I had my best day since surgery today.  One of the challenges I've been facing is trying to determine how much I should weight to be considered healthy.  The BMI charts say a man who is 6'1" should weigh anywhere from 140 to 189 lbs.  Anything over that is considered overweight. Just recently, when I dropped to 224 lbs., I was no longer obese.. but overweight.  Also, some doctors say that your waist size should be half your height.  That means I need to lose about three inches from my 40 inch waist to be healthy if I go by that standard. 
I had read and heard that the best measure of healthy weight is through Body Fat Percentage.  But the tests were either expensive, bothersome or inaccurate.
Well, thanks to a fellow OH member, I found a fourth method. It's called the Bod Pod.  It is said to get results close to the dunk tank and is used by hospitals and university athletic departments all over the country.
And it only cost me $25. I wore compression shorts and a bathing cap and sat in an egg shaped pod for about three minutes while a tech pumped air into the Bod Pod.  Here are my results:

So what's it all mean? Est. RMR: 2,277 kcal/day. RMR is my estimated resting metabolic rate.
I believe that's how many calories my body would burn per day if I did nothing but lay around all day.
Now the important stuff: I weigh 220 pounds.  40.6 pounds of that weight is fat.   My lean weight (the rest of my body.. skeleton, muscles etc) weighs nearly 180 pounds. My body fat percentage is 18.4%.
The chart below shows where that number puts me as far as being near a healthy weight.

  
Me? "Moderately Lean"?   Me? with a "fat level acceptable for good health"? HOORAY!
But I still want to get to the "Lean" level, which is "excellent for health and longevity".  That means of body fat percentage between 9-12%. So with a little math, I figure that a weight of 199 pounds would put me at 9 percent body fat.  I need to lose another 22 pounds to get there. (as long as my muscle mass remains unchanged) So my new goal is 199 pounds.
If you are interested in learning more about the Bod Pod, follow this link:
www.lifemeasurement.com 
Here is a link to a video demonstration:
www.lifemeasurement.com/news/play
Here is a link to institutions that have Bod Pods:
www.lifemeasurement.com/pdf/BP_Client_List_US.pdf
I don't know if the Bod Pod is available to the general public at all those institutions, but I had my test done at the University of Akron for $25. Here's a link with info and contact number:
www.uakron.edu/colleges/educ/SportScience/bodpod.php

Late last fall.. I virtually gave up brisk two mile walks because I developed nasty pain in my heel. I thought it was Plantar fasciitis flaring up again. So I started doing the stretches my old doctor taught me. That cleared it up in no time a few years ago.

This time, the pain only worsened.  I can't take NSAIDS with my RNY, so I bought several over the counter heel pads and orthotics. They seemed to help at first. But not for long.

So I am seeing a foot doctor.  He has tried the following.
1. Cortisone injections in the heel (boy that stings!). They only help for a few days.
2. AirCast ankle wraps. Maybe they helped a little.
3. Night splint... (a boot I wear to bed to keep the plantar stretched). Well, I don't have the pain when I jump out of bed.
4. Birkenstock sandals. I wear these form fitting soles around the house. I don't go barefoot.  They seem to help.
5. Prescription orthotics.  I have had them for more than a month. But if I do a lot of walking, the pain comes back.

So doc gave my heel an MRI to see if there was a tear in the muscle. NOPE. NOTHING.. NADA.. Not even a calcium bone spur on my heel.

So, I'll keep wearing the orthotics for another month and see how it goes.

Thank goodness that I can ride my bike for exercise.  The foot pain isn't a factor.

In the first few weeks after surgery, I kind of resented people eating foods I couldn't eat. But then I realized I not only couldn't eat them.. I didn't want to eat some foods.  It's getting easier to be less tempted.  When I used to go to the theater, the opening animation showed Coca Colas, and Twizzlers and popcorn. I thought I'd like to go to the candy counter and buy a big bucket of buttered popcorn..


Tonight, my wife an I went to a movie and when the same candy counter ad came up on the screen, it had little effect on me.  We just enjoyed the movie together.  Perhaps it is partly because I tell myself that nothing is off limits. I can have some treats once in a while... like going out to a nice restaurant.. I just chose not to do it tonight.

Yeah.. well it was on sale.  A couple weeks ago I saw it in one of those dollar discount stores.
The label looked okay:
Protein powder, Milk & Egg white, Naturade half cup

Nutrition Facts  

Amount Per Serving
Calories 120.0 Calories from Fat 18.0   Fat 2.0 g 3 % Saturated Fat 0.5 g 2 % Polyunsaturated Fat 0.0 g   Monounsaturated Fat 0.0 g   Cholesterol 40.0 mg 13 % Sodium 30.0 mg 1 % Potassium 180.0 mg 5 % Carbohydrate 1.0 g 0 % Dietary Fiber 0.0 g 0 % Protein 24.0 g 48 % Alcohol 0.0 g
Vitamin A 50 % Calcium 45 % Vitamin D 50 % Thiamin 50 % Niacin 50 % Vitamin B6 50 % Phosphorus 25 % Selenium 40 %	Vitamin C 50 % Iron 50 % Vitamin E 50 % Riboflavin 50 % Vitamin B12 50 % Manganese 140 % Copper 50 % Magnesium 50 % Zinc 50 %

 BUT IT TASTED TERRIBLE! I had to add lemon Crystal Light just to get it down. 

It's the first protein powder that I really can't stand.  I'm glad it was cheap.  I won't feel badly about getting rid of it.

Someone at work who knows that I have been striving to keep my daily protein, fat, carbs and calories pretty consistent, asked me how I manage to keep doing it for months.  The simple answer is that I really want to to it.  I know that I need to do it.  It's been my goal to exceed 100 grams of protein per day.. fat.. around 15 g.. carbs.. around 20 g or less.  Calories.. around 660.

If I look in my food journal for the average of the past four weeks.. here are the actual numbers.
protein - 110g     fat - 15 g   carbs - 18g   calories 663

I think that planning my meals for the day ahead helps. I put them in the journal in the morning.  If something changes, I update my online journal before printing a final copy for the night.

I understand that everyone has different wants and needs. But my journal is another tool that helps me my with my WLS tool.