A great weekend! (pics inside)
I did things I never thought I would ever do again this Memorial Day weekend.. thanks in large part to the weight loss helped along by my surgery more than eight months ago.
My wife and I have been planning this weekend for a while.. an overnight stay in Columbus, Ohio to see James Taylor and Carole King in concert. I wouldn't even have thought of making such a trip when I weighed more than 500 lbs and had a 72 in waist because I knew it could involve a lot of walking in warmer weather.
Before leaving, I had my pick of slacks with 40 inch waists, because all of them now fit. I chose a nice pair of dress jeans.. a black tee shirt and light sport coat.
We hopped into my wife's S-U-V and made the three hour drive. I fit comfortably into the seat and even put the arm rests down because now I can fit. After arriving at the downtown Marriott Renaissance, we carried what little luggage we had up to our room by ourselves. Not even a year ago, I would have had to rest and catch my breath in the hotel lobby before completing the trip upstairs.
After relaxing for about an hour, we got back into the S-U-V and drove to a nearby restaurant where my youngest son Brendan works as a server. He had tables out on the patio.
Even though the temperature was in the upper 80's, I was comfortable, even though I was wearing a sport coat. Back when I was morbidly obese, I would break into a sweat just standing in the checkout line of an air conditioned grocery store.
I had my son deliver some sushi and steak for my dinner. It was tasty.
My wife's life long best friend, who she hasn't seen in four years also joined us for dinner. That's something else that wouldn't have happened when I was morbidly obese. I was too embarrassed to visit with people who hadn't seen me in a long time because I could just imagine how they would think how I had "let myself go". It was great to see my wife and her friend sharing old times.
We said our goodbyes and jumped back into the S-U-V that we drove to the Schottenstein Center for the concert. Traffic was heavy and we had to park in the lot farthest away from the venue. Since the traffic made us late, we had to briskly walk to the shuttle buses. Once again, even though the temps were near 90, I had no difficulty getting to the bus. Being able to fit into a crowded bus is another big plus. We also had to run to the opposite side of the building to pick up our tickets. Then rush back to the other side to gain access to our floor seats.. which were about four or five rows from stage.
My Blackberry camera phone doesn't capture how close we were to the stage. James Taylor and Carole King sang all their greatest songs and were very gracious. We had a great time singing along with them. I had to remember how in the recent past, I couldn't even fit into a theater seat.
After a couple of encores we followed the crowds back to the shuttle bus. We had to wait about 15 minutes. Even one year ago, my arthritic knees and hip would have made that wait seem endless. Now, it's barely noticeable.
This morning, we got back home where my oldest son was dog-sitting. We grilled up some bison steaks and burgers outside on the grill. (Tasty!) ..
I decided that since it was a holiday and I was home, I announced that I would try some of my wife's homemade ice cream pie for the first time since the 4th of July. It was time to find out if ice cream would make me dump.
But I had my wife cut just a sliver. First I ate the "crust" made from peanut butter, rice crispies, and Karo syrup. Then I ate the vanilla ice cream and hot fudge. It was good. I remember when I could have eaten the whole damn pie.. but didn't.
Within a half hour, my stomach began to feel queasy, and started making gurgling noises. It wasn't unbearable, but unpleasant enough to make me glad I didn't eat a whole piece of pie.
Just for the record, I still wrote up my food in my daily food journal. It was more than double the usual 660 calories per day that I'm used to. But I got my required protein in. Fat and carbs were relatively high.
But in the past, those kinds of meals were a daily occurrence for me. Except I would eat like that until there were no leftovers. My son is taking these leftovers back home with him. Out of sight... out of mind.
My wife and I have been planning this weekend for a while.. an overnight stay in Columbus, Ohio to see James Taylor and Carole King in concert. I wouldn't even have thought of making such a trip when I weighed more than 500 lbs and had a 72 in waist because I knew it could involve a lot of walking in warmer weather.
Before leaving, I had my pick of slacks with 40 inch waists, because all of them now fit. I chose a nice pair of dress jeans.. a black tee shirt and light sport coat.
We hopped into my wife's S-U-V and made the three hour drive. I fit comfortably into the seat and even put the arm rests down because now I can fit. After arriving at the downtown Marriott Renaissance, we carried what little luggage we had up to our room by ourselves. Not even a year ago, I would have had to rest and catch my breath in the hotel lobby before completing the trip upstairs.
After relaxing for about an hour, we got back into the S-U-V and drove to a nearby restaurant where my youngest son Brendan works as a server. He had tables out on the patio.
Even though the temperature was in the upper 80's, I was comfortable, even though I was wearing a sport coat. Back when I was morbidly obese, I would break into a sweat just standing in the checkout line of an air conditioned grocery store.
I had my son deliver some sushi and steak for my dinner. It was tasty.
My wife's life long best friend, who she hasn't seen in four years also joined us for dinner. That's something else that wouldn't have happened when I was morbidly obese. I was too embarrassed to visit with people who hadn't seen me in a long time because I could just imagine how they would think how I had "let myself go". It was great to see my wife and her friend sharing old times.
We said our goodbyes and jumped back into the S-U-V that we drove to the Schottenstein Center for the concert. Traffic was heavy and we had to park in the lot farthest away from the venue. Since the traffic made us late, we had to briskly walk to the shuttle buses. Once again, even though the temps were near 90, I had no difficulty getting to the bus. Being able to fit into a crowded bus is another big plus. We also had to run to the opposite side of the building to pick up our tickets. Then rush back to the other side to gain access to our floor seats.. which were about four or five rows from stage.
