Recent Posts
Topic: RE: Part Two
Also, the gym isn't for everybody. I like going to the gym, no I love it. And as I stated as a Chrismas gift, we now have a family membership and our club is very family friendly. We enjoy going as a family. But, this is really about getting active. Walk, ride a bike, use DVD's, or maybe even Wii. I believe for those of us that have had a bounce back beyond the norm, excercise is the key. Increased activity can help with some eating errors plus I have found that i tend to make better choices when I active as I ask myself if the immediate gratification of something to eat is worth blowing 30 minutes of cardio work.
That being said, I used a new program last night on the stationary bike. It has a video screen and you can register so that the machine keeps track of your workouts and provides feedback. Also, unlike a lot of bikes, you have to actually turn like you are really riding a bike and shift gears as you go up and down hills. I got my heart rate into the proper zone in minutes and maintained it for 27 minutes straight. It was awsome and something I'll go back too in order to take a break from the treadmill and to keep things fresh. Plus besides a spinning class, this offers the most realistic training for bike riding. Riding in the winters of Montana can be tough, so indoors in my only option.
That being said, I used a new program last night on the stationary bike. It has a video screen and you can register so that the machine keeps track of your workouts and provides feedback. Also, unlike a lot of bikes, you have to actually turn like you are really riding a bike and shift gears as you go up and down hills. I got my heart rate into the proper zone in minutes and maintained it for 27 minutes straight. It was awsome and something I'll go back too in order to take a break from the treadmill and to keep things fresh. Plus besides a spinning class, this offers the most realistic training for bike riding. Riding in the winters of Montana can be tough, so indoors in my only option.
Topic: RE: Part Two
I was not the reason you decided to go to the gym, you made that choice because you decided it was best for you.
For many of us, I think we have to get over the notion that we will get to the point of being done. I finally just realized that I'll never be done. Everybody, I mean everybody has some cross to bear in life and not one person's is worse then the others, they are just different. One of my crosses is that i will have to work at being fit. My wife on the other had gets asked by Dr's and nurses if she runs marathons because her BP and heartrate are so good. But she has other issues. So, bottom line, just keep plugging along. The easy thing to do is do nothing. And it can be as simple as taking a 20 minute walk around your neighborhood after dinner. Just do something!
For many of us, I think we have to get over the notion that we will get to the point of being done. I finally just realized that I'll never be done. Everybody, I mean everybody has some cross to bear in life and not one person's is worse then the others, they are just different. One of my crosses is that i will have to work at being fit. My wife on the other had gets asked by Dr's and nurses if she runs marathons because her BP and heartrate are so good. But she has other issues. So, bottom line, just keep plugging along. The easy thing to do is do nothing. And it can be as simple as taking a 20 minute walk around your neighborhood after dinner. Just do something!
Topic: RE: Part Two
P.S. Thanks to you, I'm switching into my grubs and heading over to the gym - right now! 
Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today.
Topic: RE: Part Two
You're right, you're not a light... you're a BEACON! Wow, what an inspiring story. I LOVE the idea of organizing the 'stumbling blocks' - those issues that are in the way or keeping me in a place I dont' wish to be - organizing them, and then working on them one at a time. And the fact that you're dedicating an entire month to working on one issue before moving on to the next - or even attempting to work on them at the same time - is testament to your understanding of what you need to do for yourself to feel good. Ken, I didn't know you had lost that much weight! Wow! But this is the true test of success, don't you think? Losing it was so much easier than keeping it off. I can't thank you enough for answering my questions. I think about you all the time and wish you and your beautiful family nothing but the best, always. Take good care, be well. Maureen
Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today.
Topic: Part Two
So, I'm the first to say I am not the poster child for success. I have gone from being MO to fit to what is now overwieight. I got to the point that I was running 12-15 miles a week and actually completed a 10K ( 6.2 miles) in under an hour. Not fast, but great for a guy like me. The fact is I am a big guy. I almost 6'3 and back in the day when I played football in college I was a very lean 250 pounds. I will never be thin and that is ok as long as I'm fit.
To share with you the three items I wrote down in October that have gotten me back on a positive path I'll submit the following:
3 Don't let failures define you. If you mess up, don't compound the error by letting it alter your path.
2. Eat better. Replace one meal a day with a protein shake. Eat good snacks, not additional small meals and eat a nice dinner. Get back to protein first.
1. Work out, Work out Work out. Rember the joys of the accomplishment of doing something along with the natural high.
As I said, I'm working on number one now and am already looking towards to what the next three will be at the end of this month.
