Long overdue update.

Well as some of  you may remember, I had weight loss surgery (Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy) back on February 10th.  I posted one blog after the surgery and have been absent since.  Funny thing is as I was doing research online before my surgery, I found many others hadn't posted updates for several weeks after their surgery.  I guess getting into a new routine just keeps you fairly busy.  Learning new things and so on.  So I will try to give a bit of an update over that last 2+ months.

There were times in the first couple of weeks after my surgery I thought I had made the worst mistake of my life!! I was still on a liquid diet and was feeling like I would never "eat" again.  I knew this wasn't true, but it sure felt that way.  Some of the problem was when I would get down before I would eat....well now I was getting down and couldn't do the thing that used to make me feel better....so that just got me down even more. Long story short....I finally got passed all of that.  Now I am eating "normal" foods, but I am eating almost the same thing everyday.  Right now I am supposed to try and stay below 500 calories for the day and still get 60-80 grams of protein.  This sort of limits the menu as not too many foods are high in protein and low in calories.  I have been eating a lot of eggs, tuna and chicken.  Occasionally I will substitute a protein shake for a meal.  I have just got some new shakes that have more flavors and even more protein, probably will have one for lunch tomorrow and see how it goes.

When I first got home I was just walking around the house, about 10 minutes at time, 3 times a day. Eventually I started walking outside and down the road a bit. I have tried to add a bit more every so often and now I am up to about 3.5 miles a day (5-6 days a week) in about an hour or so.  I also started the strength training a few weeks ago.  I didn't realize how weak my muscles have got over the years.  I am using pretty light weights (per their instructions) and doing several reps. This is not really about building muscle so it seems to be doing the job.

Ok......Now for the numbers.....lol  Back on 12/11/13 I weighed the most I ever have, 390 lbs.  That was sort of my ah-ha moment I guess.  When I went to the Surgeons on 01/20/14 I was 385 lbs.  The day of teh surgery (02/10/14) I was 373 pounds. So I had lost some on my own even before the surgery.  As of yesterday I weighed 305 lbs. So that is a total of 85 lbs so far, not too bad I figure.  I have had kind of short term goals.  My current was to be below 300 before I go to the doctor again on 5/15/14, that's looking like a real possibility.  My next is 275 as that is what I was when I first went to work at the fire dept.

I will try to post here a bit more often.  Be well and take care!!!