JohnL
9-17-07 Just wanted to do an update. This weekend was a great one. On Sunday I ran the Dousman Dulathon. This race was a 2 mile run followed by a 21 mile bike followed by another 2 mile run. I had a great race for me and really enjoyed it. I was able to finish the race in 1:45:55. What was really fun to see was my run times. Even in high school I was never a speedster but I had personal best run time. I finshed the first 2 mile run in under 15 minutes and the second run in just over 15 minutes. The nice thing was I wasn't much slower after throwing that bike ride in the middle. I am still so thankful for this surgery and new lease on life. I never would have imagined 18 months ago that I could ever do events like these. I am going to continue to race not to win or compete at a high level, but to continue to focus on fitness and training while improving my personal times. Next Sunday should also be fun as I am running the 5K race for the cure run in milwaukee the funds go to breast cancer research, a very worthy cause. I will update again soon.
8-6-07 Well I had a good last 3 weeks. Life has been pretty normal as I continue the routine of living a new life style. I have been working up to my second big fitness goal of the summer in training for the MS 150. The MS 150 is a 150 mile 2 day bike ride. I lost my mom from MS last year and made it a point to do this ride in memory of her. I had been the guy on the sideline seeing e-mails at work about the Team of riders that have done it and I could only make excuses because of my size and how out of shape I was. Then last year as the weight was coming off and I was work out daily I heard the stories of the feeling of accomplishment as well as the fun that was had from a few of the riders from GE that also are in the spin classes I do a few days a week. Late last fall I made a commitment to myself to accomplish this. It was one hell of an experience. It was physically demanding riding 75 miles a day. I spent just under 10 hours total between the 2 days on my bike. For those 10 hours which included rest stops I average a heart rate close to 145 bpm. I learned that I can push my body pretty hard. I learned that every hil can been crossed and every mile can be covered. I am also learning that there is an incredible rush finishing a race or a ride. I was pretty emotional finishing the triathlon a few weeks back but the beauty of this was there was 2 finish lines one on Saturday and the other on Sunday. I was overwhelmed with emotion to the point of crying a bit finishing on Sunday. I think it was the mix of "holy crap did I just do that" and seeing close to 100 people in wheel chairs cheering every rider on as they crossed the finish line. I still can not say enough about this surgery and tool. Experiences like this I would never have had without it. I am living a much better and much more fulfilling life post surgery. I hope that some folks see this and take this as motivation to take the chance on a new life if they are given it. The best part was after getting home late Sunday afternoon I some how still had energy to cut the grass. My wife thought I was nuts but I had the energy in the tank and used it. Thighs are a bit sore but I still got my daily morning work out in today. Until next time.... Thanks for reading.
7-16-07 It has been too long since I have updated my profile but nothing was really new to report. I am still in the 187 - 195 range depending on the week and how I eat and execise. I am updating because yesterday was one of the most incredible days of my life. I took on the challenge of doing the Pewaukee Triathlon 12 weeks ago by joing a training program at the gym. Well yesterday @ 4:30 A.M. I loaded my bike to the car and packed my bags and headed to the beach for the 6:30 A.M. Triathlon start. During the training program I always thought of how cool it would be to just finish. I had trained hard the last 12 weeks but the training never led to a whole Triathlon. The last week was brutal I had dreams of not finishing and also of sleeping in and missing it but of course that didn't happen. The emotional roller coaster yesterday was sureal. My heart was pounding and I was nervous waiting for the gun to go off for my wave. People cheering for us as strangers through out the course made me feel awesome and I thanked them as I went along. All the way to seeing my wife an kids screaming for me as I transitioned from my Bike to my run. Then the topping on the cake as I crossed the finish line seeing my boys and wife there screaming for me I felt the biggest sense of accomplishment I have ever felt. Out of breath and almost to tears I embraced each of them with a major sweaty hug that they later thanked me for. I had done it!! A guy who 16 months ago couldn't run a mile now did a quarter mile swim a 16 mile bike ride and a 3.1 mile run in 1 hour and 41 minutes. My personal goal was to finish in less then 2 hours and I surpassed that. I don't type this to say look at me but to hopefully inspire people considering the surgery to see that this can change your life. I never thought of my self as that guy who could do this type of thing but anything is possible. The surgery is the tool to help change our lives but we hold the key to making it work. This has also changed my families life. My 6 and 8 year olds did the kis Tri on Saturday and we trained together so they are learning about setting goals and working towards them. I am thankul for this second chance at living a healthy life! I will updated again soon.
5-7-07 My goodness I don't know what has been happening with time it is flying!!! I got online to update the profile today and couldn't believe it has been this long since I last updated. I am doing well and am still hovering weight wise around 195 lb's. I ahve been eating more but my workouts have also stepped up. I am just starting week 3 today of my tri training and am doing well. The group runs are a good gauge of my progress. Today I ran a 5K in a personal best 26:42. I am enjoying biking the most. I spoiled my self last week and but a nice road bike. I never thought I would be training for this type of thing but I am also signed up to do the MS 150 mile bike ride August 4th and 5th. I lost my Mom a year ago after a long battle with MS so this will be my tribute ride to her. 150 miles seems like an eternity but I will do it. I will keep the profile up just to keep myself honest. Till next time.....
3-28-07 Well I have hit the one year mark. It has been a great ride and I am so thankful for the new lease I have on life. This morning to celebrate the year I took the opportunity to sign up for a 12 week training program starting in April to prepare for the Pewaukee Sprint Triathlon. If you were to ask me a year ago today when I was laying in the hospital bed at 330 lb's if in my wildest dreams I would sign up to train for a Triathlon I would have laughed. C'mon a .25 mile swim followed by a 16 mile bike ride, followed by a 5K run no way..... My life is so different that I can't even begin to explain how this has changed my life. I am pretty stable on the weight side as for the last 3 months I have been hovering from 188 to 195. I am not trying to loose weight anymore. I have been holding a steady exercise program of 5 gym workouts that vary from spin classes to ab only focused classes. I climb and run on different treadmills and have used the eliptical quite a bit. Monday through friday are 90 minutes at the gym of a mix of 60-70 minutes of cardio and 20-30 minutes of strength training. I am in a routine that is not going to get broken. When traveling for business if I miss a day I feel guilty and do everything I can to get caught up. That is a great feeling. On the eating front I can eat pretty much anything the only thing I still can't tollerate is steak. It amazes me because pork, schicken, and ground beef a.k.a chopped steak are all fine. I will trade steak which used to be my favorite anyday for the 140 lb loss. One other suprise for me is how much fun shopping is. I used to hate looking for clothes in fact my wife did most of that shopping for me. But now I enjoy paying attention to what I am wearing and how I look. She even commented how fun it is for her to see me caring that much about it. Well I will keep updating my profile. I can't thank Dr. Regan and the team at Columbia St. Mary's enough this has changed my life!!!!!