My Blackberry camera phone doesn't capture how close we were to the stage. James Taylor and Carole King sang all their greatest songs and were very gracious. We had a great time singing along with them. I had to remember how in the recent past, I couldn't even fit into a theater seat.
After a couple of encores we followed the crowds back to the shuttle bus. We had to wait about 15 minutes. Even one year ago, my arthritic knees and hip would have made that wait seem endless. Now, it's barely noticeable.
This morning, we got back home where my oldest son was dog-sitting. We grilled up some bison steaks and burgers outside on the grill. (Tasty!) ..
I decided that since it was a holiday and I was home, I announced that I would try some of my wife's homemade ice cream pie for the first time since the 4th of July. It was time to find out if ice cream would make me dump.
But I had my wife cut just a sliver. First I ate the "crust" made from peanut butter, rice crispies, and Karo syrup. Then I ate the vanilla ice cream and hot fudge. It was good. I remember when I could have eaten the whole damn pie.. but didn't.
Within a half hour, my stomach began to feel queasy, and started making gurgling noises. It wasn't unbearable, but unpleasant enough to make me glad I didn't eat a whole piece of pie.
Just for the record, I still wrote up my food in my daily food journal. It was more than double the usual 660 calories per day that I'm used to. But I got my required protein in. Fat and carbs were relatively high.
But in the past, those kinds of meals were a daily occurrence for me. Except I would eat like that until there were no leftovers. My son is taking these leftovers back home with him. Out of sight... out of mind.
Max wt. 500+ WLS workshop 4/6/09 440 Surgery 9/21/09 324 9/21/10 218
Save $4 on Obesity Help magazine subscription using promo code: HERCULES
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Save $4 on Obesity Help magazine subscription using promo code: HERCULES
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man you are such an inspiration, I can relate to your past limitations, please keep your success post's coming!
I am so happy that you are experiencing LIFE as you want at this point in your life. You seem to have such a beautiful family.
So many of your posts ring true for probably most of us - me included. I really identified with you about meeting up with an old friend.
I will share an experience with you all that was one of the straws that broke the camel's back, per se - making me finally decide to go forward with the WLS. I met a truly lovely woman who was my professor in college. She was such a mentor to me. I hadn't seen her for 20 years. Not too long ago I was in the grocery store in the college town and at first just got a glimpse of an older woman. My initial thought was, "wow, what an elegant woman." Then I noticed that it was my professor. I was just too ashamed to go up to her and speak to her. I may never see her again. My weight kept me from running over to her and telling her how good it was to see her.
Good for you, Herc -- keep on enjoying your life with your beautiful wife, children, and friends! You are an inspiration to us all.
So many of your posts ring true for probably most of us - me included. I really identified with you about meeting up with an old friend.
I will share an experience with you all that was one of the straws that broke the camel's back, per se - making me finally decide to go forward with the WLS. I met a truly lovely woman who was my professor in college. She was such a mentor to me. I hadn't seen her for 20 years. Not too long ago I was in the grocery store in the college town and at first just got a glimpse of an older woman. My initial thought was, "wow, what an elegant woman." Then I noticed that it was my professor. I was just too ashamed to go up to her and speak to her. I may never see her again. My weight kept me from running over to her and telling her how good it was to see her.
Good for you, Herc -- keep on enjoying your life with your beautiful wife, children, and friends! You are an inspiration to us all.
MSROMAGNOLA
First of all, I'll assume that the women *****sponded on this forum are responding to your posts in their Friends section, i.e., they probably didn't even realize that the response would show up on the Men's Forum. I've read where you've tried to explain this problem in the past. After a while, you just post as freely as the rest of us.
But, I do ask the women to not post on the Men's forum. It only happens rarely, and most women stop after being asked not to do so. This forum is the only one on OH for the Men and it could easily be overrun by women. I also post this so that the men will realize that these were probably innocent responses. There are well over 150,000 women in OH and a couple posts a week is really not that bad.
WOW!!! I remember you from when you were just thinking about WLS. I thank you for being so active on the Men's Forum. I'm sure you have been an inspiration to many men. And, I encourage them to respond and post as enthusiastically as you do.
Keep up the good work. You look fantastic,
But, I do ask the women to not post on the Men's forum. It only happens rarely, and most women stop after being asked not to do so. This forum is the only one on OH for the Men and it could easily be overrun by women. I also post this so that the men will realize that these were probably innocent responses. There are well over 150,000 women in OH and a couple posts a week is really not that bad.
WOW!!! I remember you from when you were just thinking about WLS. I thank you for being so active on the Men's Forum. I'm sure you have been an inspiration to many men. And, I encourage them to respond and post as enthusiastically as you do.
Keep up the good work. You look fantastic,
What a Great Story! Congratulations! Keep up the great work and thank you for posting! It is an encouragement and inspiration for all of us!
Eating junk food and CRAP is not a reward...it's a punishment...
it's a DEATH sentence...Reward yourself with Good Health!
Highest Weight: 287 Lbs-January 2010; Reached Goal 195 Lbs - Dec 2010
Total Lost: 92 Lbs; Completed FULL MARATHON (26.2 Miles) 10-16-2011
it's a DEATH sentence...Reward yourself with Good Health!
Highest Weight: 287 Lbs-January 2010; Reached Goal 195 Lbs - Dec 2010
Total Lost: 92 Lbs; Completed FULL MARATHON (26.2 Miles) 10-16-2011
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