FirstFlight Mike

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 It's hard to believe that nearly 5 months have passed since I added an entry to this blog. For me that means that "all has been well".

Mostly, anyway ;-)

All has been well other than developing "irritable bowel syndrome", a catch-all diagnosis when the medical people cannot explain why someone has symptoms of gastric distress. But it's okay, I'm dealing with it, and it seems to improving by inches.

With THAT crappy subject behind us (every pun intended), let's shift to WLS topics! I'm about 15 months out from surgery (RNY) and my weight is hovering around 215 lbs, which puts me 35 lbs below my initial goal weight! It's also a total loss of 240 lbs from my highest. Yay me!

For what it's worth, my BMI is 26.8, still in the 'overweight' category. I don't put a lot of stock in that categorization by the way. I'd have to lose 15 more pound to squeak into the 'normal' category, and that is kinda silly if you were to see me naked.

OK, stop picturing me naked, I insist. You really don't want to do that.

I don't think I'll be losing more weight, so this has become my new maintenance weight. New goal: maintain 215 lbs plus/min a few lbs.

Here is a photo of me, taken fairly recently.

I'm eating more volume, able to is the best way of putting that. I've been less rigorous with my carbs and that may be part of the normalization of my eating. I decided to tighten up my carb intake again as of yesterday to make sure that I don't drift beyond 217 lbs, so I'm quite interested in seeing what my weight does over the next 7 days.

My exercise fell off in Nov due largely to the irritable bowel thing. I need to work exercise back into my life, that for sure.

So those are the basic facts, and it seems that I should be discussing more... maybe about how my life is different now when I compare it to my pre-WLS days. A good topic for another blog entry, no?

Peace

Oct 19th marked 10 months since my RNY. The numbers are:

Highest Weight: 454 lbs

Day of Surgery: 400 lbs

Current Weight: 230 lbs

I've lost 16 lbs over the past month and I'm actually 20 lbs below my original goal weight.

I'm sticking with the low-carb diet that has been so successful for me so far. I don't feel that I'm restricting myself is any way, and feel strong and energetic, so I plan to let the body keep losing until it decides to stop.

I'll put a couple of photos here on my profile, but you can see a few more on my web page. This link will take you to the photos take the day of my surgery, ten months ago. The links at the top of the page will show the progress through each month.

http://web.mac.com/mikeprevost/Site/Surgery_Day.html

I need to get back here more often to update my blog. Even though I hit my initial weight goal in September, I never got around to taking the 9-month post-op photos on the 19th or writing up my thoughts/experiences/plans in this blog.

So maybe a mini-update for anyone who comes here for the exciting serialization of Mike's weight loss adventure.

Well, I'm thrilled to report that my losses continue. I weighed in at 239 this morning, a number that is suspiciously low. I had a busy weekend and ate less and less regularly than 'normal' so I may bounce back up a couple of lbs. That's okay though because I'm currently 11 lbs *below* my initial goal.

I'm on my 5th wardrobe since last December, and that has been an expensive but unavoidable process. What I've just come to realize is that my body image is still out of sunc with reality, leading me to buy shirts and jackets that are too large for me. My wife had to convince me to even try Eddie Bauer and Old Navy stores for clothes. I laughed when the sales person wanted me to try on 2Xl shirts. Ummm they fit, and that was at the end of August. Friends are telling me that all of my shirts are too large now and actually they were probably too large when I bought them.

Have you gone through something similar?

Photos and a proper write up will happen in October.

Thanks for reading.

It happened. Mostly.

I hit my goal weight.

The scale is bouncing up and down a pound or so, but the low water mark is my goal weight of 250.

Holy Shit.

It's hard for me to believe that eight months have passed since driving to Tufts in Boston to get RNY Gastric Bypass surgery. Here are the raw numbers for this month: I weigh in at 253 lbs. I've lost 201 lbs total, 147 lbs since surgery.

Many people who have weight loss surgery refer to the 'journey' that you undertake from this life changing event. I'm nearing my goal weight but the journey will have many more steps that will span the rest of my life. The nature of my journey is beginning to shift to new territory as the phase of large weight loss winds down, and new challenges must be faced.

The two key challenges that come next are to evolve my eating and intake to accommodate the maintenance of my weight within a range, and the rebuilding of my strength and muscle tone. These two challenges are related and interdependent and will require some time before I strike a comfortable balance.

