Stadium Seating. Check.

So last Sunday I went to my first game at Arrowhead in well over 10 years. I can't begin to tell you what a huge accomplishment this was for someone who hasn't been able to fit in a stadium/arena seat in as many years. Not to say it was a comfortable fit, nor was the guy to my right probably thrilled to have my arm around his back half the game, but it was an accomplishment nonetheless. 2 years ago at Lambeau with Dad, I was sitting on a bleacher seat with half of my arse in the aisle. Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to go. And yeah, last Sunday the Packers lost, but it really didn't matter in the scheme of things.

Weight loss is slow right now, but still steady. Am down 127 pounds. When I start a new day job, I will have much less idle time on my hands and that will keep me out of the kitchen, and out of the watering holes as often. That should speed things up. Still impatient, and at the same time pleased with my progress.

Now back to game day. It wasn't just fitting in the seat that was the issue. As much of a hurdle in years past was the amount of walking required. From the parking lot to the stadium. Then up to the top level, then up the stairs, then down the stairs at halftime, then back up, back down, back up, back down. Then the lengthy walk back to the car. And you wanna know what? I did it with relative ease. Much easier than 10 plus years ago. Truly. That shocked me. Can't imagine how easy a Royals game is gonna be this spring.

Staying humble though as there is more gray in my hair daily, and I can see a little more of my forehead than I use to. Guess you can't be "perfect" in every area.....Insert laugh track.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Feeling Beastly

This journey(hate that word) brings with it a lot of emotional ups and downs. There's often guilt, failure along with success and pride. Hard to admit it but I have been battling a lot of depression the past year and a half or so. My parents being terminally ill is the biggest outside influence on that. But I also must admit that at least in my opinion, my state of mind is controlled not from the outside, but from within. I had this surgery to help me become a better, healthier person inside and out.


Knowing full well that being physically active is the best remedy for depression, I started an exercise program on Monday. Just finished my 12 minute walk and 3 sets of different exercises with my 25 and 15 pound dumbbells. Want to get up to a minimum of a half an hour a day walking and add a few more weight exercises. Plenty for me. It's incredible how in 3 days I have gone from feeling low and sorry for myself to feeling more positive and excited about life than I've been in a year and a half.

Exercise kids!

I've Lost a Jennifer Lopez

Just over a year out of surgery and am down 119 pounds. Had hoped for a little more by now, but while my eating habits have changed, there are other areas in which I fail, and fail often. It is a little frustrating to be eating with such restriction, but it is anything BUT frustrating to be wearing paints 8 sizes smaller.

This experience carries with it a lot of attached pain. It's impossible to be anywhere nearly as excited as I would be without witnessing the demise of my Dad. It's with me every second of the day and has me in a bit of a rut. Have not been exercising lately at all and I know how important that is for my physical and mental well being. I don't just want to shrink, I want to be healthier as well.

As a single guy who works out of my apartment most days, it is easy to get stuck in the negative thoughts. My friends and family-what would I do without your words of encouragement? As unlucky as I feel at times, you remind of how lucky I actually am, because I have you.

I hope to be closing in on 250 ounds down this time next year. I figure by then I'll be a scratch golfer, highly photogenic, and will be able to charm(con) some unlucky girl into being mine:)

Talk soon.

90 Pounds Down-Only About 150 To Go

Had my 7th fill Monday and I finally feel true restriction. Am able to eat about 1000 calories a day with the addition of vitamins and a protein drink if necessary. Have been faithfully lifting light weights on the bowflex every other day for a few weeks now. Hopefully my right knee continues to feel less pain so I can get some cardio in. Ha, I said "cardio."

So I guess I'm averaging about 10 pounds lost per month. I would have preferred a little more, at least for the first year, but as I have learned the lap band differs from gastric bypass in the sense that you build up to optimum weight loss with fills rather than instantly drop a ton of weight and then slow down.

It's a great change I continue to go through physically, but it is hard to be completely happy when my Dad is so advanced in his Dementia. He worried about my weight for many years. He obsessed over it, frankly. He would call me almost each morning, in part to make sure I was alive. Being severely overweight doesn't just hurt the person, it hurts and concerns those who love you. Every time I see him I tell him how much weight I've lost. One time he smiled, but that was several months ago. He doesn't really smile about anything anymore. Damn Dementia.

So my 20 year class reunion is next month. Why didn't I have this surgery a year earlier???? There will be those that will see me as appearing much smaller and those who will see me as appearing much larger. The nice thing is, I still have nearly all of my hair and most of it is still brown.

See you in 10 pounds.

Less Large

So THIS is what having a lap band is like

The band is tight. I am truly restricted. Can't eat in the morning and if I don't wait 20 or 30 seconds in between bites, it's all coming right back up. Have read all about this from so many bandsters, but haven't experienced it until now.

I went in a few days ago for a fill(my 4th since surgery), and asked the nurse practitioner to be a little more aggressive with this one. In other words, pump a lot more saline into this tube around the upper part of my stomach. "I want to feel it this time!" The holidays are of course not a good time of year to lose weight, and even this year I did my share of quietly walking into my mom's kitchen and very slowly opening the cupboard where all the peanut butter blossoms sat, beckoning me. And I obliged. Often. The 9 pounds I lost in the first 2 weeks of the month all plus one came right back on, as evidenced at my weigh in Tuesday. But now's the part where I give myself a little pat on the back.

All this time since a few weeks after surgery, I have been capable of eating much more than I allow myself to eat. My band has been much "looser" than most bands and I was just fine with that as long as I could exercise some self control and continue losing weight. The thing you learn is that the more weight you lose, the already loose lap band becomes even looser, to the point that you can eat almost as much as you could eat prior to surgery. And in December that's exactly what happened to me. My first 50 pounds lost was approximately 40% lap band and 60% me exercising restraint at meal time. And that's something to be proud of. But enough with pride already! From this point on I want those numbers reversed. Back to 54 pounds down thankfully, and I anticipate being 60 pounds down within the next week. And will gladly let the band carry more of the workload for awhile.