This is my night before picture. 328 pounds
This shot is from June at 90 days post op
These are from October 7 months post op 225 pounds
December 9 nine months post op 200 pounds
Right now I weigh 190 pounds.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Broiled Salmon with a citrus glaze
Let me preface with the fact that I am super carb sensitive. Almost every food blog I read seems that there are some mean carbs loaded into the recipe. You know what I mean there if you hunt around a bit. This worked with me just fine. I adapted this from a Good Eats dish by Alton Brown.
Ingredients:
1 filet of salmon (entire side) 1 1/2 to 2 lbs. Alton uses Sockeye
1/3 cup Splenda brown sugar blend. Alton uses dark brown sugar.
zest of one large lemon. Alton uses 2 tablespoons
1 teaspoon of salt. Alton uses 1 1/2t kosher salt
1 tablespoon of black pepper. Alton uses 1/2t. I like pepper.
On a cookie sheet covered with foil lay out your fish skin side down. Allow the salmon to sit on the counter while you prepare the rub.
In a food processor blend the dry ingredients with the lemon zest until well blended. About 30 seconds in mine.
Evenly coat the salmon with the rub and allow the fish to sit for 45 min. on the counter top. This will marinate the salmon and bring the fish up to room temp.
Move your oven rack up to about 6 inches from the top. Set the oven to broil and preheat for 3 to 4 min. Alton sets his 3 inches from the top but I noticed that it burns if I do that. Your oven may be like his. if the fish doesn't brown right move it up.
Place the salmon on the top rack and broil it for 6 to 8 min depending on your oven.
Remove your fish and let it rest for 8 to 10 min. Serve. My kids even liked this one.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Every Rose has it’s thorn.
Ok so about my absence. I am struggling with a creepy little post op thing. I have a hernia just on the other side of the stoma from my pouch. This causes a partial blockage and it hurts. Sometimes a lot. I am such a wimp about it too. My PC Doc says Dr. Snyder could fix it in a jiff but I am afraid to even hear him out.
Ok I know but …. well there you have it. I will keep some updates here so folks can find it if they choose. Not my proudest moment I admit. I hate fear. I really hate pain. I really really hate when fear keeps me in pain. It is a work in progress, just like me.
Co-Morbidity Factors
In the world of the morbidly obese (Man I hate that term) co morbidity factors are the things that can actually kill you. These can take a lot of forms and your Doctor will discuss these with you. I personally had diabetes, hyper-tension (high blood pressure) and a strange cholesterol issue common in type 2 diabetes where my bad cholesterol was not high but the good stuff was too low.
Although these factors are horrible there is a ray of hope. They are the second required issue needed by many insurance companies in order to gain coverage approval for weight loss surgery. The first being in many cases a body mass index above 35. Roughly translated this means being over 100 pounds over weight.
I know that a lot of people struggle with these every day and many people die from them every year. Don't let yourself be one of them. I don't currently suffer with any of those things anymore. WLS is not a magic pill. Not for me at least. I have to live with a few issues since my surgery but I thank God that I had it done. Discomfort I can live with. Co morbidities can kill. If you suffer from these potential killers maybe WLS is the help you need. Go see your Doctor and examine the facts.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Time to act
Once I left the Army I proceeded to gain 100 pounds in about a year. That is right people about a year. I maintained that weight 280 pounds for about 15 years. Not to say that I didn't try to lose the weight. God knows I tried everything under the sun. I would lose some and gain it back and then I started losing the weight and gaining it back with interest. I worked my way up to 328 pounds. I had met Dr. Snyder once when he did a hernia repair on my oldest son. We briefly discussed weight loss surgery. At that point it was not covered by insurance and I could never pay for it. Years passed and one day I was at my primary care Doc’s office. We were going over my latest test results. I was on 12 pills a day and had 3 major co-morbidity factors. He asked me to see Dr Snyder about WLS. I had to change insurance companies and fight for a year but I managed to get insurance to cover the procedure that I think saved my life.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Let it begin
My journey may be just like everyone else's, maybe ... probably. I could go all the way back to childhood and the horrible head trips I laid on myself with the help of other children but I imagine anyone reading this would understand that one. Instead I will fast forward to adulthood and how that entire thing snowballed out of control.
When I graduated high school I was already seeing the warning signs that I had no way of controlling the monster inside. I would pick up massive amounts of weight in very short periods of time. I was eating the exact same diet that my forever thin brother never gained an ounce on. I am talking 15 pounds plus in a week. I Loved food. I really did. Since I was a little baby everything that was love and family was deeply rooted in food. Combine that with the fact that the regional cusine of the Texas panhandle was horrible health wise. I had moved to Colorado at 12 and I think that people from here fought some demons too but people my mothers idea of health food was fried liver and onions. The fact that I hated liver and onions made that misleading fact believeable to me. I was to be forever stuck in a loop that everything "healthy" would and had to .. SUCK. I avioded healthy choices like a deadly desease. After all not only did healthful foods suck I would also have to deal with the fact that I was over weight and that I could not do. I avoided mirrors and the size tags on my clothing. I Piled second and third helping of all my meals on my plate with abandon. Mashed potatos and gravy, fried potatos and onions, baked potatos with 1/4 stick of margarine (health food) and 1/4 cup of sour cream were my main loves. I am also amazed at the fact that all otherwise healthy veggies had to be fried, drowned in bacon fat or drenched in a creamy cheese sauce. After all to not do so made them healthy and healthy food sucked. In Texas any food that is not fried must be smoked low and slow and bathed in sugar laiden bar-b-que sauce. I would drench everything with salt and call it good. I lothed any form of exercise, but still concidered myself an athlete because to be otherwise was anti American or something. That was a recipie for disaster.