I lost 10 lbs in the past month, which is really great this far from surgery and this close to my initial goal weight. Speaking of goals... I am only 3 lbs from the goal weight I set two years ago, and I should hit that weight within the next couple of weeks. Here's the thing to to know about that goal... it's just a number. I would be happy to maintain my current weight for the rest of my life. My success is all bout the quality of life that I've regained, the obesity co-morbidities that I've taken out of my health forecast by leaving obesity behind. Reaching any specific number is not important compared with the real successes I've gained during this 'journey'.

That being said, my body is still losing weight in a healthy fashion. There is more fat to lose, particularly around my abdomen, so I will ride this train until the end. When my body stops losing, that phase will be done.

I want to thank a few members of ObesityHelp that have been sharing their own process and how to transition to the long-term part of this journey.

My friend Amy recently pointed out to me that we require constant evaluation, and re-evaluation of goals, habits, and attitudes. And this re-evaluation must happen regularly. Great advice for all of us here on OH.

My friend Ann has shown me that gaining and maintaining our self esteem after lifetimes of obesity is a daily battle. Sometimes the battle gets ugly and tears are shed, but the battle must be waged anyway so that we learn to see ourselves as the beautiful people that we are.

My friend Maryellen shows me how our goals should be kept in razor sharp focus, even over the long haul part of this journey. She also lives the truth that exercise is an absolute requirement for us. Make it part of your lfe, no excuses. If you fall away from your exercise routine, you must work to get it back. She does that, Maryellen, and it inspires me.

I could go on and on becasue there are so many amazing and powerful people on these boards, and they lend their support to others at the drop of a hat.

Here is my progress photo web page. The links along the top take you to each month's photos. Check out the Quick Look page too.

http://web.mac.com/mikeprevost/Site/Surgery_Day.html

WooHoo, on July 19th I crossed the 7-month mark since surgery.

I've also finally broken through the plateau that I'd been cursing. After plateauing at 268 lbs for 2+ weeks, I've finally dropped 5 lbs in one week, losing 11 lbs this month once all was said and done. Pretty great considering I'm so close to my goal weight.

My increased exercise was important in breaking through the plateau, but I also needed to decrease the amount of carbs that I'd been eating. I'd come to rely on watermelon to get an important amount of my daily hydration. I love watermelon and other summer fruit, but the sugars (carbs) that I was consuming had reached a point sufficient to stall my weight loss.

So I'm eating less fruit and drinking more water, and the lbs are falling off once again. Two recent photos have been posted to the left, and a link to my full photo progress web page is below. Use the links at the top of the page to travel from Surgery Day to the most recent photos, 7 Months Post-Op:

     http://web.mac.com/mikeprevost/Site/Surgery_Day.html

Make sure you take a look at the Quick Look page for side by side comparisons.

 

It was time to increase my exercise. My weight loss has been solid, but I see that my muscle tone is not improving as I want.

So I am playing golf regularly now, the 2-3 hours of walking and swinging a club is a noticeable increase in aerobic output. I''m also attacking the stairclimber, increasing my time to 25 and 30 minutes, and increasing the intensity level to '7'.

I feel good and will continue, but it has had the psychologically difficult side affect of plateauing my weight loss. I **know** that this is a natural and ultimately beneficial 'pause' in the overall weight loss. I know I'm adding dense muscle mass even as fat is continuing to burn off. I know that the new muscle mass adds to my metabolic requirement and will keep the fat burning process going month after month.

But for now, the scale is begged at 268 lbs, 18 lbs from goal. Two weeks and counting.

Today marks six-months since my surgery. I feel great about my progress, my health, and my new attitude towards life in general.

I'm down to 273 lbs this morning, meaning I've lost 127 lbs since surgery and 181 lbs since my highest weight.

New photos are here in my photo collection, and the full collection of my progress photos can be found on my poto website. The links along the top will take you from the day of my surgery (before) to the latest photos (today!) :

http://web.mac.com/mikeprevost/Site/Surgery_Day.html

Make sure to check out the 'Quick Look' page for month-by-month comparisons.

I'm so happy to tell you about having coffee with a fellow ObesityHelp member, Maryellen from Long Island. My company has an office on Long Island, and during a business trip this week Maryellen and I met at a Starbucks and talked non-stop for two hours.

She started a support group for WLS post-op people (Long Island Post Op - LIPO) and a year into it her group is growing and a great success.

Two camera phone photos in my photo collection, go look!

This is a milestone week for me.

I left the 400's behind in December. And this week the 300's became history too. Fuck 'em, they will NOT be missed.

Weighed in at 298 and I'm staring down at my goal weight of 250 from a much nearer vantage point. I can smell the end game coming. So close.

Love that leading '2'.

For the record, I've lost 156 lbs total, and 102 lbs since my surgery.