2-26-07 Last week wasn't bad not great but not bad. I lost 1 lb to finish the week at 191. I got 5 workouts in and I am happy with that seeing I was traveling 3 days last week and still got in workouts 2 of those 3 days. They gym at the hotel didn't open early enough for me to get in before leaving for my flight. Looking for another week with weight down this week. I have been eating more seafood these last few weeks and I think the lean protien is helping. Need to continue to focus on no snacking and sticking to the basics. I am happy with where I am at but have to believe I can drop the 14 more lb's to hit my goal of 177. I have 7 months to do it but with the last 2.5 months basically yielding a flat weight I am wondering if I can do it. I also know I need to give it a bit more effort. I will be back to check in next week.
2-19-07 Well time does fly it has been almost a month since my last update. There is not much to report as my weight loss has been flat. Actually over the last month I have seen a fluctuation of movement up and down in a 5-7 lb window. I took a hard look yesterday at my food journal and my exersize log and am actually a bit disappointed in myself. I have been traveling a ton for work, flying around the country visiting customers. With that travel has also come eating out. I know I eat better now but not as good as I should when I am home. I need to figure out portion control and good choices when traveling. Exersize is still a main stay in my routine however in a hotle without the same machines I see my routine getting a bit lax. I know I can correct this and need to. I fell from an exersize perspective I need a kick start. Again not because I am not doing it but because my body is not responding. I think I am in maintence mode and need to kick it up a bit. I talked to a trainer at my fitness club and am going to sign up for a 10 week session of developing not only the cardio plan but also strength training. I haven't done much at all in that area. I am happy where I am at but I also feel like I can do more. I weigh less then I did graduating from high school so that is not bad but I need to continue to succeed. I am feeling a bit of a let down in myself when the scale stops moving. I know some day it will for good but it shouldn't in 10-11 months. So I am recommiting to the basics. Good food choices, good exersize, and good drink choices. I will be back soon as I also need to commit to adding weekly progress reports to keep me on my toes. Current weight 192. Goal for the week minus 2.
1-22-07 Here is another update I had a good week losing 3 lb's last week. I used to say that was a bad week but the way things have been going latley this is huge. I am now down to 185 lb's and am creeping closer to my ultimate goal of 177 lb's. Workouts have been steady at 5-6 a week and last between 70 and 90 minutes a day. I can also say that even on the weekends without hitting the gym I a much much more active. A year ago I would have dreaded sledding with my son's because climbing the hill would have kicked my butt. Yeaterday I out lasted my youngest and was racing my oldest back up the hill running. I look back at yesterday and am so thankful for this surgery and lifestyle change. The body fat challenge is still in place as the leader is down 3% I am down 2% and measured in at 12.6% this morning. I am considering adding a few nights a week of cardio to get this moving and to make a push to try and win this contest. I was wuite funny last week the leader brought in a few dozen cookies to spin class and put a fan on the freshed baked cookies so the smell was blowing right at us. A few guys gave into temptation and were pedaling away eating a cookie but I was able to steer clear. Well time to fly and I will update again soon.
1-8-07 Wow it has been almost a month since my last update. Time sure does fly when you are having fun I guess. The holidays consumed me as we had a ton going on. I had 10 days of vacation in there somewhere too that came and went faster then I could have imagined. The holidays were great and I wethered it with no gain or loss. I am still parked at 188 lbs. I do have to admit that the week between Christmas and New Years was not the best for me. I was on vacation and exersice and some eating habits did slip. Not to mention the New Years Eve celebration. The good new is I was back on the wagon on last Tuesday when I got back to work and hit my 5 workout last week. I also can not complain too much because I am in a competetion with 12 other people in the gym I go to to see who can drop the most body fat % points and am doing well. The first one to drop 5% gets the prize and the entry fee was $60 a man. The way ot works is when someone hits the 5% loss everyone in the competetion gets $10 back for each % point they lost and the balance goes to the winner. We have been doing this for 3 weeks and my baseline was 15%. As of last thursday I measured in at 14.1 so I am down 1%. There are a few guys down 3 already but they started a bit higher then the 15% I was at. no excuses I just need to buckle down and keep working at it if I want to win. It is great motivation in the back of my mind as I go through head hunger during the day. It is amazing to me that I am only 2.5 month away form a year post surgery already the time is flying fast now. I need to keep focused to get to my one year goal. I have 11 lb's to loose to get to my 18 month goal and actually my stetch goal was to hit that 177 by my one year goal. In order to do that I am going to need to stay focused because the weight loss has only been about 5 lb's over the last 6 weeks. I can do it with the right focus.
12-11-06 Things are going well weight loss is still averaging about 1 lb per week which is good with me. I am at 188 as of this morning and feeling good. I had measurements done last week as part of our Fitness Center's Maintain Don't Gain program and even though I only lost 5 lbs in the last month I dropped another 1% of Body fat to 15.7%. I also saw declines in my waist, arms, and legs so I was also very happy with that. The holiday parties for work and friends have all been going on and I think I am doing well. Sure I am not eating all of the best things but I am making much smarter choices. Shrimp are just as good if not better the meatballs in bbq sauce, and veggies are just as good as the crackers and sausages. I at least keep telling myself that. :) I just do not want to ruin the good thing I have going. I keep saying moderation for the duration. Had fun on Saturday when my wife asked me for a picture in my presurgery jeans again and I was floored at how big they are. I was able to take the picture with not only myself in them but also my kids!!!! They got a charge out of it as well. Till next time Happy Holidays!
11-27-06 Once again I missed a week but there was not a lot to report. I survived Thanksgiving week just fine. It was a great day and although I ate a bit more then I normally do it was a solid week. I was very active in the gym 4 days last week and also at home the other three days. We got a football game in and got all of the Christmas decorations up. I ended week 36 at 189. That is now 141 lb's since surgery and I couldn't be happier. The biggest thing is how good it feels to be healthier. My brother was making comments over the weekend that I have lost too much. It just makes me smile as I know I can still loose some more and I will. For me it is no longer an obsession over what weight I will end up at I am just going to do my best to continue down the path of living a healthy active life. I know I haven't seen 180 anything on a scale since high school so this does feel great.
