postalmoose

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Well I am at two weeks out and have lost another fifteen pounds since my first fill on December 2ND. I am losing about fifteen pounds a month so by yhte time I get to my three month point I hope to be around or even under 300 pounds for the first time in fifteen years or more. Unbelievable! Have had some issues at work with snacking feelings so I stay with chewing gum to get those feelings away but I have big issues with this problem. It is definitely a mental issue with me and I am thinking of possibly doing some psychological counseling to deal with it. My only saving grace is the surgery and my pouch which physically keeps me from eating alot in one sitting or constantly grazing. But none the less I am still losing and feeling great. I have broken out some old clothes I never wore or barely wore because I was so fat. Now I am wearing things I never thought I would see. Also the support at work of people has been amazing as no negative comments have come my way just good vibes from most everyone that knows. Those that don't know can see I am losing weight and I just tell them that I am eating right etc. to lose weight. Even though I have lost 55 lbs. since surgery I have really lost 100 lbs., since the beginning of the year when I weighed 415 lbs. But 100 lbs. and counting since has been an amazing journey so far.

Well my first fill was Monday and it was an experience. First thing though is that I lost 40 lbs. in the first six weeks, 15 of it on solids for the last month. I f I can do around 15 lbs. a month I will be happy. Really ten a month would be great. But none the less I am happy with my decision and how I feel now. Everyone I see has been very positive about my weight loss and are happy for me. Most know I did surgery to get here but no negatives so far. The fill itself was weird in that it was a huge needle and stung but ithat was it. As my first fill I have alot to learn. The second day after I ate some turkey and I ate to big a pieces and didn;t chew enough and it got stuck. Man oh man it hurt like hell for about twenty minutes. So I walked around the house until it passed. Very uncomfortable! Had a smaller episode at work but it passed. Chewing is so important and the bite sizes is as much. When I am in a rush at work it becomes hard to remember but I have to.

Well my first fill is Monday and I can't wait for this new step! I made it through Thanksgiving and it was a challenge. That day I stayed with my five meals every three hours but I did eat thanksgiving meals. One of my meals was 3oz of pie but I figured it in to my schedule and only did it once. I did have some stuffing and mashed potatoes with two of my meals but that was it. Then last night I had 3oz of a brownie. I have had feelings of wanting to just gross out but thank god for my pouch as I can only eat 3oz of food comfortably. I am most excited to find out how much I have lost since my weighing week two. It has been almost four weeks since then and I have lost more weight. People at work are really noticing the change and I have told most what I did. so far no negative reactions all have been positive. Well time to get back on track completely after thanksgiving and lose more weight. Yeehaw!!!!!

Well I am one month from surgery and into my new life. So far so good. Eating has gone well, especially since my last post. being able to eat solid food has been a godsend as it allows me to chew and you can't count how that makes a meal feel. It also makes it last so I am not just sucking down baby food. I feel good though with alot of energy. I can;t wait until two weeks from now when I get my first fill and get weighed again. It will be exciting to see where I am at. I found out at work that there are three other men who have had WLS. Two have had lapband and two had the RNY. I talked to Larry, who had RNY, and he lost about 160 lbs. and is two years out. I haven't talked to the other two but the one, a mechanic named John , has lost laot of weight and looks good. I will talk to him when I see him. I am getting alot of compliments which is nice. I guess it is really noticeable. So far so good!

Well one week of work went ok. Kind of boring being on light duty I just sit in the office. It is not real busy. Last night I got to the point where I was so bored that I started to think about eatong. It got so intense I finally got up and walked around the plant to waste time and let the eating feelings pass, which thy did. But I am shocked the old feelings have come back so fast. I really have to pay attention to those. But now I am starting solid food nd I am happy. Soft was oggd but eating soft food doesn;t allow for a lot  of chewing  and now I can chew. Chewing will allow me to eat my meals slow rather than soft which just goes down like water. I thought the challenges would go away early but they have shown up. Time toi get serious and I think supprt groups is going to become part of it.

Tonight I go back to work for the first time since surgery. It has been two weeks but I am ready to go. I will be light duty for a few weeks. I am sure every one will see a difference in me, I have lost 25 lbs. as of last week. I am eating soft food right now and for the next week and a half. But I can't wait to get to solid food and eating normally again. I will take it slow though on the solids for a week or two. Mixing in soft and solid. I am walking like crazy now. 3.5 miles yesterday and 3 this morning. I feel good doing it, my back and legs don't hurt walking and 3 miles is about 300-400 calories burned. One thing though is I am feeling the hunger and have had a yen to graze. So far I am keeping myself from going there. Knowing that I can't just sit down and eat as much whenever I want really helps. I knew these old feelings and habits would pop up but I thought later rather than sooner. Thank god for my pouch!

