Day 170: OMGOMGOMG!!!!

HOLY CRAP!

Major NSV tonight. I was cleaning up for my parents' imminent arrival tomorrow and I stumbled across a couple of old jackets. One was my US Army Black and Gold training jacket, the other was my High School letterman's jacket. I really didn't think too much about it right then, but after I did as much as I planned to I went back and out of sheer morbid curiosity, I tried them on. To my surprise and delight, they both fit me now. I kind of wish I had found them last week before my reunion so I could have taken the letterman's jacket with me as a memento. I...what was the question? What did I earn my letters in?

Choir, if you must know.

Quit snickering.

You too, Feral. I'm on the verge of evicting you along with Fat Kid.

Anyway, I'm somewhere past overjoyed and approaching elated at this development. I honestly never thought I would fit into these jackets again, but I couldn't get rid of them either. Too many memories and connections. Now that they fit again, I can't wait for winter to arrive.

Min Tian Jian!

Day 169: Decisions, decisions...

So I'm closing in on my goal weight now. 68 pounds away and I'll be there before too much longer. So now I have to decide whether I'm going to undergo plastic surgery to remove the excess skin or not. I'd like to think that I won't need the surgery, that the skin will shrink up like the bariatrician said it would. The reality check says that probably won't happen, though. I know some people would say the excess skin is a trophy in the battle against weight loss. I have to be honest, my vanity says it's not what I want. I'd rather have the scars from having the skin removed and get them covered by ink.

It's a hard decision to make. If it isn't covered by my insurance one way or another, it has to come out of pocket and that's expensive. Figure a minimum of 5 grand to have the work done. But I still have a while to contemplate everything. It's possible that my skin will completely retract and I won't need the surgery at all.

[...Quit chuckling, Feral or I'll evict you like I did Fat Kid!]

I do apologize for the delayed posting. I did write this last night, but Blogger was glitching something terrible last night.

Tschuss!

Day 168: still posted before midnight!

one minute before! It still counts!

Early day tomorrow. TTYL!

I'll try to expound on something tomorrow, loyal readers.

Day 167: Monday morning weigh-in and Mini-goals achieved!

I said my mantra and stepped on the scale this morning, fully expecting a low loss or a stall. Surprise surprise, I not only lost, I lost big time. My body weight is now 268 pounds. That's 6 pounds lost for this week, 125 pounds lost since surgery and 152 pounds lost overall. That also means I hit two more mini-goals: 125 pounds lost since surgery and 150 pounds lost overall. That's worth a big old hoorah as far as I'm concerned. I wish I knew what I did differently so I could maintain a regular 5 or more pounds per week lost. Oh well, as long as it comes off that's the important thing. I don't think the Reunion trip alone did the job. I guess it's just the body adjusting to a new level of weight loss.

BTW, my percentage of weight loss is 69.09 etc percent. I've lost almost 70 percent of the weight I want to lose. I love my sleeve. My BMI is currently 36.3. Still Obese, but close to the overweight mark. I'm slowly but surely getting there.

One last thought. I know that my weight loss is a great example that the surgery works. I would make a great commercial for the effectiveness of the Gastric Sleeve Surgery. But a great commercial is not necessarily a great comparison for others that have had the surgery. I only know of one other person that had the kind of success with the surgery that I have had. We would need the disclaimers of "Results not typical". I know that some people that know me personally and have had the same surgery are a little discouraged that they have not had the success with it that I have had. I wish I could say "Here's what you have to do to have the same success.", but everybody has a different experience with the surgery. Some lose fast, some lose slow. Some lose consistently, some have stalls. Some have all sorts of complications, some breeze right through it. It's different for everyone. As long as we lose and make the changes in our lives to not only lose but maintain the loss and not regain the weight, then it's going to work for us. I know the changes aren't easy to make. We have to change from a sedentary life style to an active life style. We have to eat right, watch our protein intake, and drink our water. Most importantly, we have to change our mindset so that we don't go back to our old ways. Do I miss some of the foods I used to eat? Occasionally. Would I trade being able to eat whatever I wanted for the weight I've lost? No chance. I feel so much better than I have in a long time and I guarantee I would not have shown up for my 25th High School Reunion at my highest weight. This has been a good and positive change for me and I think it will be for most Sleevers in the long run.

Bonjour!