11-13-06 This week was ok had a 1 lb loss and am hitting 190.5 on the scale. That is close to the 180's which I have not seen since my senior year in High School playing football yet. I think I am close to being in the best physical shape of my adult life. Had a good workout week and I only hit 5. We had a retreat for my son's first communion prep that I attended and it put a wrench in my normal routine but a very good reason none the less. I also spent a ton of time this weekend working on the basement so I was far from inactive. I also joined a program through my gym called maintain not gain. It is a holiday program and they will take before middle and after measurements. The program runs from today until the 15th of January. I had the measurements last week and I have seen my body fat drop from 20.3 on October 2nd to 16.7 last week. That tells me even though the weight loss had slowed signifigantly I am still losing fat which is good. The workouts are paying of. The other good think is my body fat has me in the normal range even though the BMI is overweight. I will watch them both and keep with the program.
11-6-05 Well it has been a few weeks. I have been traveling for work and things have been very busy. I am now done with week 32 and weighed in this morning @ 191.5. I am happy because this week was a 3.5 lb week and this month has been slow going. I am down 5.5 for the 4 week month ending today. I am not complaining however as I am only 14.5 lbs away from my ultimate goal of 177. I am still hitting the gym but am continuing to try new things. I broke down a few weeks ago and bought a heart rate monitor so that I can see more clearly if I am hitting on all cylinders. That thing is cool. Now doing spin class or even lifting weights I can see and track the impact on my heart rate. Foods are getting more expansive for me now. I have been able to add low fat tortillas to do wraps and can see to tolerate a little more bread. Still not good on rice and pasta and have yet to give steak a whirl as that one has pushed me over the edge in previous attempts. What was I favorite I hardly even miss it now. Well I will be back soon with another update. Set a work out personal best today. 80:30 on the incline climber 5.5 miles and 1668 calories burned!!!
10-18-06 Week 29's update ius coming 2 days late as I was traveling for work on Monday and Tuesday. Flying is much more fun down a few lb's. Not only is it more comfortable but much less stressful. Anyways I had a good week down 2 lb's to 195. I am again this week seeing a jump up the first few days but that pattern has been going on. I think it is the body's catch up from busy weekends. I had 6 workouts in including a 5K run on Saturday and have now picked up a 30 min ab class at the fitness center. I never knew so many different types of crunches and ab excersizes were possible. My mid section hurt for a few days but that is good pain. I went back today for week 2 so I think I will keep it up. One big win for me was I had to get a suit for my business travels and nothing even 10 year old suits in my closet fit they were all to big. So my mother in law was goming down for my sons b-day and brought some of my father in laws old suits and to my very pleasant suprise they fit. I am now in a 42 reg suit coat down from a 58 at surgery time. I am glad they fit because it is helping my pocket book as well as my health to be this size. Need to fly will be back again next week.
10-9-06 Week 28 is all done. It was an interesting week. I was 197 on Monday and by Wednesday somehow jumped to 202.5. I was eating a bit more but nothing crazy enough to gain 5.5 lb's. It came back down the remainder of the week to finish flat at 197 today. I had a good workout week 6 days an one of those was a solid run on the weekend. Spent a bunch of time working on the basement again which has made me keep the activity level up on the weekends. I think this is the first year in my life that I have yet to sit and watch a Packer game. Sunday's used to revolve around that acitivity with plenty of food and beer. Now I am listening to it on the radio while doing the home improvement work. Well the way they have been playing I am not missing much by listening. This week should be very normal as well no major plans but to keep on moving down the path of a better life. Till next week. Bye.
10-2-06 Week 27 was again a roller coaster. I saw my weight go up the first 3 days of the week and then back down over the back half to end @ 197. YEAH!!!! I haven't seen a one hundred anything since my senior year in high school. It feels awesome. That was a 3 lb loss for the week. I have now lost 40% of my surgery weight in 6 months and a week. I am so thankful for this surgery and the results. I had my 6 month follow up with the surgeon and it was fun to see everyone. A hug ah ha for me was the office took my picture at my final presurgery consultation and then again last week. I was amazed seeing them side by side. The acid test for me was that night @ dinner I said to my son's 6 and 8 who is this when I held up the current picture and they said that's you Dad. I then held up the old picture and asked the same question and the honestly said we do not know him. I was floored that my own kids didn't remember the old me. I still see the old me because even though the change has been big and fun I still feel like the same person. I owe a huge thanks to the the bariatric team at Columbia St. Mary's for the help in getting me this tool. It is going to be a long life long journey but this first 6 months has been a blast. Here is a quick summary of the first 6 months.
BMI 47.3 to 28.7
Fat % 35.5 to 20.3
Weight 330 to 197
Waist 50 to 36
Shirt 3XL to L
CPAP, High BP med, 2 Cholesteral meds gone!
Till next week bye.
9-25-06 Back to the 1 lb week. Week 26 was a roller coaster. I gained 4 lbs mid week how I am not sure but I did and then those 4 came off with 1 additional pound to end the week down a pound and right at 200 lb's. I have a semi goal to break 200 lb's by my six month anniversary from surgery which is Wednesday. I was also kinda hoping I could do that before my appointment with the surgeon which is tomorrow. Well we will see when on jump on the scale in the morning. I had a good workout week last week hitting 6 solid workouts and was very active on Sunday spending 6.5 hr's working on the basement. I am crunching some numbers that I will share next week on my 6 month progress. I was very glad to see that since surgery I have hit the gym 81% of all days 146 out of 184 days. That is almost averaging 6 days a week which will continue to be my goal. I am also as of today down 130 lb's total. I am now wearing a comfortable almost little loose 36 inch waist and started at a 52 inch and went from 2 and 3 xl shirts to larges. The compliments are still coming which is added incentive to keep suceeding. I can't say enough about what this surgery has done for my life. I am a new man and am enjoying the trade off's for the results. I will be commited to long term success and look forward to many more days and years to come. 6 months doesn't seem like much but this flew by and to me is a major milestone. I will be very interested in the Dr's comments tomorrow seeing I last saw him at the 2 week point. I will post that feedback next week.
