Rob S.

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I got ultra busy on Friday and had to go up to Albright College. My son wanted me to meet his girlfriend, so I ended up taking them to dinner. They laughed out loud watching me work the waitress for a small plate of salmon and veggies.
I spent this morning walking at the JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes) 5 miler at Rockford Park and the rest of the afternoon raking up leaves in the yard. Can't wait till I get back to work so I can take it easy.

Just don't try the stupid stuff because once you find out you won't dump, or can handle sugar, or can handle quantity you have lost a tremendous deterrent that helps keep that "bad stuff" from getting in your mouth. Many people at the meetings talk about being able to have a bite and being satisfied. I couldn't prior to my surgery so why would that craving have changed after the surgery. My motto is "JUST SAY NO". I am actually struggling with eating what I think is too much quantity of the good foods. No triggers are stopping me from downing a cup full of nuts, or a 16 oz smoothie. I am forcing myself to stick with the six meal plan, and when I hungry after a meal I just force myself to look forward to the next meal.
My meals consist of the following (my only real variety comes at lunch and dinner and evening snack): Breakfast (oatmeal w protein powder, soy milk, cinnamon and flax meal), Morning snack (smoothie), Lunch (3 Fish Sticks and corn/peas), Afternoon snack (smoothie), Dinner (Bowlful of Chef Salad -- lettuce, ham, turkey, 3 cheeses, egg, other veggies and Walden Farms salad dressing), evening snack (4 TJ graham crackers with TJ BT Peanut Butter and 1/4-1/2 cup of almonds or mixed nuts). I get 8 to 12 oz of water or crystal lite between each meal. Trying to cut back on the nuts but I'm addicted and without getting them out of the house I can't resist not having them with a meal.

Almost missed it with all the activity on this site. I'm 1 year out tomorrow. I eat my six meals per day as ordered about every three hours. I started to feel the hunger sensation around month nine and now I just have to make sure that I stay on routine. I prefer the hunger sensation to the craving syndrome that I hear so many people talk about. The other thing that has become critical is portion control since pouch control has been gone for so long. I feel sometimes like I'm back on a diet, although now at least I can exercise to work through the hunger and I also drink a lot of water and crystal lite to keep me full.

I completed the MS150 Bike to the Bay today! This has been a goal I set for myself back in March 2004. Thanks to everyone who sponsored me and made it possible to make this ride. Thanks also to all of you have provided the positive encouragement that I thought back on throughout the ride. You all know who you are.
On Saturday, I got to the starting line in Dover at 8am and started pedaling right after the 700+ MBNA riders took off. Before I actually crossed the starting line the rain started pouring down and I was soaked. Other than rain the first 20 miles went extremely fast and I was able to occasionally see through my rain soaked glasses. There were two rest stops but I decided to keep going, cause I was afraid that if I stopped, I might not want to go on. Out come the excuses, like shoes and socks are squishy. Luckily I packed enough water and protein treats to keep me fueled along the “weigh”. I went through so many towns and backroads that I forgot that I was still in Delaware. At 20 miles the rain continued, but the infamous headwinds kicked in. Headwinds are tough, they make you feel like you are standing still sometimes, even when you are pedaling furiously. Stopped quickly at the 30 and 40 mile rest stops which were provisioned real well for “normal” people. But for this GSB guy, I wasn’t really interested in trying the peanut butter and jelly, or the turkey and cheese on a roll, so I stuck with my pre-prepared Trader Joe graham crackers with Better than Peanut Butter. So the pedaling continued. And continued. And continued. The legs started to tighten up at 60 miles, and the butt (see Ginger posting) was gone. At 50 and 60 miles (the rain stopped during this phase for awhile but the wind persisted) but had to stop at the two rest stops. It was really neat since the two communities had a massive turnout from the local women. They must have been cooking for a year. Every baked good, pie, cake, cookie and candy that I had put in the back of my mind was laid out on their tables. The ladies were shoving cookies to go to each of the riders, so I took a bag to share with someone later. The great thing about the ride, is that everyone is so friendly, and gives you lots of encouragement as they whiz by on your left. I met a lot of people along the way, and I still haven’t figured out how the same people would pass me five to six times during the ride, even though I never remember passing any of them. What was really neat, was completing first day (75 miles), people were cheering and standing in the rain to encourage people. Luckily I arrived at 2:10pm, which was exactly when my wife turned into the lot at Rusty Rudder. So I had my own private cheering section. Even though I was extremely sore, we stayed overnight at a hotel, had a wonderful dinner and plenty of good conversation. I even talked about the 140 reasons to not ride back on Sunday.
None of the 140 reasons worked. After a quick breakfast (I know it shouldn’t be quick), I left Rusty Rudder at 7:30am. The winds were worse on Sunday than on Saturday. And it seemed like even though I didn’t remember many of the roads going downhill on the way to Dover, the whole way back seemed to be uphill, or when a road was flat or downhill you got headwinds right in your face. I crossed the finish line at 2pm, a much bigger crowd this time, despite the wind it was a beautiful day. I could barely get off my bike. In fact I wondered briefly if I ever wanted to get on a bike again. My butt was sore, my shoulders ached, my hands hurt, my knees pounded. It felt like my body reverted to my pre-surgery aches and pains that I lived with daily.
So I made my goal for this year. This was my one-year post surgical celebration. Mission accomplished.
Rob