7-28-11 Met My Goal

Jul 28, 2011

Hello!  I can't believe it's been three months since I've posted.  It's been a very busy summer and so much has happened!  A few weeks ago I met my goal of 185 pounds.  I currenty weight 182 and couldn't be happier.  I'm doing so many things that I couldn't even imagine a year ago.  I really just can't believe I've lost 172 pounds in less than a year.  The greatest thing from this experience is being able to move again.  I used to have to pause at the bottom of the stairs in my home because getting up them was painful and difficult.  Not any more!!  Now I walk several times a day - 45 minutes in the morning and then usually two 30 minute walks during my work day (I'm lucky - my employer has a walking program to encourage good health so I can walk as much as I'd like as long as I can get my work done...) and then usually a walk or bike ride at night.  It's really hot here in Southern California, so that makes it a little more difficult, but I am determined to get my walking in.  Exercise has really been the key to my success and I'm a little bit obsessed with getting my exercise in.  But I figure that if that's my biggest problem then I'm doing alright.  My new favorite weight loss gadget is the Fitbit Tracker.  It's like a fancy pedometer that monitors everything you do all day and sends it wirelessly to your computer.  It tracks everything and works with the incredible Lose It! app on the iPhone.  I'm a huge fan of Lose It! because it has really helped me to keep track of my food and activity.  It's super easy to use and helps me to stay honest with myself.  Everything I do and everything I eat goes in to the Lose It! log.  I would HIGHLY encourage anyone trying to get healthy to give it a try.  It's fast and easy and now it works with Fitbit.  Journaling and tracking your food and exercise is so important when you're trying to lose weight and that app is wonderful.

My increased health and activity has moved me to make a HUGE decision in the last two weeks.  Not to go in to too much detail, but Theresa and I have been struggling with the bank (Bank of America - pretty fed up with that organization right now...) to adjust our mortgage so we can afford to live in our house.  We're incredibly upside down with huge house payments and we have both seen our income drop a great deal over the past two years.  The bank had us apply for a government program - the Make Home Affordable program - and we did the huge application process to try and modify our loan.  The bank came back to us with a promise of a much lower house payment and asked us to make three months of trial payments, saying that the trial payment would be the amount of our new house payment.  We were so excited and happy and made the payments for three months.  What a fool I was - I should have not paid a dime until I had the terms of the new loan in writing!  After the three months the bank came back with a contract that was the polar opposite of what they had promised us - variable rate, higher payments, didn't include the second, etc.  I have been so stressed about where we were going to go and what we were going to do.  Well, last week we went on vacation to Hungtington Beach and had such a great time!  I never really liked the beach because I didn't like being in a swimsuit and couldn't walk, ride a bike or swim - the three big beach activities.  Well, this time I could do it all and fell in love with Huntington Beach.  While we were there we looked at a small beach house with an ocean view.  In a spontaneous and very unlikely move, we cashed out my Apple stock (bought with money my dear aunt left me when she passed) and were able to pay cash for the place.  We're still trying to negotiate with Bank of America, but I don't hold out a lot of hope for that at this point.  So if we do end up losing our home, we now have a small place to move and eventually retire to.  It's just a little pre-fab house, but we were able to get it for a very low price.  Thanks to my aunt and to Apple - I'd bought the stock years ago at $14 dollars a share and sold it at $400!  I'm not very good with money, but that was the best investment I ever made.  Sooo....I think we will stay in Highland for the rest of the year - my son Tim is a senior in high school, so I want him to be able to finish school this year.  But we will start looking for work down by the beach and will probably relocate in the spring.  The other great thing is that he wants to go to Cal State Long Beach to major in music and the school is only about 20 minutes away.  I wouldn't have been able to afford room and board, but now he can live at the beach with us.  I really don' think this change would be happening if I hadn't gotten healthy.

So I've lost almost an entire "me".  I'm looking towards a new life in a new place.  My family is healthier and happier than ever.  I feel great and am so happy I had this surgery.  Thanks to Dr. Fedorka, my wife and my son for supporting me.  At this point last year I was so frightened about having this surgery - now I can't even imagine my life without it.  I know it doesn't work for everyone, but if you make the most of it and work really hard your entire life can change.  I never want to tell anyone that they should have the surgery - there can be complications and some people aren't successful.  But in my case it was absolutely the best thing I've done next to getting married and having my son.  If there's actually anyone out there that reads this thing, and are thinking about doing this, I would personally encourage you to go for it.  There's a whole new life on the other side of the fat suit and it is truly incredible.

Best wishes - feel free to drop me a line if you have a chance!

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