9-18-06 Week 25 was a good one I lost 6 lb's. This was better then any week in the last month and a half. I must have hit a stall but I have also kept the activity level up a bit as I have been working on finishing the basement of our house afterwork and on the weekends. I did 5 gym workouts last week and a very active weekend planting trees, cooking a pig for a wedding party, and working on the basement. I am now down to 201 and smell the one hundred anythings. I am sure it has been 17 years since I could claim that. I feel great and am loving life. I will check back in next week an hopefully it will be 19X.
9-11-06 Week 24 is closed and it was my best week of the last 4 for sure. I lost 3.5 lb's to move me to 207. I thought for sure I was on the new .5 lb to 1.0 lb a week scale given the 3 prior weeks. I will not celebrate however because last time I had a big loss it took me 3 weeks to recover and I gained for a few days following my Monday weigh in. None the less I am now down 123 lbs in total and am anxiously awaiting dropping the duece and seeing the 19X's. I do know that this may take another month or two at least given the pattern I have seen but I am not going to complain. I feel awesome and am riding the wave and enjoying my new life. I see the Dr. for the first time since my 2 week mark in 2 weeks and am very eager to see what he thinks. According to the 90% target loss chart I am still 23 lb's ahead of where the average says I would be and I am hoping to maintain that gap as I progress to the six month point in 2 weeks from today. Major accomplishment last week on BMI I am offically now just overweight!!! My BMI is below 30 for the first time in many many years taking me out of the obesse categorey. That seems sureal given it has been less the 6 months since I was morbidly obesse. Workouts were good last week got 6 solid gym workouts in including a Saturday 5K on the treadmill and also spent 5 hours Sunday starting to finish my basement so I was plenty active. We followed that with 2 games of bowling with the kids. Well here starts another week.
9-5-06 Here I am a day late but with the Labor Day holiday I didn't get online yesterday. I had another very slow week that ended yesterday and I was again down a half of pound for week 23. So for the last 3 weeks total that is a whole pound. :). That puts me down 36% of my pre surgery weight to 210.5 and down 119.5 lb's in a little over 5 months. I am again ok with this because I am feeling good and I know for the most part I am doing what I need to do. My workouts have been holding steady @ 6 a week averaging 70-75 min's each all cardio though. Yesterday I again got in a 3.5 mile run along with a 25 min walk on the treadmill. This is something that 5 months ago would have been only a dream not the reality it is today. I need to get the weight lifting going and the trainer promised me a workout at the gym because I am starting to see skin and I want to see how much I can start to fill up by toning muscles. Once I get the workout the plan will still be 6 cardio workouts but on 3 of the days I will cut them to 30-40 mins and use the other 30-40 min's for lifting. Last weekend I made ribs on Saturday and had a bad time with them and dumped but the weird thing is I did them before with no issues. Pouch must have been grumpy and wanted something else. I am hoping this week gets a bit better. I would love to see a 3-5 lb week like the olden days but a loss of any sort will be a good thing.
8-28-06 Week 22 was another slow one. The weight loss was steady but slow to end down 1 pound to 211. The week was good Monday through Friday as I was on schedule. Then the weekend hit and we were out of town visiting friends. That was fun as I haven't seen many of these folks in a long time and many of them didn't recognize me until I started talking to them. I had no workout this weekend so only had 5 all week. It wasn't all bad this week as on Friday I had a fitness evaluation at the gym. I have made progress in all areas and am waiting the report on inches lost but the scale matched what I have and the most staggering result to me was body fat %. Prior to WLS I was at 35.5% fat. Now 5 months after surgery I was @ 20.3. The thing that I was happiest about is I am in an average categorey for the first time in a long time. I need 4 more pounds to move down to overweight from obese and am hoping I can do that this week.
8-21-06 Well last week was a quick celebration and maybe I didn't figure out my body's new formula for success. I was on cloud nine for for one day with the 7lb loss last week and then had 2 straight days of gains and I ended the week @ 212 lb's or up a half pound for week 21. Now I will say I am not disappointed just need to stay the course. I am still down 35% of my starting weight and way ahead of where I expected to be coming in. I am sure Saturday didn't help my cause for the week either. I did get 6 gym work outs in averaging 65 min's a day including a new personal best on a run of 40 straight min's. That is huge because I am now sure I could make my goal of running a 5K. Infact I did over 3.5 miles in the 40 min's. Now back to Saturday. The trip to the Packer game started at about 2 o'clock and I had - lets just say I pretty much drank whiskey and water for the remainder of the day and ate protien but also chips and dips and things I normally would have not. I also only got about 4 hr's of sleep because we stayed in a casino in Green Bay. The good news is it was a day and this morning back to the program. I did have a major feel good last week as I went to look for Packer wear. My existing shirts looked like tents and I wanted to get something that fit. So off I went to Kohl's and to my major suprise I am now wearing a size large t-shirt. I think I was in high school the last time a large fit. Then I also tried on some shorts seeing what I had was also large and I comfortably fit into 36 inch waist pants so with that being said in 21 short weeks I have gone from a 52 to a 36. I also looked at adidas running pants now these I could never get even if the xxl would fit because the inseam was a mile long because a guy with a waist that large should have been 7 ft. tall. To my suprise a L fit. I came home happier then a school boy with the news and told my wife and found out she has L running pants and just to make sure I wasn't in a mismarked pair at Kohl's I put hers on and they fit. So as I said a week was due to come with a gain, I am glad it is only a half of a pound. I am very happy with the total progress to date and am hoping for a better week of getting back to the basics.
8-14-06 Week 20 was a nice rebound from the slow last 2 weeks. I got some advice from some of the boards and I cranked up my protien 30-40 grams a day with powder and the results were great. I dropped 7 lb's for the week and am at 211.5. That is the biggest weight loss week since week 9. I am now down 35% of my total body weight. Also using the 4 weeks = a month calc I am now ahead of my goal pace of getting to a 90% of my excess weight loss goal of 177 lb's. I am actually 25.5 lb's ahead of where I should be but I do understand those are just averages and am nothing but thrilled to be where I am. Got 6 workouts in last week including a spin class and a 5K run on the treadmill which felt good I still plan on making my goal of a 5K before the fall turns to winter here in Wisconsin. Took some 4 month pictures this weekend and am amazed when we line up pre surgery to today. I never thought I looked as rough as I did but it is great motivation to keep on plugging away. Hopefully this week will be abck to a normal 3-4 lb's down I don't want the low low high like I had the last 3 weeks hoping for more of a steady pattern.
