A fellow OH member asked me how I became motivated to lose weight in preparation for weight loss surgery.  It reminded me of a line from the movie, "The Shawshank Redemption"..  the line was "Get busy living, or get busy dying".

Here's my response to him:

My motivation was to save my own life.  When I weighed around 500 pounds. I expected to just drop over dead some day. But instead, I began developing several painful or bothersome problems.  I had gall stones, sleep apnea, high blood pressure,  deep vein thrombosis, lymphedema, heel spurs, and finally a blood clot in my leg and a pulmonary embolism.  Every time I went to my local hospital, there was little they could do to help me. I was even too heavy for some of the diagnostic equipment. I was either over the weight limit, or there was too much fat for things like ultrasound to work properly. I felt like a dead man walking.  After a lifetime of gaining a losing weight over and over.. I knew I needed to have weight loss surgery. But because of my weight and history of blood clots.. it wasn't guaranteed that I could even get surgery done.

My motivation to lose weight before surgery was three fold.

1. To show the clinic that I would be a successful patient, so they would perform the surgery.
2. To lose enough weight to increase my chances of surviving the surgery
3. To lose enough weight to qualify for laprascopic surgery instead of open RNY.

I became single minded about reaching this goal.  It had to be the most important thing in my life.
I went from about 450 pounds to 324 the day of surgery in about five months.

WLS has changed my life. Instead of just trying to AVOID dying. I am now focusing on LIVING.

I respect, if not admire, those of you who don't have to measure your food and keep track of it in a journal. But because part of my obesity issues centered around dishonesty with what I ate, how much I ate, and when I ate, I felt that in order to lose the weight need to improve the chances of a successful surgery, I needed to keep a strict accounting of what I put into my mouth.

The journal helped me drop from about 450 pounds, to 324 pounds in the five months before my RNY.. thus allowing me to have my operation laprascopically.

But even after surgery, I kept writing in the food journal.

I have a background in science education.  All through high school, I wanted to major in Physics in college, but switched to Mathematics. (which I later changed as well)

Maybe I'm a skeptic. I also want the journal to see what kind of science is behind weight loss surgery.  With the issues I have about being honest with myself, I want to be able to see in black and white what I ate during the week, and how much I ate. Perhaps I could find a link between that and how much weight I lost or didn't lose in a particular week. So far, the only conclusion I have come up with is that our bodies don't run on the same calendar that we hang on a wall.  Even though I eat almost the same amount of calories each day, some weeks I don't lose weight, and have even gained weight in others. But looking at the big picture.. I have dropped from 324 lbs on September, 21 2009 when I had RNY, to 237 pounds last week.

But there is another benefit to the journal that I discovered yesterday.  I passed a big box of Poppycock in the store. For those of you who don't know, Poppycock is like a rich man's Cracker Jack. It's a candy coated popcorn with pecans instead of peanuts.  I used to love it.  Since I never tested myself to see if I dump on sugars, the big box looked tempting. It's the first time that I have felt that urge since my RNY five months ago.  I thought of buying it. But just for a second. In addition to the dumping question, I also knew that the carbs wouldn't balance out in my food journal.

Since I feel that until I reach my goal, I need a daily food and nutrition plan, everything I eat must be accounted for in that journal. That means there are some foods that don't fit in, unless it's one of those 12 special occasions of the year like birthdays, holidays, anniversaries etc. On those days I adjust my eating earlier in the day to allow for some foods in my "special meal" that may be higher in fat or carbs. (Yes, I count those too because it works for me). 

Oh.. in case I wasn't clear.. I did NOT buy the box of Poppycock.

"Follow your doctor's orders".. blah blah blah.. yeah, yeah yeah.. I've heard that so often in my life that I hardly pay attention. At least I used to hardly pay attention.

I guess the fact that I almost died from a blood clot two years ago changed all that. The most important advice from my doctor was to seriously investigate the possibility of having weight loss surgery. Now that I have had RNY, I'm finding that it's also important to follow my doctor's instructions on eating, drinking and exercise.

