The Basics:
Name: Tom Williford or "T-Willy"
Age: 38
Marital Status: Married
Hometown: Fort Worth, TX
Current Home: Frisco, TX  (Just north of Dallas)
Education: B.S. Petroleum Engineering: Texas A&M University, 1992

Personal Quote: "I bet if you look at it hard and long enough, you will find out that it is funny !"
Favorite Quote: "Because he puts an addictive chemical in his chicken that makes you crave it fortnightly, smartass!

The Career:  (I work for the evil Oil and Gas industry.  Any negative comments and I'll raise the price of gas another $0.25)

Employer: EnCana Oil and Gas
Occupation: Reservoir Engineer
Area of Expertise:  Barnett Shale

What I do at EnCana: Being a reservoir engineer basically means I find the most economical and efficient way to produce natural gas from the ground.

The Weight Loss Journey

You have heard this one before.  Been fat all my life.  Weighed 75 pounds in kindergarden.  Weighed almost 300 pounds in high school.  But I was an active kid.  Played a lot of sports (varsity football and baseball) and even though I was overwieght, I was very competitive.  Imagine how much better I could have been without all the extra tubbiness.

Went off to college and without the sports and activity, plus the all you can eat at the campus cafeteria, I exploded.  Even though I did many different diets (including the dreaded phen-fen), I exited college at about 380.  Out of school, I was an up and down yo-yo with the weight.  My low was 325, my high was 435.  YIKES.

As I grew older I continually did the up and down game.  Got married, had the kid, changed jobs a few times.  Everything seemed normal except for the weight.  Now that I'm in my upper 30's, the up and down game is more slanted to the "up" side.  Losing became more and more difficult, and to be honest, I started not to care about my weight.  That attitude got me up to a high of about 450#.

The point about all this is that I had the perfect role model to help along in my weight loss journey...my dad.  He is such an inspiration to me.  Why?  He was overweight too and couldn't control his obesity.  And it killed him at the ripe old age of 48.  Not to mention that I weigh more than he did at his death.  Don't worry, I love my dad, I just didn't want to put my son through the hardship of losing his father early in life like me.  So the idea of me following my dad to the early grave finally caught up with me and I started my path to WLS.  What bothers me is that it took this long to get it through my thick skull.

Now I'm on a journey that hopefully takes me to heights (he he) that I haven't seen since high school.  With my wife and 3 year old son at my side, I am going to get there and knock the socks off of everyone.  Nobody knows me as thin...yet!

UPDATE (4-27-07)

Well I am almost 2 months out now and things are going, honestly, better than expected.  Virtually no complications, I am tolerating most food, following all my instructions, and on top of all that...losing weight!

The scale this morning said 373 (-72).  I've got 3 days to close out April, and then 5 days in May to make it officially 2 months.  Do I hear 80?  My BMI has dropped from over 60 to right at 50.  I am about to no longer be SUPER OBESE, but just a mere extremely obese.  I hope I don't lose my super powers when the change occurs, and I'm sure as hell not giving back the cape and tights (although they don't fit any longer).  The funny thing about being SUPER OBESE MAN is that my super hero persona and my secret identity were one and the same.  Can't hide being fat with just a pair of glasses Mr. Kent.

UPDATE (6-8-07)

Past the 3 month mark now and I am 352 (-93).  Am going back to Houston here in a couple of weeks and would really love to be at the century mark by then.  Going to see a bunch of friends and old co-workers that haven't seen me since the surgery.  Looking forward to their reactions.  I know...not very funny.  I'll work on this and get back with you.

UPDATE (7-18-07)

Almost 4 1/2 months now and I'm at 335 (-110).  I am what you call a pack rat.  I rarely throw anything away.  So I did a pretty good job of keeping clothes back when I was moving the other direction on the scale.  See the problem is I haven't been this weight since college (early 90's).  At first glance, it looks like I may have waited long enough on holding on to these clothes that they may have come back into style again.  So if you see a guy in his late 30's wearing madras shorts and fraternity t-shirts...it might be me.

What this also means is I have to go clothes shopping.  My wife now wants to "remake" me in her idea of what my image should be.  You have to know my wife but what her idea of my image is anything in a color/style that I can't stand that is at least 60% off the lowest ticketed price.

UPDATE (8-20-07)

Down to 325 (-120).  This is my lowest weight I have ever been since college.  Things are slowing down a bit...weight loss wise that is.  Because work is speeding up light a freight train.  But in the past, when work got to be like this, I would pick up my eating activity to help "de-stress" the situation.  Funny, I still find myself sometimes standing in front of the fridge looking for the quick de-stress yummie that will make me feel better.  Problem is, all the food I used to eat to make me feel better is on the no-no list.  I can honestly say I have been a little heavy on the sugar free popcicles lately, but when faced with the alternative???  I may not be perfect, but things are WAY better than they used to be.  Instead of urging for 3 BK Whoppers, I get the urge for some almonds, or sf pudding.  I will be a work in progress for life.  Now back to progressing in work.

UPDATE (11-25-07)

I am on the verge of a milestone I wasn't sure I would ever see.  Tonight I sit at 301 (-144).  I honestly cannot tell you the last time I was under 300 pounds.  I'm guessing it was in high school.  To tell you how things have changed in my life, I was on a business/vacation in California for a week.  In times past I would have gorged myself to the point of explosiveness.  Most likely case would have been a 3-4 pound gain.  I LOST 6 POUNDS.  Sure I overate and I partaked in several adult beverages (vacation remember), but this time I overate on fruit, or nuts, or steak.  Not to mention being a load lighter, I walked a lot, and didn't stuff my face on room service each and every night.  I'm not proud of that fact that I didn't follow the rules while on vacation, I'm proud of the fact that my mindset and outlook has changed where eating like crazy is no longer a priority to having fun (or what I thought was fun).  The whole process is about adjusting the mind to fit the tool of surgery.  It really cool to actually see your mind naturally adjust to it, and when the mind adjust, you are winning the battle.