263 1/2

I was surprised at first, to think I had dropped almost 5 pounds this week. I ate more than usual at our family Easter meal this weekend, if you consider two small scoops of red potatoes and two slices of ham a big meal, but considering I had two bites of pecan pie (A big Sugar rush!)
a small square of carrot cake, and the smallest piece of a birthday cake that I could get, I thought for sure I wouldn't lose any weight this week.

But to put it in perspective, I ate my food properly, chewing it thoroughly, and I consumed those portions gradually, over the space of two hours. I also did quite a bit of walking, in and around Cape May, and Cape May Point. I even walked the sandy beach by the Light House out to the old Army Bunker, which had several hundred yards of beach replenished in recent years, and is no longer buried by the tide. So I guess I shouldn't be surprised that my metabolism stayed geared up with all that exercise.

Here's the thing, I regularly eat two 60 calorie Dannon Light yogurts around 5;15 AM for breakfast, and that fills me up. I'll have a couple of Sugar Free 60 Calorie Jello Puddings around 9:30, and I usually have two more yogurts around Noon. That's only 360 Calories, and that is why I take a multivitamin. I try to eat protein around 5 when I get home from work, and again a small serving before I go to bed. I find my biggest challenge right now is getting ENOUGH to eat. I'm just not hungry. I am lax in mixing vegetables in later in the day (I love green beans and peas, but don't get enough of them) and that is where I need to improve my diet.

I do have one weakness: I still hit the Dunkin Donuts drive thru for a decaf coffee with 2 Splenda and low fat milk. I confess I still need that Morning Cup of' Joe.
My wife told me she saw me on "Business Matters" on WFMZ and that it is really evident I have lost a great deal of weight. I love her, and here I thought the camera always added 10 pounds!

268 1/4

I was stuck at a plateau for a couple of weeks, but in the last two the weight loss pace has picked up again. The torn muscle in my thigh has healed pretty much, and I am back to doing the 33 minute workout on the elliptical trainer a minimum of 4 times a week. That's the one that really gets my body going. I can do 7+ miles on the bike in 35 minutes pretty easily now, and 5000 steps in under a half hour is a norm, but nothing gets me breaking a sweat like the elliptical trainer. The first time I tried one, back in the fall, I only went 3 minutes before I had to stop, the joint pain and my heart rate were through the roof. Not now, it's amazing what the combination of dedicated exercise and surgically mandated diet restrictions can do!

I am wearing 2XL shirts now, and they aren't tight, and in some instances, they are a little droopy. I'm thinking that somewhere around 220 I can try an XL, but because of my shoulders, it might still be a little tight in the chest. We will see!

275 3/8

I've picked up my pace on the elliptical trainer. I used to do what measured as 1.80 miles in 32 minutes, now I'm doing 2.12 in that same amount of time. When I first started out on the stepper, I was proud to do 3000 steps in 30 minutes. Now I can do 5000 in that time. On the Stationary bike, I started out doing 8 minute miles, now I can do 5 miles in under 30 minutes.
A lot can change in 2 months. Today I am eight weeks removed from my gastric bypass, and I bet I haven't had my weight this low in 9 years. Yeah, 275 3/8 is low! For me at least.

I had some issues this past week, as I had a little bit of mashed potatoes, with some gravy, and that gravy did not sit well with my stomach. I have avoided the unpleasant regurgitation experience for the most part that some bypass patients have, but that gravy might have been a bit greasy, and that caused an issue, as did a small portion of fried rice.

On Sunday my wife treated me to Carabba's, where I had a cup of sausage Lentil soup and a serving of 2 crab cakes (Unbreaded) for my meal. It completely sated me, in stark contrast to my past visits, where I would have devoured an appetizer, an entire bowl of bread, an entree, and still had room for dessert.

As I look back, I am amazed at how much we Americans tend to overeat. I suppose when we were a country of hard laborers, it was easy to burn it off, back in the days before all the processed food and chemical additives. Now that we are a sedentary society, we need to learn to discipline ourselves better in our nutritional choices. I'm no expert there, I will leave those comments to the pros.
I heard a comedian on XM radio this week, talking about a morbidly obese guy standing on a corner, holding a sign saying, "Will Work for food." The Comedian remarked that the guy had to weigh over 400 pounds, so he rolled down his window and shouted: "Hey buddy, you might want to take a day off!"

That's really mean, but I found myself laughing. It's not something I would do, I've been ridiculed for my size a few times. I want to be healthy again, but I won't forget how being morbidly obese feels, both physically and emotionally.