8-7-06 I thought the week was going well until this morning. I hit 6 gym workouts in last week which was at an average of 70 mins and over 1300 cal's in 5 days on the incline climber. The 6th workout was a spin class and 20 min's on the treadmil on Thursday. I had a steady loss every day and then weighed in @ 216 yesterday morning. That was good down 3.5 for the week I would have been real happy with that. Then this morning I get on the scale and some how yesterday I gained 2.5 lb's. I do not understand it as I know I didn't eat crazy at all. The only thing I had that wasn't normal for me was about 200 cals worth of chips. The truth is I have had a handful here and there all week as a snack. Seeing my last 2 weeks have been the slowest to date I am going to make a promise to my self to eliminate them for a week and see what happens. So this morning I was frustrated and took it out on the incline climber I did 80 min's 5.33 miles and over 1550 cal's. That will show my body... :) So back at it this week. Last weekend was a bit interesting we had a family gathering where family I usually only see once or twice a year was there and they were all very shocked at my loss. Everyone had nice things to say but I am not much of a compliment taker and that gets a tad bit uncomfortable after awhile. I am not complaining because it could have been other discussions. Well gotta fly and start the week off. Final weigh in 218.5 down 1 from last week, 108 from surgery, and 111.5 since day before surgery. Still not bad for 4.5 months.
7-31-06 Well traveling weeks are tough but I am not sure if that had a major impact on my weight loss or not. I was down only 1.5 lb's this last week which is an all time low. It is still 1% of my weight and I know things will slow but this week was not a good proxy. I did work out in the hotel gyms all 5 days last week. I also ate out all week given the travel. I did he best I could to do salads or seafood but I am sure given it was prepared food it was not cooked the way I would cook. I did also splurge and have a few bites of calamari and spinach artichoke dip at dinners and had a few glasses of wine. Like I said that all could make and probrably did make a difference. This week is back to normal I hit the gym hard this morning and have no reason to not see a decent loss. I am setting a personal goal for my 6 month with the surgeon to be at or under 200. That leaves me 2 months roughly to drop 19.5 lb's. Month 4 was 16.5 but this month I am only on track to do 13. I will keep on working at the basics and everything should workout just fine. I am starting to see skin hanging in my bicep area ond in my stomach I thought I may be ok but these last few weeks I have noticed it. I need to add weight to my cardio to try to build up some muscle mass and maybe use some of that skin again in a different way. I also need to start working the core. I do nothing for it now which is why the skin is doing what it is doing. Well weight today after 18 weeks / just over 4 calander months is 219.5 that is down 110.5. I thank the lord for this tool and the motivation to succeed with it!!!!
7-24-06 Week 17 in the books with a 5 lb loss. I am know down 105.5 since surgery day and 109 since the day before surgery. Last week Wednesday I eclipsed my one year goal of 225 before the 4 month mark this Thursday will be that day. I had a good workout week hitting the gym hard 5 days for a minimum of 60 minutes of cardio a day. I am now burning an average of 1000 calories + in my cardio. I feel awesome this week my wife went out and bought me a size 38 waist pants. Much to my suprise I put them on and the fit! That is the first time my waist his been in 30 anything since high school. It sure feels good. I again have no complaints and love my new life. I have a travel week for work this week so I will need to hit the hotel gym and eat as good as possible always a challenge when the routine is broken. Talk with you next week.
7-17-06 I had an ok week that was strange but what is new. Nothing to complain about except last week was vacation and I took my workouts easy. This week was back to normal and I hit the cardio pretty hard and I only lost 2.5 lb's. That was weird but who knows why. I am not going to sweat it seeing I know the wieght is getting harder and harder to lose. For week 16 I am down 100.5 since surgery and 104 since the Saturday before surgery. I hit 5 gym workouts last week that average 70 min's each 4.5 miles and 1200 cals each. I also was very active on the weekend golfing 18 on Saturday with some swimming and swimming on Sunday as well. It has been hot here this weekend heat index was 105+ which doesn't happen much in Wisconsin. Well I have been using the weight loss guide from the sight and if I stick with 90% loss in 18 months as a goal I am doing just fine. 16 weeks in which is actual 10 days pre 4 months if I use months on the calendar I am 19 lb's ahead of schedule. I should have lost 82 lb's and I am @ 100.5. As I said things are slowing so maybe my body will play catch up. I also plan to start adding weights to the cardio and this should add muscle and probably lower the speed of the loss as well. Time to get to work I will check in next week.
7-10-06 Well here we are after a weeks vacation and now finishing 15 weeks post op. I made the 100 lb club while on vacation. The amazing thing about last week is that I only exersized hard 2 times all week. One day I rode the bike about 20 miles and the other day I ran about 3 miles and walked another 3. Other then that I was active all week but not in the gym. I ate as close to my diet as possible and lost 6.5 lb's. It is my biggest % of current weight loss in 6 weeks. I am wondering if the rest my body got from going from 6 workouts a week didn't help a bit. Well whatever it was is great and I am happy to be down 101.5 lb's. I am still getting many compliments which feels great. I run into people who can't believe the changes that have happened in this short time. I can't imagine them either and am loving it every day. I look in the mirror once an d a while and just smile. I am now wearing XL shirts and size 40 pants. That is down 12-14 inches in my waist. I hit the gym this morning as it is back to the old routine now that I am back at work. I am looking forward to my normal schedule and hopefully another good week of weight loss. Weight today was 228.5. The crazy thing is that is only 3.5 lb's away from original 1 year goal of 225. I am now seting my goals to be 200 by my 6 month appointment with the Dr. and 180 for my 1 year. That should be doable as I would need to average 1 lb a week for the rest of the year roughly to meat that goal. Things are slowing down but I will stick with the program and ride the wave.
7-3-06 I was on vacation away with no scale last weigh in was on Saturday before we left and I was @ 236 a disappointing 1.5 lbs but there were 2 more days in the week. I will check in next monday after vacation and hopefully things will look much better. I have taken my bike and running shoes so this week will not be exersize free.