I hope this can help some of you and it isn't my intent to be AWOL, then pop over here as if I am the light. I'm not where I want to be, but I also have given up on the idea that I will get to the point where I won't have to work on this issue. I know some people can, but I have seen too many people with various surgery techniques lose a ton of weight only to gain so much of it back. I lost over 260 pounds, and I have kept most of it off. I just need to work to keeping more of it off and I will probably have to do so for the rest of my life. But that too is ok, it is worth working on.
To share with you the three items I wrote down in October that have gotten me back on a positive path I'll submit the following:
3 Don't let failures define you. If you mess up, don't compound the error by letting it alter your path.
2. Eat better. Replace one meal a day with a protein shake. Eat good snacks, not additional small meals and eat a nice dinner. Get back to protein first.
1. Work out, Work out Work out. Rember the joys of the accomplishment of doing something along with the natural high.
As I said, I'm working on number one now and am already looking towards to what the next three will be at the end of this month.
I hope this can help some of you and it isn't my intent to be AWOL, then pop over here as if I am the light. I'm not where I want to be, but I also have given up on the idea that I will get to the point where I won't have to work on this issue. I know some people can, but I have seen too many people with various surgery techniques lose a ton of weight only to gain so much of it back. I lost over 260 pounds, and I have kept most of it off. I just need to work to keeping more of it off and I will probably have to do so for the rest of my life. But that too is ok, it is worth working on.
Topic: RE: It's me, can you believe it.
I don't mind you asking because I don't feel as if I going to be judged here, just as I don't judge anybody else in their efforts.
In regards to my weight, I have put on just over 40 pounds over the anticpated uptick from the surgery. It has caused me to move up one shirt size and added four inches on my waist. My blood work has not changed much othen then my Graves has come back a little, but not enough to be medicated.
I'll discuss what I see as the cause of my gain. These I don't see as excuses, rather I had to look back to see what I could do to make changes. Four years ago we moved into assist my mother-in-law as she was no longer able to live alone. As she got worse, I found finding workout time very difficult and I began to slowly gain. As things got bad for her, the gym that had been so instrumental in my sucess shut down. I had a huge support system there and a workout buddy whom was a city police officer as well as an Air Force Reservist that pushed me. As my mother in law became more demanding, I didn't join another gym until after her passing. At that point, I had gained 30 pounds over my low.
As most of you know, the leaner you are the more efficient your body becomes. So, a little effort goes along way when you are more fit. In addition, I began to drink energy drinks quite often because I was so exhausted. When my mother in law passed, I quit the energy drinks and joined a gym again. I have found that my eating habits are much better when I'm working out. Unlike my non obese friends that workout so they can pigout, I find I end up thinking if I want to blow thirty minutes on the treadmill for the instant gratification of food. Just as I was getting back into stride and getting back into shape, I had to have my sports hernia at an incision sight repaired and another surgery at the tailend that I don't care to discuss. The Dr. that completed my bypass did the other two. Lets just say I was a rare case regarding the other surgery and his words were of all the surgeries he does, the recovery of what I had done was the worst. I had to return to him every two weeks for three months for stiches removal and the pain was far worse then the bypass or the belt lipectomy. So, as I was by Dr. orders not allowed in the gym for 15 weeks post op, I gave up my membership. So, I gained everything I had lost again and gained 15 more.
I returned to the gym and then in part due to being the ex football stud weight lifter and a fall, I injured my rotator cuff. That began a path towards yet another surgery, another stoppage of progress and weight gain. I stayed off the energy drinks, but began with Diet Pepsi. And that put me to where I was this fall. Oh, and while I didn't have any pattern of drinking, I was drinking more often then before and usually in excess. So, I sat down and wrote some things down. I talked to other people that had sucess in getting through adverse issues. I researched on the internet. What i came up with was a goal of getting more fit. I then wrote down the three things that were road blocks for me and I numbered them one through three with three being the hardest for me and one being easier. For the month of November I worked on the thing that was hardest for me, then in December I worked on the next hardest and now in January I'm working on the item that was easiest. So in other words I'm trying to make my weakness my strength. At the end of the month, I re-evaluate where I'm at and come up with three more issues.
