Tag: weight loss

Discharge Tomorrow?

My father has been in a rehab hospital for weeks now. Today we got some good news. He is very likely coming home tomorrow. We’re not 100% sure, but it’s looking that way. Oh, what a relief.

Changing the subject, dinner last night was meatballs and gnocchi. It was delicious. Today for lunch I had leftover meatballs. Again, delicious. I had scrambled eggs for breakfast and they gave me a little trouble. Not a lot, but enough to make me pause for a while in the middle of the meal. Lunch? No trouble at all. 3.9 ounces of meatballs without issue. Oh, what a relief.

I think I have one more person to get an xmas present for. Not sure when I am going to take care of that. Tonight after dinner maybe? Depends on what else is going on. I should try to play guitar tonight but I kinda don’t see it happening. I should do what ever needs to be done outside of the house today though, as we’re going to get spanked by a huge storm over the next couple of days. Yeah, I should go out tonight. Shit. I don’t want to. Oh well.

I really want to go out to shoot some pictures tomorrow. I don’t think the storm will hit until later in the day. I should have gone this morning though because it was sort of sunny and tomorrow will likely be cloudy. I wonder if the weather will be clear on Saturday. Should I go to the ocean for sunrise on Christmas Eve? That would be fun.

Okay. Lunch break is over. Clicking that little blue publish button now. Until next time, my reader(s) and only friend(s).

Week 33 Weigh In

It’s Wednesday morning. I’ve done my 30 minute jog in place thing. I’ve had three days in a row with consistent stats and I finally figured out why. I slowed down my pace a little and for some reason my watch can handle that. The faster I trot, the messier the stats get. Why? No idea. Anyway, it’s Wednesday and like all Wednesdays I stepped on that scale. Happy Wednesday is Weigh In Day, everyone!

I wasn’t expecting much. Last week was spectacular (six pounds!) but it also followed a few days where I was feeling pretty sick to my stomach and didn’t eat a lot. I think the last two weigh in posts mention that I wouldn’t be surprised if I have a gain in the near future, just as my body’s correction to the few bad days. That didn’t happen, but the loss this week is pretty small. I am down 1.4 pounds. How do I feel about that? I feel awesome about that. I was a little nervous that I might gain a bit and my total would drop below 200 pounds and that would make me sad, but it didn’t happen so it’s awesome.

My current weight is 247.2 pounds. My BMI has dropped from 30.3 to 30.1. I did the math and I will change from an obese BMI to an overweight BMI when I hit 246 pounds. Weight loss since the surgery is 184.2. The goal is to get that over 200 pounds by January 19th, but we’ll see if that is possible or not. We need to see how things trend over the next few weeks. I’m hopeful I can get there. It would be cooler to hit it a couple of weeks earlier than that while we’re at Disney World. We’ll see. The total weight loss since the first check in is up to 204.8. That’s amazing.

So there you have it, folks. Happy 33 weeks! Happy 63.46% of a year!

Post Surgical Education: Shake Edition

I learned something about my new stomach this morning. I learned that Slimfast meal replacement protein shake things don’t work for me. The taste was all right, but I couldn’t get through 11 ounces because my stomach complained so much. I think it might be the thickness of the drink? I don’t know. Every sip made my stomach feel clogged up and the gas it produced was massive.

Okay. Live and learn, Robert. No Slimfast shakes for you.

Duly noted.

New Winter Jacket

I finally went out and bought a new winter jacket last night. I was getting tired of wearing a coat that was two sizes too big, and there is snow in the forecast. I am going to need some warmth, you know?

The jacket was absurdly expensive. I mean… wow, was that expensive. Also, when I got it home I found that there is still a security tag attached to the pocket. I guess I have to bring it back and have it removed. Ugh. Shopping in a store is almost unbearable. Shopping in a store in a huge mall 10 days before Christmas is so far beyond the pale that I can’t put it into words.

It is raining out today. It’s going to rain all day today and most of the day tomorrow and at some point it’s going to turn to snow as well. Yippee. No film shooting this morning. I need to go out and run a couple of errands before work. Today would be the perfect day to bring a camera with me, but nope. Rain. I mean I’ll still bring a camera with me, it will just be a digital camera, not a film camera. Blah.