6-26-06 Here it is the offical day before my full 3 month point and all is well. I got 5 workouts in this past week and missed both Saturday and Sunday and paid for it in todays weigh in. On Saturday I weighed in at 236 and then Sunday and this morning was 237.5. For the week I lost 4.5 lb's which at first seemed low to me until I realized it is still 2% of my weight so as the weight decrease it is harder to see big lb losses. Totals now are 89 since date if surgery 92.5 since the day before surgery. I am still amazed seeing my one year goal was 100 lbs and now today I am 11 away from that 3 months in. It has been a great ride so far and I would do it again in a heart beat. Seeing people I haven't seen in awhile is becoming increasingly more interesting. The reactions range from a double take to holy cow what happened to you? I enjoy that part. Tried my first drink at our neighborhood block party this weekend and it was very uneventful. I drink a few oz's of whiskey heavily diluted in water. No bad reaction but nothing to write home about in terms of enjoyment either. It will be a once and awhile thing as I am not going to push empty cal's in anymore then I need to. Looking forward to vacation next week but also need to figure out a exersize plan for the week. We are renting a cottage in northern Wisconsin not to many gyms in the area but I plan to at least take my bike and rollerblades. Well I will use tomorrow mornings weigh in as my official 3 month surgiversary weight and will check in next week.
6-19-06 Here we are the weeks are flying by and it is time for another update. Week 12 is done and it was an ok week. I started out loosing pretty strong and even after a record workout in terms of calories burned (1375) on Saturday and a Sunday workout I was shut out over the weekend and ended the week with a 5 lb loss. I will not complain given the last 2 weeks were 3 and 3.5 lb weeks. I did hit 7 gym workouts last week and that felt good it was a good mix of treadmill and incline climber. I am starting to toy with the idea of running and tried a small bit last week. I have never been a runner even when very active in youth sports the max I ever ran was 1 mile and that was to be timed in gym class. Well Thursday I mixed in 2 miles of running @ 5 MPH in a 55 min work out. I am finding that the more I push myself the more I can do. It is the mental aspect of just telling myself I can do it is the key. I would like to keep working on running and would love to do a 5k run by the end of the summer. I have also cranked up the speed in the work outs I am mostly using 4 MPH now and averaged 60 min's a day last week for all 7 work outs and made 27.8 miles for the week for an average of 3.97 miles per day. I also burned 6868 cals in the 7 gym work outs that is an avg of 981 per day. With the 12th week coming to a close that is month 3 in weeks and I was down 21 lb's last month. 4 less the Month 2 but lower weight harder to loose as fast. I am now @ 242 and looking forward to the 100 lb mark 12 lb's to go. I should hit that in the next 4-5 weeks. Not bad seeing that was my original 1 year goal coming in. Eating is going well didn't dump at all last week which is probably a first. Everything is going well and I am so happy with this new tool and lifestyle. Next few weeks will be challenging but I am sure I can do just fine. This week we have a weekend party at the house and in 2 weeks it is vacation week. I will need to watch the food and find ways to exersize to make sure I am staying on track I don't want to blow it for a whole week. Well 26% of me is gone for good in only 12 weeks 84.5 lbs since surgery date and 88 since a few days before surgery. I will be back next week and update again.
6-12-06 Week 11 update. This week I knew was going to be a challenging week but it wasn't a trainwreck. I have a long golf weekend with my college buddies every year and this is 4 days of golf, booze, food, and little sleep. I did rather well. I stayed off any alcohol for the weekend and ate not perfectly but not bad either. I got all of my water in and at least 60 grams of protien per day. People were amazed at the change and had lots of questions. I like the positive reaction and appreciate the compliments but also saw some negative vibes. I had to answer the questions about well if you ate this well quit drinking and exersized like you are you would have dropped all this weight without the surgery. I tried to explain but some people don't understand that this tool is helping and that I did try and couldn't do what I am doing today. Well I did manage 4 workouts last week and I normaly get 6 in so again not terrible but not where I want it either. Weight loss was slow @ 3.5 lbs but given the week I am not too disapointed with that result. This week will again be back to 6 workouts and I should see a better loss week. My totals are now down 83 lb's from highest and 79.5 lb's from surgery date. 42 inch waist pants are now getting loose and I am looking towards 40's for the first time since my early 20's and my pants were a snug 52 in the start of this journey. My wife and I had some fun cleaning out the closet the other day and I can not believe the difference 10 inches off of our waist makes. I am so happy with the results through these first 11 weeks and look forward to the next 11. :) Well I will be back to update in a week hopefully with a big loss!
6-5-06 This week was one that was by far my most unusual since surgery. Monday I was on cloud nine after losing 9.5 lb's and that is were last weeks fun ended. I somehow even with working out and sticking to the diet gained 2.5 lb's between Monday and Wednesday. Actually I need to clarify that I missed Monday's workout as we had a jam packed day with Memorial day but I swam for a large part of the day and played with the kids all day I still didn't think the one miss would make me gain for 3 days. Well then I really tried to hit the gym hard. I got workouts in the 3.5 to 4 mile range burining over 1000 cals every day and still only squeezed out a 3 lb loss for the week. That takes me after 10 weeks down to 250.5 and down 76 since surgery and 79.5 since my highest point. This week will not be a cake walk either as I am heading out of town Thursday night with college buddies for a weekend of golf. In the past not only have these been a weekend of golf but also eating like crap and drinking enough to keep me feeling hungover for a few days to follow. Not this year though I am keeping to the doctors order of no alcohol for 3 months and that is the end of June. I will still have a blast and probably feel a hell of a lot better on Monday. It will make Friday and Saturdays work outs tough to get in but I will stick to the diet and also do what I can to try and get some walks or things in between golf, sleep, and boating. Well I am looking forward to breaking the 250 mark and that should happen this week. Another major milestone for me in my eyes and something I can't remeber seeing on a scale in well over 10 years. This past week end was crazy as I in a golf outing I do evey year and some of the people I haven't seen in months all commented on how great the changes in me are. I still see some but not that drastic because I am looking in the mirror every day but those comments sure feel good. I guest losing 23% of yourself since the last time you have seen someone is pretty noticable. Well I will be back next week hopefully with better results.
5-28-06 Week 9 of my new life and I continue to be amazed. I feel like a new person. I have to say these last 2 weeks I feel like a new energy switch has been flipped in me. I am doing more then I have done ever at least that is how I feel. I did six gym work outs again last week and did 22 miles on the treadmill. That puts my total for the month at 80.1 miles. I had a personal best workout last week as well. I did 70 min's on the incline climber that covered 4.5 miles and burned 1336 calories. The week averaged 978 calories a day for the 6 days. All of this work paid off. I lost 9.5 lbs this last week and am now down a total of 73 lb's since surgery day and 76.5 since the day before surgery. I am now at 253.5 lb's and am down 22% of my surgery day weight. I now I have not weighed this much in at least 10 years. I was close to the 250-260 range for my wedding which was 9 years ago. Well today will be an active memorial day we are going to a parade and then swimming all afternoon. This tool / surgery is a blessing and something I will never take for granted and always appreciate the profound impact it has had in this short first 9 weeks. See you next week....