As I'm one of the few men around here, so I can say I'm sorry ladies, but men do just tend to lose quicker. I know it sucks, but my point is I don't think you are fair to yourself if you compare yourself to others all of the time. Like it or not, there was a reason we got to be obese and you need to work on that if you want to refrain from being obese. For me, being physically active seems to be the key. My eating habits that have fueled my gain haven't been so much that they have changed vastly, but that I ate a little more then I did at my low each meal and I ate bigger meals more often. Plus, I found I was getting away from the protien first though process.
I'll continue in an additional post.
In regards to my weight, I have put on just over 40 pounds over the anticpated uptick from the surgery. It has caused me to move up one shirt size and added four inches on my waist. My blood work has not changed much othen then my Graves has come back a little, but not enough to be medicated.
I'll discuss what I see as the cause of my gain. These I don't see as excuses, rather I had to look back to see what I could do to make changes. Four years ago we moved into assist my mother-in-law as she was no longer able to live alone. As she got worse, I found finding workout time very difficult and I began to slowly gain. As things got bad for her, the gym that had been so instrumental in my sucess shut down. I had a huge support system there and a workout buddy whom was a city police officer as well as an Air Force Reservist that pushed me. As my mother in law became more demanding, I didn't join another gym until after her passing. At that point, I had gained 30 pounds over my low.
As most of you know, the leaner you are the more efficient your body becomes. So, a little effort goes along way when you are more fit. In addition, I began to drink energy drinks quite often because I was so exhausted. When my mother in law passed, I quit the energy drinks and joined a gym again. I have found that my eating habits are much better when I'm working out. Unlike my non obese friends that workout so they can pigout, I find I end up thinking if I want to blow thirty minutes on the treadmill for the instant gratification of food. Just as I was getting back into stride and getting back into shape, I had to have my sports hernia at an incision sight repaired and another surgery at the tailend that I don't care to discuss. The Dr. that completed my bypass did the other two. Lets just say I was a rare case regarding the other surgery and his words were of all the surgeries he does, the recovery of what I had done was the worst. I had to return to him every two weeks for three months for stiches removal and the pain was far worse then the bypass or the belt lipectomy. So, as I was by Dr. orders not allowed in the gym for 15 weeks post op, I gave up my membership. So, I gained everything I had lost again and gained 15 more.
I returned to the gym and then in part due to being the ex football stud weight lifter and a fall, I injured my rotator cuff. That began a path towards yet another surgery, another stoppage of progress and weight gain. I stayed off the energy drinks, but began with Diet Pepsi. And that put me to where I was this fall. Oh, and while I didn't have any pattern of drinking, I was drinking more often then before and usually in excess. So, I sat down and wrote some things down. I talked to other people that had sucess in getting through adverse issues. I researched on the internet. What i came up with was a goal of getting more fit. I then wrote down the three things that were road blocks for me and I numbered them one through three with three being the hardest for me and one being easier. For the month of November I worked on the thing that was hardest for me, then in December I worked on the next hardest and now in January I'm working on the item that was easiest. So in other words I'm trying to make my weakness my strength. At the end of the month, I re-evaluate where I'm at and come up with three more issues.
As I'm one of the few men around here, so I can say I'm sorry ladies, but men do just tend to lose quicker. I know it sucks, but my point is I don't think you are fair to yourself if you compare yourself to others all of the time. Like it or not, there was a reason we got to be obese and you need to work on that if you want to refrain from being obese. For me, being physically active seems to be the key. My eating habits that have fueled my gain haven't been so much that they have changed vastly, but that I ate a little more then I did at my low each meal and I ate bigger meals more often. Plus, I found I was getting away from the protien first though process.
I'll continue in an additional post.
Topic: RE: It's me, can you believe it.
Hi Ken, so good to hear from you! I truly believe your focus on physical fitness is the key to managing successful maintenance of the original weight loss this far out from surgery. I certainly find myself struggling these days with a 22 lb. weight gain from my lowest point. What about you (I hope you don't mind my asking) - have you gained any of your weight back? Where atre you at with that? And how your blood workup results looking for you - any issues there? Really, so very good to see you posting! Be well, Ken. Maureen
Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today.
Topic: RE: It's me, can you believe it.
Your post is like a breath of fresh air that we all needed!
i've started back at my gym in November but over the holidays have let it slide to once in a while again. Reading what you;ve written has got me strongly motivated again!
tonight instead of rushing home to sit at my desk playing facebook games i am going to rush home take care of my homely duties (let the dog out) then rush to the gym!
if you can do work at doing that super thing then i can get my self back on track with excersizing.
thank you and congratulations on working so hard!
i've started back at my gym in November but over the holidays have let it slide to once in a while again. Reading what you;ve written has got me strongly motivated again!
tonight instead of rushing home to sit at my desk playing facebook games i am going to rush home take care of my homely duties (let the dog out) then rush to the gym!
if you can do work at doing that super thing then i can get my self back on track with excersizing.
thank you and congratulations on working so hard!