Today was a good day because I went for my two week checkup. Actually I was supposed to go in last week but the snowstorm cancelled that. So today I went in and got my first wih in and voila.......I lost 25 pounds in two weeks. Actually I lost 38 lbs. since September 2nd when I first met with Dr. Snyder. I knew it was good but you always think maybe I wasn't doing everything right. But I knew in my heart of hearts I was doing it all right. I now weigh 344 which I haven;t weighed in 12+ years. Just keep on plan and it should keep going down. My next check is four weeks from now when I get my first fill. I will not weigh myself until then. It will be interesting to see what I can do in the next four weeks but I can tell you I will work hard to get their.

Well I have been doing soft foods now for a few days. I am quickly finding out that who I was as an eater before and my relationship with food was totally the opposite of what I am trying to become now. First off thank god for the surgery and the tool that it has created for me. If I did not have this I would be binging all over the place, Second it is taking some getting used to, to realize what feeling full with my pouch means. I have been eating about 3oz of soft food every 3 hours but what I have realized is that when people say it takes 20 minutes to feel full they are right on. I eat my 2-3 oz in about ten minutes, don't feel full then I wonder if I ate enough. That is because the old way to was just about eating until I felt gorged, not full, but gorged which meant overfull. But if I stay patient and wait 10-15 minutes all of a sudden I realize that I actually feel full. And then I don't drink for about 45 minutes and I still feel full. Sipping the water makes the fullness stay around for about an hour. Then when my next meal comes up I am ready. It is strange to deal with these new sensations but I need to really pay attention to them and follow them completely. Trust what I am feeling. There has been a couple of times where I actually after eating have felt a little nauseous because I ate to fast or a little to much and when the sensation of feeling full came later it wasn't good. One time I felt a little bit like it was in the bottom of my esophagus. Remember it is all about relearning how and when and why to eat. Not just stuff your face anymore.

Well I am on day ten post surgery. I was supposed to have a meeting one week out but a huge snow storm put a dent into that. So the meeting was moved a week back. I wasn't sure how to proceed to soft food so I called Dr. Snyder. His assistant Kim Delamont called me and told me to graduate to soft foods like refried beans, cottage cheese, yogurt, and supplement with protein drinks. Do this for two days then go to things like chicken salad, tuna salad, fish and really just follow the notebook they gave us. It has been nice to eat something of substance and actually chew some food. She said start with an ounce or two and I should be able to get 3 or 4 ounces in my pouch. Right now I at 3 to 4 ounces food and depending on what I eat I can feel the pouch fill. Re fried beans really fill it but some I feel at the top of the pouch pushing into the esophagus. No throwing up or reflux or heartburn. Been keeping things on the lowdown. No need to overdo anything. Will say this that I almost never feel hungry until my nest meal. Have been eating about every three hours which works for me. So far I fell good about what I am doing with no real complications. Funny story, I went to the bathroom and when I was done I stood up and I heard something metallic clang on the floor. I couldn't figure out what it was until I reached down and discovered it was my wedding ring. It just fell off!!!!!! I know I have lost, my wife can see it in me but don't know how much and don't really care. Just want to lose.

I am now one week out from surgery. Today was the first day since when I actually did something physical. I laked for a mile in the morning and I felt good doing it. Then later, before the snow arrived , I went out and cleaned up some leaves. By the time I was done I was exhausted. Had to go lay down for a few hours to recover. I don't know if it was low protein consumption or just inactivity after surgery but I was wore out. I have been diligent on the liquid diet but can't wait for the soft foods which I think will start on day eight. I also will be interested to see how much I have lost in one week. I can feel it on my shoulders and neck where I have always had extra fat. My legs definitely look thinner. My gut is hard to tell as it is where I hold most of my fat. As far as weighing myself I decided that I would only weigh myself for the first three months at my doctors office with the post op checkups I will have. One little caveat is that I have been dying to chew and eat some real food. Not the grossing out I used to do but just eating something of substance not just liquid. My wife has to cook for herself now until I get back in the swing of eating then I can start cooking again. But the smell of cooking food is unbelievable and I can't wait for soft and then solid food.