5-22-06 Week 8 turned out well. I had a consistent weight loss all week for a total of 8.5 lbs. outside of week one and two that is the best lost I have had. I hit the workouts hard and was quite active outside of the workouts which I am sure helped. I did 20 miles on the treadmill and incline climber. I average 851 cals a work out which is 250-300 higher then in the past. I also golfed 18 last week, cut the crass 2x, and worked on builiding some front steps to the house all day Sunday. I am feeling good I am now down a total of 63.5 lbs in 8 weeks which is 19% of my starting weight and 67 lbs from the week prior to surgery. I have dropped from a size 52 pants to a loose 46 and am still off the CPAP. I am very happy with the progress and am more then happy I went through with the surgery. I will check in again next week.
5-15-06 Week 7 started out slow my weight held @ 277 for 3 days then dropped 1.5 pounds held at that for 2 days then dropped 2 pounds. The total down for the week was 5.5 lbs. That is better then week 6 but is still less then all other weeks. I knew and am ok with it slowing down but I am doing everything I can to keep it moving down. I really tried to crank up the workouts this week. I can't get away with 50 mins of just walking on the treadmill because my heart rate is not getting high enough to produce a solid workout. I am know walking faster and with a lot more incline. Prior to this week I average around 550 - 600 cals a day. This week I had 711,648,711,894,1080,1122 for the 6 days I got to the gym. I took Sunday off as we went to the Brewer game and had a great family day on Mothers day. No major food issues this week I am getting better at the protien still need a shake a day to get in the 60-80 range. I am trying more foods and am working hard on fiber by eating more fruit. I had a bout with constipation and called the Dr. and they said back off the iron to once a day vs the 2. That seemed to help with some help from a little laxative friend I took also. Well this should be a good week. No traveling or hurdles to get through so it should be business as usual. I'll check in next Monday.
5-8-06 Week 6 is in the books and my weight loss fell a bit. I only lost 4.5 lb's and 3 of those were over the weekend. I was traveling most of the week and even working out at the hotel in the AM's and eating as close to responsible as I could still over those 3 days I only dropped a 1/2 of a pound. Then I came home and cranked it up over the weekend. Saturday morning I did a workout that set a record for me. I did 60 min's on the incline treadmill, 4 miles, and 1100 calories I wanted to see what happened if I hit 1000 calories and after 999 it hit 0 and started counting again. It felt good and I dropped 2.5 lb's from Saturday until Sunday. I am eating well still in the range on 700 calories a day normal days food intake includes a protien bar for breakfast, a weight watchers meal for lunch, and then something like fish, chicken, or pork with veggies with the family for dinner. The only thing I am consistently having issues with is steak. I can eat ground beef fine but I have tried steak 2 or 3 times and have dumped. I am feeling good. I have not had to use my CPAP now in over a week which is a huge win. I am sleeping well and am not snoring so at least the wife says. I am now down a total of 15% of my surgery day body weight and down 49.5 lb's in 6 weeks. Starting weight 330, surgery day weight 326.5 and today 277.
I am going to keep plugging away exersize, protien, and water. I'll check back in next week.
5-1-06 Week 5 was a trying one personally but one I weathered well and ended up down 6.5 lb's for the 3rd straight week. That brings me down to 281.5 and 45 lb's down since surgery. It is amazing how consistent this has been so early. The week was tough because my Mom passed away late Monday night early Tuesday morning. I also had a business function at a Brewer game Monday night so I got home @ 10:30 and got the call at midnight that Mom had passed. So needless to say exersize and regular eating became more of a challenge. I did great at the Brewer game. Didn't touch and appeitizer or dessert or a cocktail and ate all of the chicken and some lettuce from a buffalo chicken salad. Dressing on the side and the chicken was grilled. Ate out on Tuesday lunch after taking care of funeral arrangements. Anyhow I don't need to cover the whole weeks food intake but I ate out and semed to do so well and made it through the week. Had a ok workout week 5 days of cardio for 14.1 miles not stellar but not too bad. Major update however is that I am now 2 nights free of CPAP a major goal I had set. I am only 5 weeks out and seem to be free of that thing. My wife said no snoring she can hear I am not waking up sweating and I am dreaming well which means I must be sleeping well. If this sticks it will be a major win! This week will also be a good test as I am traveling for work for the first time since surgery. I am curious to see how the seatbelt fits in the plane and how the seat itself fits. Should be interesting. I will also try to hit the gym in the hotel and also eat good. Protien first and everything else second. I will pack bars, crystal light, and powder and stick with water. Well enough said for this week I will be back next.
4-24-06 Week 4 is in the books. My weight this morning was 288. That is down a total of 38.5 lb's since the morning of surgery or 12% of my starting weight. I feel good about that but am a bit disappointed because I worked harder this week then any other. Hit the gym 6 days logging 17.74 miles on the treadmill and burning 3657 calories and I dropped only 6.5 lb's the same as last week. I also spent evenings being active cutting the grass, taking the kids to the zoo, and playing outdoors with the kids. Beyond that everything is going well. Eating continues to get easier I was able to eat 3 oz of chicken for dinner last night with a bit of salad. I am also still have no issues with water and protien. Had my first bout with dumping last week. Went to a business lunch ordered a small portion of grilled salmon and fresh veggies. Ate about a third of the salmon and when I got back to the office the fish went back to sea. Not sure why because I have eaten salmon at home frequently. Oh well can't expect this never to happen. On the physical side I feel better - energy still sputters near the end of the day but nothing major to complain about. Clothes are fitting much differently. I have dusted off old pants and am down to the old 50's rather then the 52's with the expandable waist that I had worn for the last year or so. I have also punched 3 new belt holes and that looks like I have taken about 4 inches off the waist. Shirts fit great no pulling in the tummy and a few xl's fit as well. On to work and talk to you in a week.