Topic: It's me, can you believe it.
Hello all! Can you believe in two short months we will be at six years post op? I can't believe it and even at 42, I have to wonder if I were still tipping the scales at 500 pounds if I would be alive today.
Anyway, I just don't come back here enough and to be honest I haven't even been lurking, but not posting much. It has been a crazy year and I don't know that 2010 will be any different. Work is a mess, but I won't whine too much as the reality is that work is a mess for most people. My family life is nuts as keeping up with three girls ( 14, 12 & 12) is interesting to say the least. But overall, I'm doing pretty good. I have again set the goal of competing in a sprint triathalon. I didn't get it done last year mostly because the swim part scared me. For those that are wondering a sprint tri is, it is a 750 meter swim, 12.1 bike ride and a 5K ( 3.1 mile) run. Last year I didn't belong to a gym that had a pool and while I'm not concerned about my swimming, I am concerned about not being able to train for the swimming. So, as a gift we purchased a family membership at a very nice health club. It has all the tools I need to train so that I can complete this sucker on May 22.
I have no misconceptions about setting some record or anything. It is just my old gym shut down, the one I joined was one of those 24 hour, very small jobbers so I quit that one and without a gym, I added unwanted weight. But, I made several changes prior to the new year with the thought of making them changes I wanted to make for 2010. I found I was headed back towards some habits that were not productive towards staying at a healthy weight so I have:
1.) Given up Diet Pepsi again for good
2.) Quit drinking alcohol in any form
3) Stopped deviating from the protein first mentality
4) Become a gym rat again
I didn't do this all at once, but rather I made changes starting in November and I have to say I pleased with the results. I'm so far from where I want to be, but at least I'm back on the right path.
Anyway, I have to go now. I'll come back to check in on all of you. Take care and here is to a great 6th year anniversary.
Anyway, I just don't come back here enough and to be honest I haven't even been lurking, but not posting much. It has been a crazy year and I don't know that 2010 will be any different. Work is a mess, but I won't whine too much as the reality is that work is a mess for most people. My family life is nuts as keeping up with three girls ( 14, 12 & 12) is interesting to say the least. But overall, I'm doing pretty good. I have again set the goal of competing in a sprint triathalon. I didn't get it done last year mostly because the swim part scared me. For those that are wondering a sprint tri is, it is a 750 meter swim, 12.1 bike ride and a 5K ( 3.1 mile) run. Last year I didn't belong to a gym that had a pool and while I'm not concerned about my swimming, I am concerned about not being able to train for the swimming. So, as a gift we purchased a family membership at a very nice health club. It has all the tools I need to train so that I can complete this sucker on May 22.
I have no misconceptions about setting some record or anything. It is just my old gym shut down, the one I joined was one of those 24 hour, very small jobbers so I quit that one and without a gym, I added unwanted weight. But, I made several changes prior to the new year with the thought of making them changes I wanted to make for 2010. I found I was headed back towards some habits that were not productive towards staying at a healthy weight so I have:
1.) Given up Diet Pepsi again for good
2.) Quit drinking alcohol in any form
3) Stopped deviating from the protein first mentality
4) Become a gym rat again
I didn't do this all at once, but rather I made changes starting in November and I have to say I pleased with the results. I'm so far from where I want to be, but at least I'm back on the right path.
Anyway, I have to go now. I'll come back to check in on all of you. Take care and here is to a great 6th year anniversary.
Topic: RE: Connie
Hey Judy!!!
I will enter you this morning on my facebook account. I get such a kick out of playing their games the best part is they are free!
I've also called Connie without reply.
The last time I talked with her she was in alot of pain and facing some major surgery. Not due to the gastric bypass. She is a strong woman but going through what she is is goign to take all of her strength. I keep her in my prayers.
See you on facebook!
I will enter you this morning on my facebook account. I get such a kick out of playing their games the best part is they are free!
I've also called Connie without reply.
The last time I talked with her she was in alot of pain and facing some major surgery. Not due to the gastric bypass. She is a strong woman but going through what she is is goign to take all of her strength. I keep her in my prayers.
See you on facebook!
Most Active
Recent Topics