On an infinitely more positive note, the kids are coming home this weekend. The storm is going to be worse in Vermont so we expect them to ride it out up there and come home when it’s clear. That means we don’t have an ETA yet, but their Christmas break starts after today’s classes. Come on home, you two!

Nine days until christmas.

15 days until New Years Eve.

16 days until New Years Day.

19 days until we leave for Florida.

With the holiday in the mix, it’s only 14 days until I go on vacation.

I am so ready. So very ready.

Oh, Ya Big Baby

I was going to go out shooting some film this morning, but after I finished my morning faux joggin’ I completely wussed out. Why? I just don’t wanna go out in the cold. You big baby.

I did something to my shoulder today and I have no idea what. It hurts. Why? I didn’t do anything to deserve it, other than being 51 years old when stuff just randomly starts breaking down.

We’re supposed to get a huge storm sometime tomorrow, I think. I don’t know if it’s rain or snow or both. It might mess up some plans for the weekend, but I can’t tell one way or another yet. I hate snow. I really, really hate snow.

The kids are coming home this weekend. Bellana’s car is dead so we will be selling her (“selling”) one of ours. I want to get it tuned up for her. There’s a software recall and I have an appointment to get that done on Saturday. I want to get an oil change too, and have the tires checked. They should be fine but let’s make sure. The other car needs an oil change too and the wiper blades are falling off. So this weekend’s theme is kids and cars, to start with at least.

Did I mention that I’ve lost 200 pounds since January? I was on cloud nine all day long yesterday. I still am. I even went to the facebook to gloat a little. People are asking for before/after pics. I might give the people what they want. I gloated on post.news too. I was the first person on that network to use the hash tag #GastricBypass, but a few fellow surgical survivors said hello. That made me happy.

We are 20 days away from leaving for Florida. I can’t wait. I can’t wait to travel for the first time in almost three years. I can’t wait to spend two whole weeks with the kids. I can’t wait to experience Disney World with the love of my life once again. Did I ever mention that my original plan for proposing to Jen involved the World Showcase at Epcot? In the end I did it at home because I just couldn’t wait anymore, but we did reenact the proposal I had in mind when we took a trip there with Larry and Nawal a few weeks later. Also, and this is very important, I can’t wait to be warm. I know it is not going to be scorching, but it is going to be a whole hell of a lot warmer there than it is here.

I feel like I should have 100 other things to write about this morning, but I’m drawing blanks left and right. My shoulder is really bugging me. I think I pulled a muscle or something. It’s annoying the crap out of me. I’ll get over it, someday. Mostly I’m just really happy that I don’t have to drive into the office today. I am working from home for the rest of this week and the first three days next week. I have to go in next Thursday but hopefully that will only be for half of the day. Starting next month though (after I get back from Florida) we will be going into the office on Wednesdays. Every Wednesday for the foreseeable future. That’s seriously depressing, but I’ll rise above it, somehow.

Okay. I am going to finish my breakfast and then spend half an hour or so gazing longingly at my weight tracking spreadsheet. Specifically the Total Since the First Check In cell where the number is over 200. Ah, what a thing that is.

Week 32 Weigh In! YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!

Hello and welcome to today’s weigh in post, and it is a doozy, oh my readers and only friends! Your humble narrator woke up feeling sick to his stomach today but he doesn’t care because HOLY SHIT!!!

Now I have mentioned that food has been troubling me over the last week or so and it’s likely down to that as the reason the numbers have me so out of my mind ecstatic this morning. Given that, it’s safe to say that once I get myself straightened out some of what I am cheering about today will be put back on. That’s okay. I can live with that. I am just in the moment right now and the numbers in this moment are… Fuck me, are they incredible!

Last week, for the week 31 weigh in, I weighed 254.6 pounds and my BMI was 31.