4-17-06 Week 3 is complete as of this morning. I had a good week. Easter made it a little more difficult workout wise but I still made 5 solid work outs in the gym. Still doing 50 min's on the treadmill burning 550 to 575 calories. I wieghed in today at 294.5. That is 32 lb's in the first 3 weeks following surgery. I feel great still not @ 100% energy level but not bad either. I am eating a little bit more and it is not as difficult to eat. I found some protien bars over the weekend that are a great way to get 20 grams of protien in. I will do one for breakfast and one in the evening when I am sick of shakes and want to mix things up a bit. The Dr's appointment last week at 2 weeks went well. He said weight loss was a little above average which of course I was ok with me and that I can now take my synthroid without crushing it. He perscribed a pill to help with the risk of gallstones and also a iron supplement. He also commented on the impact to my blood pressure already. In november in my first office visit with Dr. Regan I had a BP of 176 over 110 that was on Lisinopril. At my office visit last week I was 145 over 70 and I have not taken BP medication since the morning of surgery. I am also off Lipitor. I keep knocking on wood because things have been going so well I am waiting for a bump in the road. I will check in again next week.
4-10-06 Well here we are 2 weeks in. Eating is still going well I have not had and major issues. I have had one instance where I tried a Boca burger and cauliflower w/ cheese and something in that combination didn't work. I ate a few bites and had some good cramping going on and had to sit still for a good 30 min's or so until it passed. Weigh in this morning was promising. I was down 9 lbs in week 2 which brings the total to 25.5 lb's or 8% of my total starting weight. I am now at 301 and looking very forward to 299 or anything lower. It has probably been at least 5 years since I was under 300 lb's. I feel good energy wise but still not 100%. I will not complain though. I have yet to miss a workout since the day after leaving the hospital. Yesterday I did a 40 minute bike ride through some of our surrounding subdivisions and that was tough ecspecially the hills however I did it. My normal days workouts are still all cardio as I can not lift for 2 more weeks. A normal gym session is a treadmill for 45-50 minutes which is about 2.75 - 3.25 miles and burns about 475-550 calories. I am increasing the incline and things as time goes on to burn more calories. See Dr. Regan tomorrow for a 2 week follow up and will see what he has to say.
4-3-06 Offical one week weight was 310 that is down 16.5 since I weighed in before surgery. It feels good but as you can imagine of course we always want it to happen faster. I have been hitting the gym everyday and feel good about that. I have a new appreciation for life and an unexplainable motivation to not screw up. This is a second chance I do not want to blow. Pain is almost gone I can't believe I am feeling this good this soon after surgery. I have been able to eat a bit more the last few meals which is nice. 1/2 cup servings seem to be the max but I feel very content after that so I am very happy with that. Dr's 2 week follow up on the 11th and we will check in next Monday with the progress.
4-1-06 5 Days in and all is going incredibly well. I have walked 2.0 - 2.5 miles a day the last 3 days. 14 lb's off in 5 days is almost mind blowing but I feel good. Drinking is not an issue at all I am getting in 2 protien shakes and plenty of water and have also found a new friend in Crystal Light. I am waiting for my first issue. Pain is controlable I feel pretty good and am thankful for all of that. So far so good.
3-29-06 Well I got home today and am feeling pretty good. Surgery was pretty normal hada bit of a blood pressure issue but all that meant was a bit more time in recovery. Felt really good the morning of surgery as I had lost 9 lbs since my final meeting with the nurse the week prior. I plan to keep plugging away... walking, drinking, and resting this week. Next week will be transition week working from home and then back to work week three. I am very excited to keep on heading down the new path of life. I plan to start tracking weight weekly begining next monday. One amazing suprise was medication reduction. I left the hospital off of Lipitor and Lisinopril this to me was much sooner then expected but a small victory.
3-20-06 Well I am one week out and am amazed I am this close. This has been a hard decsion for me but I am convinced it is the correct one. I have thought long and hard about feeling like this is the "failures" solution but am sure this is what I need to be healthier and live longer for my family. My level of nervousness has grown as time has passed but I am sure this is a normal process. I had my PCP meeting last week and She was very supportive. Had blood work and EKG done as my final tests. Also attended my pre op class at Columbia and am all set for surgery. The hospital took pre op photo's and pre op weight was 339. That was up 9 pounds from 330 in early November when I had my consultation. I am also unsure about the scale because I was 329.5 at home the same day of the pre op class. Today the home scale had me at 327.5. Seeing the weight tracking will likely be done from home I will go off the home weight. Today I am setting my goal and confirming my commitment to my new healthy life. My goal will be to reach 225 at my one year anniversary and 190 for a goal weight to be reached by the 18 month anniversary. Embarking on this new life is exciting I am ready for the challenges I know I will face but am more excited about the rewards for making the difficult changes.
I am now reflecting on what went wrong and when. I have always been the "husky" kid. Needed Mom to shorten pants pretty much all through grade school. Grade school was tough I am not sure why I started bad habits or what triggered them but I can recall being the boy scout selling candy bars for the fundrasier and waking up at 5 a.m. to grab a bar. The cookie jar was a frequent target as well. Then on to high school I was very active and actually was pretty normal in size. Possibly 10-15 lbs. overweight but again was so active I felt great and played multiple sports year round. Probably was about 20 lbs over weight come graduation from high school. The 20's were a blast and I could party with the best of them. Softball 5 nights a week in the summer and bars the same 5 nights a week. Eat crap and gain weight I also had a brief 1-2 years smoking over this time not good. Then I met Leigh Ann she straightened me out somewhat. Got me to quit smoking and settle down a bit which was awesome. I look at quiting smoking as a turning point to where my weight started to climb. That coupled with decreased activity will do it. Went up to probably 275 ish and then went on Phen Phen prior to our wedding dropped 30 is pounds got married at 250 ish still 60-70 lbs over weight but still feeling good. I never felt fat or limited by weight at this point which was part of my issue. Then after marriage I took a new job that had me at a pc 10 hr's a day. Went back to school night school at that. I ate out 5 days a week for lunch at least once for dinner and had little to no exersize. No more softball with school and a family now 2 kids as well. No excuses just bad priorties on my part. So here I am around the 330 mark conceeding defeat and going for help to get back on track.
What I look forward to after loosing weight:
Flying and not worrying if the seat belt will fit or if the person next to me will be upset
Being able to buy clothes at normal stores
Not getting winded walking 2 flights of stairs
Losing joint pain / back pain
No more CPAP
Less medications
Doing more athletic activities with my 2 boys
Being more athletic with my wife :)
Not wondering what people think about the way I look
Getting regular exersize in - Running a 5K
Living to see my kids graduate college / get married / and have kids
The dreaded I worry about your health discussion with the wife
What I will miss:
Eating and drinking whatever I want when I want
Many more looking forward to's then missing's for a good reason.
