sleevicidal_maniac
Weeks 14 & 15 - My first VSG Thanksgiving
Dec 02, 2012
I had my first post-WLS Thanksgiving Dinner with my family. It was a double-edged sword. On one hand, I was sad because my plate resembled a TV dinner with my tiny little portions of everything and because the Dallas Cowboys suck (that's another story, but a constant source of depression and anger for 33 years...). On the other hand, I felt so great afterwards because I ate what I needed and wasn't tired or stuffed or sick or bloated and watched everyone else stuff themselves and run the gamut of those sensations. It's amazing that this is an American ritual - eating until we are physically stuffed. I don't get it much more than to say that it's no wonder that every other American (one of two, not every beside me...) is obese. I said a couple of silent prayers for what I am thankful for this year.
I am down to 230lbs, 70lbs from my VSG weight of 300 and 42lbs from goal. This coming Wednesday is 15 weeks. I have been very good about exercising. I live in a pretty rural area and walk a two-mile route every morning with my dog. I have been jogging for a block and then walking for a block, my own kind of interval training and it it's going great. The dog loves it too. I have been averaging about five such walks each week and getting ten miles and two and a half hours of cardio that way. I also moved our elliptical and Ab Lounge upstairs and have been doing crunches every day as well, I started at about 30 and I'm up to 50. I will work on getting that to 100 each morning. I'm sure it will help with the excess baggage around my waistline.
Speaking of my waistline, it continues to shrink. At my fattest, the pants I wore were 46 waist and I had some with the elastic extender sides that stretched out another inch or two. I am now wearing old fashioned Levi's and Lucky jeans in size 36 and 38. I kept my work belt for my own purposes and I have drilled eight extra holes in it. It literally wraps past the side loop on my pants and is starting to go around the back. I wear it a full 12" smaller than I used to. It's crazy. All of my other fat body parts are shrinking too! I had to get out the regular sized sleeve for my BP machine, my collars on my button-down shirts are 2" too big, I am running out of long-sleeved shirts that I can wear after a dozen trips to the goodwill box giving all of my clothes away and even my shoes have some room in them as, apparantly, my feet were even fat.
I also began ice skating with my wife and daughter. I was a hockey player until graduating from high school and one of my favorite forms of exercising was open session at Winding River Ice Skating Center. I took off 25 years because I was afraid to get hurt or to fall or to be too tired or... you know what I'm talking about. Well, I'm back baby. That's a good thing. I went a few times in the past couple weeks and even put my skinny feet back into my skates from 25 years ago. They haven't fit in almost as long. I left them to be sharpened yesterday along with my new skates. I think I might leave a pair in my truck like I used to do and then when the ponds and bays freeze stop on the side of the road and go for a quick skate.
I have a Doctor's appointment tomorrow to review my blood work. I had the labs done on Black Friday. I'm not sure what they're looking for, but that's what's next on my regimen. I'm pretty close to my surgeon's goal of 65% of EBW, which for me was 73lbs. I know he'll be thrilled to get another patient to the mean, but I am serious about wanting to get my BMI back below 25 to a "normal" weight. I can honestly say that there was only once in my entire cognitive juvenile, preteen, teen and adult life that I ever recall being "normal" always "overweight" and for the last 20 years, "obese". My BP is really good - I'm pleased about that but I'm still on Zestril. I also still take the Prilosec but I will speak with him about that and the Actigall is another 16 weeks I think, then that's gone. I really hope to get off of my blood pressure medicine, and get to where the only pill I take is a vitamin, but I'll go ahead and let my PCP be the judge of that.
Anyway, I'm pretty good. I feel good. I look much better. I am doing things I haven't been able to do and have been spending more time with my family doing better things and being a better dad and husband. I still have my moments and suspect that certain parts of who I am will never change - for better or worse - but the metamorphosis have been pretty awesome. I will get another post or two before Christmas and maybe put up some more pictures.
Thanks to my friends who reached out after the storm. It helped cheer me up. It got pretty nasty around here and the whole area was depressed, depressing and just sad. I pray the worst is behind us and look forward to tomorrow and tomorrow's tomorrow. God bless and I'll see you all soon.