Today… week 32… oh my goodness… I weigh 248.6 pounds, which is down a mammoth SIX (6) pounds! I haven’t had a six pound week since September. Six pounds is MEGA, but that’s not what the bliss is about this morning. My BMI is down to 30.3. I’m three tenths of a point away from not being obese anymore, but that’s not what the bliss is about this morning.

My total weight loss since the surgery is breathtaking. I flipped the 10’s column again, moving up to 182.8 pounds! I have lost over 180 pounds since May 4th. I can’t believe it. That is absolutely stunning and shocking and that’s still not what this bliss is about this morning.

So what is the bliss about this morning?

On my first visit to the weight loss clinic on January 19, 2022, I weighed 452 pounds. Let’s do some math, shall we?

452.0
– 248.6
———–
203.4

OH MY GOD, PEOPLE! I TOPPED TWO-HUNDRED POUNDS! FUCK-A-DOODLE-DO, I’VE LOST TWO HUNDRED POUNDS IN SLIGHTLY LESS THAN ELEVEN MONTHS!

My total weight loss since the first check in is 203.4 pounds! TWO-HUNDRED THREE AND FOUR TENTHS POUNDS!

I HAVE LOST TWO-HUNDRED POUNDS!

I’m going to have to write more about this later because at this particular moment in time I am too dizzy with shock and delight to really process this. I will write more after I get to work so I can bask in the bliss for a few hours first.

TWO-HUNDRED POUNDS!!!!!

Lucky Guess

Who is the luckiest sonofabitch in town?

Wordle 542 2/6

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🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Having a weird day in the office today. We had an xmas party thing this morning which was nice except that one of our extended group has Covid and was in the office with a bunch of us last week and who knows if last week will forever be known as a super spreader event which would make today a mini super spreader event. Crud, I hate covid so much.

Anyway, the party included pizza. I didn’t have any. My team member who lives in Minnesota did because I DoorDashed him some Pizza Hut. Order entered in Massachusetts, order delivered in Minnesota. Like a Boss, as they say.

Like I said, no pizza for me. Can I have pizza? Probably, if there is no sugar in the tomato sauce. I just haven’t tried it and I really don’t want to. I brought some chicken salad. Meals have been tough over the last few days. Not terrible, but I have been stopping myself early due to signs that stomach issues may be coming forthwith. I prefer to dish out a certain amount of food and then eat it all as it makes tracking protein counts easier, but if I have to stop I have to stop. Today I had to stop. I ate a protein bar in the car on the way in for breakfast, and then maybe an ounce and a half of chicken for lunch. Round about 3:00pm my stomach, which was no longer upset over lunch, started getting upset over being empty.

I am sitting in a conference room with a couple of co-workers. It’s a smallish room but we’re spread out okay. No covid transmissions here. It’s quiet though, and that means everyone can hear my stomach moaning and groaning. It’s super embarrassing and it’s yet another reason why working from home is better than coming into the office. My stomach can sing and dance all it wants when I am alone at my desk at home. Here? Now? Today? I just want to hide. No one has said anything. Everyone is being super polite. I just wish my stomach would shut the fuck up.

ADDENDUM: I should say, in the interest of accuracy, that I am not positive one of my co-workers has covid. It looks that way, but it has not been confirmed.

Week 31 Weigh In

I thought this week’s Wednesday Weigh In would be a quick little blurb about a tiny change, given that I did the monthly weigh in just three days ago. I was wrong. I was probably wrong due to being sick a couple of times, and I think we can guarantee that weight lost this week will likely go back on soon enough, once I stop having these nasty stomach issues. The monthly weigh in on Sunday saw me down three pounds. Today’s weigh in, three days later? I’m down another 2.4 pounds. Do the math and find that I am down 5.4 pounds in the last week. That’s crazy. That’s the kind of results I was seeing back in June when this was all new and psychotic. This far along, I am seriously shocked to see a number that high. Not concerned, just surprised.

My BMI is down to 31. One more tick to go before I graduate/devolve from Obese to Overweight. Oh the celebrations we’ll have when that magical day arrives. My weight lost since the surgery in May is up to 176.8 and no one is more surprised than I am. My weight lost since the first check in appointment is up to 197.4. Two and six tenths pounds away from the mystical, magical, fairy tale land of two hundred pounds. Oh the celebrations we’ll have when that magical day arrives.

