Rocky Mountain Associated Physicians (RMAP) Patients

I'm not sure if you were responding to me, I don't recall deleting a post or asking about Carly.  I haven't been to RMAP yet (still waiting for insurance to OK, etc.), other than the seminar/class thingy.  I'm encouraged by the comments about the surgeons there.  I have 2 cousins who had surgery with Dr. Smith and had only good to say about him.  

About your weight loss, can you imagine how your body was able to carry 200 pounds more than it does now?  It would be akin to you carrying a full grown man on your back.  Boggles the mind.

I'm driving myself crazy.  My work (which is in the field of healthcare) has all kinds of sweets and carbonated drinks around (for free!).  I don't have an issue with the soda but my job is stress filled on most days and so try as I might I always end up grazing a little.  So far it hasn't hurt me but I keep thinking ... if I don't get this under control, it will doom me in the end.

I know, a little negative thinking but....

In talking to another RMAP patient (with Dr. McKinley), he told her the only person he had ever seen who gained all her weight back, it was because she was eating about 5 lbs of peanut M&Ms every day.  Not all at the same time but a little bit throughout the course of the day.

So I think about that and my inner voice says that I need to get a handle on this because it's just a little now but it has the potential to grow into a bigger problem as time goes on.  And if it's hard to handle now, how much more difficult will it be then?

Wish me luck!

Exercise

  Ah! I didn't want to tell anyone this in case it set a bad example for someone but I don't exercise a lot. Yes, I've lost 250 lbs without much exercise. Yes, I do move a ton more. In essence I really do get a lot more exercise than when I was at my highest weight but still...

I do eat a lot of protein which helps so I don't lose a lot of muscle mass but now that I'm down to my initial goal weight, now I need to exercise to tone up my muscles and help augment my soon to be plastic surgery.

Plus... if you see my post about snacking below, you'll know why it's important to exercise. It has to be a life change as well as with the eating. The reason? Sure I've lost a ton of weight (1/8 of a ton actually) in just 21 months but I want to keep the weight off for as long as I live (which hopefully will be another 40 or so years).

Anyway, that's my two cents worth!

Re-Committed

  On Friday, January 23, 2009, I weighed myself in the morning and came in at a stellar 223.2 lbs. Over the next four days I gained 7 lbs. Yes, that's right, 7 lbs!!! I weighed on Tuesday, January 27, 2009 at 230.2 lbs. How can I gain 7 lbs in 4 days? That's a good question. It freaks me out everytime I see a fluctuation like that but I always know what causes it.

1. Poor diet. I wrote about this in an earlier blog (titled: Snacking). I was horrible for about a week or so. It ALWAYS takes time to show up.

2. Low Water. Yes, for the same week where my diet was poor, I wasn't drinking even close to the 64 ounce mark.

I know some of the weight gain is from water retention. Here are my steps to reversing what has happened (I always do this when this type of fluctuation happens):

The first step was to commit to myself that I wouldn't snack on sweets anymore. Today was day 1. Did it!! Woo-hoo! I had a really good day diet-wise. No sweets and pretty near perfect.

The second step is to increase my water intake. I did really well. I drank 80+ ounces today (32 ounces by 10am in the morning). I've already started shedding some of the retained water. By keeping up on my water, I help control my appetite as well.

I expect that it will take about a week to 10 days to get back down to where I was but I know I can do it. I'll keep you updated.

Sean

BTW, for all you RMAP patients who might not know... Adam Larson has created a message board for us on Facebook as well.  It's called RMAP buddies.  I'm sure you can search for it and find it on Facebook.  Come and join!!  If you need an invite, go to my blog and email me.  I'll shoot you one.

Sean

I just received the following comment on my blog in response to my post entitled "Educational Fee."  Normally I would just leave this comment there but it made me laugh so I wanted to share it.  I do not know who the author was, only that it's a RMAP patient.
____________________________________________

Dude...Now that you really broke it down in ways that I didn't really give a hoot about before-I am pretty fricken pissed. And Carly is a ***** Sorry you incurred her wrath of her self-centered, elitist, holier than thou attitude.

***takes a bow***

You are welcome for the chuckle Sean.

I work with a woman who had gastric bypass 8 years ago.  She initially lost a lot of weight (I saw her pictures) but then gained back a chunk.  She took charge and lost the weight again and then had a big emotional event happen in her life.  She gained a lot back.  Now she's again starting to take charge and get back down.

I relate this story in this forum because that's probably the BIGGEST change I see in myself after having WLS.  The fact that I finally have control.  Yes, I'm not always perfect.  But when I think back on how I was pre-surgery, I wasn't even close.  Now I have days when I am perfect (diet-wise) and plenty of days when I am close.  I never got and buy a bag of oreos and eat the entire bag or feel like I have to sneak food when people are looking so they won't wonder why I would eat so much or so crappy.  I can't eat most of a large pizza before and... when I want I can survive on 1500 or less calories in a day without my body screaming at me or really even feeling deprived.

It's amazing.

But the other reason (in conjunction with the one above) for relating that story is to let everyone know that if you lose your weight and then gain some of it back, you haven't failed.  You still have the tool to get back on track and lose again.  You are in control.  And that might be (if you're anything like me) the sweetest thing you've ever heard.

Sean

For those of you following the posts in this forum, let me tell you about my struggle to get back on track after gaining 7 lbs in 5 days.  I've done really well.  3 days back on track and I've lost 4 of those lbs already.  With any luck it was all water retention and I'll be back to my good old 223 lbs mark early next week.  Or maybe a little longer.  You never know.  But it's nice to know I can fight the cravings and the occasional stress or boredom and come out on top.  Yay!

WLS has been such a godsend for me.  It's amazing that I can go on a date and hold hands through a movie and know that it's just as exciting for her to hold my hand as it is for me to hold hers.  Very unlike before when all I'd do is wonder whether she would accept me as I was and wonder if I should even try to hold her hand.  Such a change.  Again, yay!

Sean

I would really love to hear from everyone on my blog at www.seanstransformation.blogspot.com.  If you have something you'd like to contribute there, click on my profile (from my blog) to get my email and send it to me.  I'd love to post it.  Or you can post it by clicking on the comment section under one of my posts.

Take care.
Sean