San Ramon Trip Report, Photos available

Photos at:
http://www.obesityhelp.com/photos/uzone,photos/action,gallery/albumId,64498/
If you'd like a copy of your photo, let me know and I'll email you a better quality one.  I had to shrin these down to fit on OH.

We got to San Ramon Friday afternoon, checked in and met Jeremy Gentles in the fitness room.  He was wonderfully patient, taking me through the weight lifting moves I want to do to become fit.  My posture was the thing I was most concerned about and feeling it done correctly with his corrections put my mind at ease.  We went through the complex  exercises I’ll be starting with.  I was very surprised at the amount of weight I was able to lift.  I looked dubiously at Jeremy as he handed them to me and chuckled and told me I could handle it.  He was right!  I was able to handle much more than I would have tried on my own.  We had a good time learning and laughing though the entire hour and a half.  I highly recommend talking to him if you’re in any doubt as to where to begin with weight lifting.

We went to the meet and greet afterwards and talked with a couple from the Sacramento area, Beth (Melting Mama), Michelle (Eggface),  Joanna (if you were in Los Angeles, you remember the dancing queen, she never got off the dance floor).  Jeremy was there and I had a few extra questions for him (I’m telling you this old brain of mine just won’t remember what I think it should lol),.  We also talked with the person who oversees the food, setting things up and getting things packed up to go, and her daughter (I'm so sorry I'm having a senior moment here and can't remember your names :(.).

Afterwards hubby was still hungry so we went to  the bar and he had a burger, I had part of his salad.  Off to the room we went and I checked the boards.  Jenn left a message that she was bored so I called her and we went up to her room and talked with her and Dutchman’s wife (Marcy) and Mr. Dutchman until midnight.  Mind you, I’m usually asleep at 10:30 these days, so we had a great time chatting about various things, some bariatric related, some not.  I fell into bed and I woke to the alarm.  

I dragged my butt out of bed and got on my rebounder and did my run/walk routine, showered and grabbed the clothing I brought for the exchange and an ISOPURE pineapple Orange Banana drink.  I put the clothes on the designated size tables.  There were tables of clothes, thank you all who brought and took clothes!  I took several tops, a bathing suit, a jacket (I was going to shop for one after the meeting so I was thrilled)  and a couple of pair of shoes!  Thank you all.

Finally I got to the meeting just a few minutes into the introductory speech by Joanna, in time for her to introduce Dr. McNemar (plastic surgeon). His talk was informative.  He is concerned with the health issues that extra skin causes, more so, I thought, than having a great looking outcome.  Which is fine, as far as it goes.  I was more impressed with Dr. Katz’s outcome photos in Los Angeles.

During Dr. Feng’s talk (bariatric surgeon) I went to the vendor’s room and got more body butter (I love that stuff, it really keeps me moist and I can use it on my face too!) and looked and tasted all the things available.   Thank you vendors for allowing us to try things before we buy.

The next talk was by Sue Lassetter, a Certified Professional Coach.  She had some interesting things to say about how we deal with comments from others about being thinner and had us do an interactive exercise with a buddy at our table.  She had questions we were to ask the other about something we wanted to accomplish as we acted as a coach.  We reversed roles and learned some valuable lessons about how to ask questions that don’t lead to yes or no answers but lead to thought provoking replies.  Jenn, you were a great coach!  Thanks Sue for giving us these tools!  

I ran into Ramon Lopez before lunch and thanked him for his talk in Los Angeles.  I’ve carried the pebble he gave out, in my pocket every day since, to remind me not to forget where I came from, to give forward and that failure is not an option.  He asked me to place pebbles on all the tables before his talk and I was happy to do so.

Before lunch I ran into Lorrie from our support group at LAPSF.  We chatted for a few moments too.

Lunch was after Sue’s talk and we went back to the vendors room to look around.  I was trying to get my body composition done but I never found the folks there.  Lol  Oh well, they did have a Tanita monitor there so I was able to see what Jeremy recommended.  I have yet to buy one.

Ramon Lopez’s talk was next.  He was just as inspiring here as he was in Los Angeles.  He’s about the humblest man I’ve met with an amazing story to tell.  I can’t do it justice, you HAVE to go to an event and hear him tell it.  Our table cried through his powerpoint photo and music show at the end of his talk.  I doubt there was a dry eye in the place watching him go from 500 lbs to the smiling, happy man he is today.  I was honored that he gave me a copy of his photo show afterwards.

I connected with Lara (Dogma2Karma) for a few minutes and we exchanged run/walking experiences and positive results they’ve yielded and had a few photos taken.  We have the same doctor and similar dates so it was fun to exchange information.

Jeremy Gentles fitness talk was next.  He went through why complex exercises are more helpful, the myths of stability balls, that calorie restriction and surgery results in weight loss, the main purpose of resistance exercise is to reduce the loss of muscle mass while your losing weight.   I even demonstrated the dead lift for the group amongst cheers. lol  Charts showed that even if you do lose some muscle mass you preserve your strength by doing weight training.  And much, much more.  Slides were available by emailing him.

Last, but not least, was the Melting Mama and Eggface cooking demo.  It was fun, informative and delicious!  Check their websites for recipes.  We taste-tested

Eggnog Ice Cream
Chocolate coconut Protein Balls
Pepperoni Pizza Bites
Almond Joy 5 Minute Cake
Gingerbread Protein Drink

I had fun and enjoyed every aspect of the event.  Thank you OH for making these events available to us!  Thank you to the OH staff who puts the events together, the folks that run them, the people giving the talks and the people who come to enjoy them!  All of these things made it a fun event.
 
If I forgot someone, let me know, there was a lot to take in and remember.

Hugs,
---jan---

Jan the DUTCHMAN and I had a great time meeting and getting to know you and your DH. Thanks for coming to Jenn's room and visiting us. The info about your exercising plan was really great sounding.  I think that slowly but surely I'll be starting it. The DH is working on the pics we took. I hope to have them posted soon. 

We enjoyed meeting the two of you also!  Please let me know if I cn help with the exercise plan.  Been there, done that. :-)

I can't wait to see the other photos!  Thanks for posting them.

Hugs,
---jan---

 JJ
It was such a blast to see you.
You look absolutely fabulous.

Lori

Oh, now I understand what the pebbles were doing on the tables.
Thanks for the report.

Hi Lori,

It was great to see you in a different arena! 
Thank you, thank you!  You look marvelous!

---jan---
And you thought I was nuts giving out pebbles. lol
OK, I am, but for a different reasons.

Oh my Goodness Jan, I had such a blast meeting you.. You are such a sweetheart, and so funny too.. You had me cracking up...   I thank you so much for letting me pick your brain, and thank you for sharing your experiences with me...   I can't wait till we can meet up with each other again, but until then, I know I have made a great new friend.  Keep in touch and thanks again for everything..

Oh P.S.  You and your hubby are the cutest couple..  

Love,
Jenn

Hi Jenn,

It was wonderful to meet you.  Thanks for inviting us to your room.  I had so much fun talking and laughing!  You were a hoot!   We will meet again.  Now is when I miss living in Hollister, I could drive down for lunch in those days.  Ah well, no worries.  We drive to see hubby's folks a couple times a year so we'll make a point to let you know when we take the 101 route so we can get together.

It was interesting being on the other side of questions, I'll tell you.  I'm happy to help in anyway I can.  Paying forward, you know? ;-)

Hugs,
---jan---