No stomach illness issues today, so far. Yesterday was okay. Not 100%. I had some discomfort off and on. I can’t tell if it was related to food or not, but there were a couple of times when the clock said I should be eating or drinking and I just didn’t out of fear of setting things off again. I was a little nervous about waking up sick again today, but I was fine. I did my exercise and then headed out for the long drive in the pouring rain. I made it all the way to Foxborough in one piece, found the desk I reserved for the day (I think), and punched in.

Here’s hoping for a quiet, stress/stomach pain free Wednesday.

Feeling Sick Again

I took the morning off today because we were at one point considering staying over in Burlington last night. We didn’t, but I kept the time off request in place in case something came up. Turns out it did.

I woke up feeling about the same sort of gas pain that I had when I woke up on Thursday. In that instance it got steadily worse as the day went on and I wasn’t able to feel better until I slept it off over night. Today started the same but quickly got much worse. Gas pain like never before coupled with some nausea. It was awful. I haven’t had anything to eat or drink yet today because the pain feels like my stomach telling me in no uncertain terms to not even try. I extended my time off request to the full day so I can just curl up in a ball on the couch and hope it passes.

The questions I have are as follows:

  • Is it the same bug Harry had last weekend and Jen had yesterday?
    • Is it possible for me to have had that bug, then been fine for three days, then have it again?
  • Did I eat something yesterday that set this off? Also, did I eat the same thing on Wednesday night that would have set it off on Thursday?
    • I have a theory. I tried some Atkins brand protein potato chips. They don’t have any sugar in them so they should be okay, but I think I had a small bag on Wednesday and I know I had a couple of small bags at various times yesterday. If it was something I ate, I bet it was those chips. That sucks because they are really, really good.
  • Is it dumping syndrome?
    • I really don’t think so. Dumping is when your stomach gets too much sugar and literally rejects it in both directions (TMI?). I haven’t experienced that specifically, but could this be related somehow?

I haven’t had any liquids since about 10:30 last night when I had a sugar free popsicle. I am feeling crazy dehydration right now. I might have to force myself to drink something soon but I want to give the pain a little time to see if it lessens at all.

This sucks.

Happy Seven Months

Seven months ago today I went under the knife and had my guts rearranged. Boom, babie. What do you say we honor the occasion with a trip to Vermont to see the kids and to hear my ridiculously talented step daughter sing a bit, but also honor the occasion* with a bonus weigh in?

It’s only been four days since the last weigh in but there was that one day when I did not eat even a crumb of food because I was feeling sick, remember? I think we can thank/blame that day for the slightly spectacular results I’m about to share with you, my internety friends.

Four days… three pounds. I lost three pounds. I am down to 257.0. My BMI is now 31.3. As soon as it drops below 30 I can officially stop calling myself obese. That’ll be the day, right? The total loss since the surgery is 174.4 and the total loss since the start of the process is 195. The flight to Disney World is one month from today (I need to figure out how I’m going to cover the eight month weigh in on that particular day) and suddenly that down-200-by-Disney goal is looking pretty good. Pretty doubtful I’ll get the since-surgery total to 200 by then, but we’ll keep on trying.

I have run for 30 minutes already, and I’ve had my morning vitamins and 16 ounces of water. Ever since Thursday’s epic failure I am really self conscious about hitting those goals. I don’t want to miss them again… ever. I’m waiting 15 minutes after the last drink before eating anything, but I am going to go upstairs and make myself some scrambled eggs again. We’re planning to leave for Vermont by about 11:00, which should get us there wicked early, but that’s okay. Better crazy early than a smidge late, right? I just need to decide if I want to bring a digital camera or a film camera or (most likely, because I am out of my skull with crazy) both. Yeah… both.

*I used the word occasion twice in this sentence and spelled it wrong each time. Also, I spelled it differently both times. I guess I just suck at spelling the word occasion, right?