since I've made the video I'm already back on track and loosing steady :)

No i wasn't downtown .. I am on vacation and wasn't going near that place lol

I'm happy then are the champs though!

so wonderful keep up the great work!

Thanks so much everyone! 

I'm SoSoHappy to hear that 

As far as I know .. anyone at anytime can have a stall.  This journey is different for everyone.

The only real problems I've had were with my Gallbladder going bad and had to have it removed.  Apparently the rapid weight loss messed it up even taking the Rx to reduce the risk.  The only other thing that really bothers me is the acid / heart burn.  I take 2 pills a day (one in the AM and one in PM) to try and control it but it still gives me a fit.

Otherwise I have no complaints.  Good luck on your journey!