I stalled my complete ruin by enlisting in the Army. I managed to keep a dangerous handle on the monster do completely to the vast amount of physical activity that I was forced into by Uncle Sam's Army. I hated the exercize but I had no choice so I managed to forstall the avalanche. I also noticed that the Army diet was also horrible but it was so differant that didnt eat nearly as much of it. I saw the truth coming every time I came home on leave. I would pickup 30 pounds in three weeks like clockwork. I hated Army life but I came to avoid leave because it would mean 2 to 3 months of remedial physicle trainning and the ire of my first sargent. Then it happened. I was honorably discharged. I returned to Colorado. I had a ball. I loved my new Army free life. No P.T. no early wakeup, no accountability for my weight. I never listened to my body. Refused to ever see what was comming. I was in the middle of a perfect storm and didnt even know it.
When I graduated high school I was already seeing the warning signs that I had no way of controlling the monster inside. I would pick up massive amounts of weight in very short periods of time. I was eating the exact same diet that my forever thin brother never gained an ounce on. I am talking 15 pounds plus in a week. I Loved food. I really did. Since I was a little baby everything that was love and family was deeply rooted in food. Combine that with the fact that the regional cusine of the Texas panhandle was horrible health wise. I had moved to Colorado at 12 and I think that people from here fought some demons too but people my mothers idea of health food was fried liver and onions. The fact that I hated liver and onions made that misleading fact believeable to me. I was to be forever stuck in a loop that everything "healthy" would and had to .. SUCK. I avioded healthy choices like a deadly desease. After all not only did healthful foods suck I would also have to deal with the fact that I was over weight and that I could not do. I avoided mirrors and the size tags on my clothing. I Piled second and third helping of all my meals on my plate with abandon. Mashed potatos and gravy, fried potatos and onions, baked potatos with 1/4 stick of margarine (health food) and 1/4 cup of sour cream were my main loves. I am also amazed at the fact that all otherwise healthy veggies had to be fried, drowned in bacon fat or drenched in a creamy cheese sauce. After all to not do so made them healthy and healthy food sucked. In Texas any food that is not fried must be smoked low and slow and bathed in sugar laiden bar-b-que sauce. I would drench everything with salt and call it good. I lothed any form of exercise, but still concidered myself an athlete because to be otherwise was anti American or something. That was a recipie for disaster.
I stalled my complete ruin by enlisting in the Army. I managed to keep a dangerous handle on the monster do completely to the vast amount of physical activity that I was forced into by Uncle Sam's Army. I hated the exercize but I had no choice so I managed to forstall the avalanche. I also noticed that the Army diet was also horrible but it was so differant that didnt eat nearly as much of it. I saw the truth coming every time I came home on leave. I would pickup 30 pounds in three weeks like clockwork. I hated Army life but I came to avoid leave because it would mean 2 to 3 months of remedial physicle trainning and the ire of my first sargent. Then it happened. I was honorably discharged. I returned to Colorado. I had a ball. I loved my new Army free life. No P.T. no early wakeup, no accountability for my weight. I never listened to my body. Refused to ever see what was comming. I was in the middle of a perfect storm and didnt even know it.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Time to share
In the time since my Gastric Bypass March 3, 2009 I as you might guess spent the majority of my time adjusting to all of the changes. Some of the things that I have experienced were expected and I was ready for them. Other things were a little bit of a surprise. I will say that all in all I have been thankful for the new life I have.
I weighed 328 pounds at my highest point. I struggled my entire life with weight. Not just the scale demon either. I believed that I was heavy even when I wasn't. I think that there are a lot of people out there that fight this war. I have talked to lots to wonderful people about their own struggles and there do seem to be a few common threads that beat us all into submission and help lead us into our personal version of obese hell.
I think that the first thing I am going to do is break these items down into smaller pieces that will allow for a close look at them and just maybe in the process I can get my head around the problem. I also intend to celebrate my success. This is a journey not an instant trip so I will be writing that way.
I weighed 328 pounds at my highest point. I struggled my entire life with weight. Not just the scale demon either. I believed that I was heavy even when I wasn't. I think that there are a lot of people out there that fight this war. I have talked to lots to wonderful people about their own struggles and there do seem to be a few common threads that beat us all into submission and help lead us into our personal version of obese hell.
I think that the first thing I am going to do is break these items down into smaller pieces that will allow for a close look at them and just maybe in the process I can get my head around the problem. I also intend to celebrate my success. This is a journey not an instant trip so I will be writing that way.
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