I don't mean picking and choosing what orders I'll follow. I TRY to follow all of them and ALL OF THE TIME. 

Protein first (I eat 100 g of protein per day)
Avoid sugars and simple carbohydrates (I'm averaging about 20 g of carbs per day)
Drink at least 64 oz of liquids per day (I use lemon Crystal Light - It helps)
Don't graze (I only eat meals or snacks at 7am 10 am 1pm 4pm and 7pm)
Take all required vitamin and nutrient supplements
Stay active

About once a month, I eat a meal that includes foods I don't usually include on my regular daily menu. Usually that's for a birthday, anniversary, holiday or other special occasion. But even when I eat those special occasion meals, I weigh the food and list the nutrition in an online food journal like fitday.com. If I'm in a restaurant and can't weigh my portions,  I just make an honest guess when I prepare my food journal that night.

But I know that the more I veer from my healthier living plan, the longer I'll take to reach my weight loss goal. It's that simple.

Studies have found that the most successful weight loss patients are those who follow their eating and activity regimen the most often. When I reach my goal, my doctor and nutritionist may have new instructions that will help me maintain weight.

If I didn't have confidence in what my surgeon or nutritionist tells me, I wouldn't hesitate to seek a second, or even a third opinion. But so far, what I have been told by my medical professionals  makes sense to me, and more importantly, it's guided me successfully on this journey.

I couldn't keep being morbidly obese a secret, so I decided not to keep my weight loss surgery a secret either. 

I underwent laprascopic RNY on September 21, 2009.  It wasn't the first time I considered WLS. About three years earlier I went to workshops, and actually lost weight to qualify.  But I had a change of heart at the last minute.  Perhaps I thought that since I lost all that weight on my own without surgery, maybe I didn't need it.  But the main reason I decided not to undergo a gastric bypass was that I was afraid I might not  survive the operation. I hadn't even told my wife I was considering the surgery.  I felt alone.

Well, after regaining all the weight I had lost, and more, I also picked up more co-morbidities such as lymphadema and blood clots. I decided that my doctor was right. If I didn't do something, I might die anyway.

So when I decided to again pursue WLS in late 2008, I knew there would be no going back. I could not return to the old lifestyle of compulsive overeating.  I would make a commitment to become single minded about obtaining a new lifestyle. 

This time I told my wife about my decision.  And as I began losing weight to prepare for a more successful outcome to my surgery, I also began telling other people about my plans.  Part of the decision to reveal my desire for WLS  was based on my distaste for office gossip.  I thought the best way to defuse the whisperings was to lay all  my cards on the table. Of course there were people who asked, "You're doing so well losing weight on your own. Why do you need the surgery?".    I would respond by telling them that I know I can lose weight on my own. I've done it over and over again.  This time I need help to keep it off.

And now that I have had surgery, I tell perfect strangers about it.  A store cashier recognized me and commented on my weight loss.  I noticed that she was obese too.  So I told her about my WLS and even began a conversation with other people in the check out line about my RNY.  They can't believe I once weighed more than 500 pounds.

I understand that many people want to keep their surgery private and personal.  But I feel like I have been given a gift that will help give me a longer more rewarding life. Keeping my decision secret may only add to any stigmas held by those who feel that this is the easy way out.  It is not easy. It's tough physically and emotionally. But it's worth it.

I feel I need to give something back by letting others know that there is hope of having a richer life after being morbidly obese.

I am more than 5 months post RNY. I still want to lose another 48 pounds. 
The following represents a pretty typical diet for a day.

B  138 g microwaved egg whites
S - 1 scoop protein powder in water
L - 113 g low fat cottage cheese & 20 g fresh blueberries
S - 1 scoop protein powder in water
D- 113 g grilled Tilapia, 1 mozzarella cheese stick. 90g of steamed broccoli, carrots, pea pods and cauliflower.. 8g of olive oil.


110g protein
19g fat
23 g carbs
710 calories