Day 166: The Reunion

I had a great time at the reunion. Everybody there pretty much recognized me instantly and all of them said that I looked like I hadn't changed in 25 years. A few of them said that I looked better than I did in High School. All of them asked how I did it. I wasn't shy or reticent about sharing my story with them and they were all impressed by my honest and concise story. I answered any questions they had and was very much in demand with my classmates last night. I danced with a lot of very pretty ladies and had a good time.

When they served dinner, I tried a little bit of everything and stopped when my stomach gave me the stop signal. The people at my table commented on how little I had eaten and I pointed out that 4 ounces is my limit anymore. I did have a drink as well, but the bartender was clearly out of her field with what I asked for and she really didn't make it very well. A little bit later on I noticed a sizable line for the bar and I looked over and saw the bartender using her cell phone and trying to get the drinks at the same time, the awkward cow. At one point the hosts walked around and offered everyone cupcakes. I decided to throw caution to the wind and tried it. I wish I had stuck to my guns and thrown the cupcake to the winds. After two bites Bobo said "Enough of that". My stomach got a little upset so I just sat the rest of the cupcake down and I was done with it.

One of the couples there had to leave early because they had a gig to get to and some of the reunioneers decided to go watch them. I waited for about an hour and a half and then went out to watch their gig. They are really good. I spent the remainder of the night dancing with one of those pretty ladies I mentioned earlier. She and I had a really good time and I commented that it was probably best that I lived in Vegas because we would just be having too much fun together. She's happily married, but we did have a good time together just joking and dancing and having fun.

One of the best things that came out of this trip was the old friends I made connections with. I'm going to make a more active effort to keep the lines of communication open now. Maybe it will encourage me to come back to Bakersfield more often. And all the positive comments about how I looked and the positive reaction to my story really boosted my ego, so I feel renewed to continue this journey. I feel the fire that I felt the first two weeks post op and I'm going to really get back to the swing of my workouts.

One thing, and this is a major NSV for me. I had ordered a new pair of jeans for the reunion. I tried them on Wednesday and they fit just fine, not much dunlap. By Saturday afternoon when I was getting dressed, they were at least an inch too big for me. I was a little annoyed at that since I had just bought them, but I also felt really good about it because I clearly lost inches for that to happen.

I have to get ready and start locking things up around here. I'm going to meet my sister for breakfast and then head over to the bbq. After the bbq, I'm heading for home and try get my clothes together for work tomorrow.

Auf Weidersehen!

Day 165: Continued

I wanted to talk about something that happened last night at my meet and greet. Everyone recognized me instantly and one of them even said "My God, Shawn! You look just like you did in High School! You look fabulous! You haven't changed!" That tells me how much I really have changed over the last few months. When people that haven't seen me for 25 years tell me I look the same, I've changed for the better. By losing this weight it's like I turned the clock back on my life. I have a bunch of new old friends on facebook now and I think I'll have a bunch of new readers as well.

What surprised me was how many of us had similar events in our lives. Now a lot of them live in Bakersfield, so it's not a huge surprise there, but a few of us are coming from hundreds of miles away in completely different cities and locales and we still had a lot of the same experiences in our lives. I find myself wondering if it's a generational thing.

So I'll be meeting my bro for breakfast in a little while and then we'll head back to my mom and dad's house to hang until I have to get ready to go to the reunion. I'll be having dinner with my sister et al before that.

Ciao!

Day 165: Late again...

...but I REALLY don't care. I was up at 5, worked til 230 and then spent 4 hours and 15 minutes driving to Bakersfield for my reunion. Spent about an hour with my sister, her fiance' and my youngest niece and then headed out for the pre-reunion meet and greet that started in one bar and grill and ended up in a different bar and grill with a slightly changed cast of characters. It's 1240 am and I'm a little tired now. But I did have a very good time. When the venue and cast changed, so did the topics of discussion and the bulk of the talk was about SEX! Well, I have no shame and it's hard to shock me anymore, so I was right in there talking it up. I was also spending an inordinate amount of time talking to one woman in particular. We dated a couple of times in high school and we were in some of the same classes and we just fell right to chatting away. When she decided to call it a night, so did I and of course, the resident Gossip decided to point out that we were going home together. We didn't, but I'm sure the story will be different tomorrow by the time I hear it again.

I'll try to post again later today, but it's going to be just as busy.

Do Svidanja!