Archive for May, 2013

Struggling…but still losing….which is a good thing?

Posted in Health, Miscellaneous, Weigh-In | 1 Comment

Okay now that I have both your attention and your confusion let me explain. Firstly I wanted to talk about some of the struggles I’ve been having with eating as I find myself still dealing with issues of food volume…in other words I’m still grabbing too much food from the kitchen and I’m still eating too much though by normal standards I’m not eating that much. But I wanted to share this issue because I’ve talked to other people one or even two or more years post-op that still from time to time with eating too fast or too much or both in some cases and it was nice to know that this is normal.

imageBut I am still losing and that is a good thing. I’m down another 6 pounds since my last entry so al in all even with the struggles I’m doing well. I’ve also found I need to buy more beef jerky. While it may not be the best food around it is high in protein and when days like yesterday happen it allows me to work through lunch. The brand that seems to be the best for me so far has been Jack Link (you know the one with the stupid bigfoot commercials). They are also very low in fat (usually 1g) so you can eat a whole (small) bag sometimes…which is around 3 ounces…though you may find like I do it’s often too much so you can save the rest for later.

So I guess all in all I’m still on a good path, but I ‘am getting busier and busier at work, and now with adding physical therapy to the mix twice weekly and all the home exercise (which as far as I can tell is yoga ) I’ve not been able to find time to blog much. But I’ll try and do a little better than once a week. Look for vlog number 2 later this week.

That leaves us with one final bit to cover….well rather a request of sorts. I’d like to know what you all want to see on this blog. Let me know on facebook.com/stephenrea or in the comments below. I’ve been toying with a few different ideas of adding semi-regular editions to the site but don’t want to alter your thoughts so I won’t share them just yet. I’d like to hear from you, not just those who have had or are having the surgery, but anyone really.

 

~rev (412 Pounds)

image

Blog or Vlog?

Posted in Health, News, vlog, Weigh-In | 6 Comments

That’s right. The internet isn’t just for porn and cat videos…turns out  anyoneimage can put crap out there. So over the last few days I’ve been thinking I might start doing a video blog and I wanted your thoughts. Should I do video at all? Should I do video sometimes but still write entries too? Should I use Video for a portion of the entry but have the rest in text? Below you will find an example of what my VLOG might look like. I took this in my breakfast nook where I’ve been taking my weight loss pictures in my signature but I would move around and do them elsewhere, again this is just an idea.

 

To vlog or not to vlog….

 

So what do you think? Leave a comment her or over on youtube or shoot me an email….or find me walking around Knoxville and yell at me from a passing car..you know whatever works for you. 🙂

 

~rev (419 Pounds)

image

Time to start physical therapy….

Posted in Health, News, Personal | 1 Comment

…and that’s a good thing. So It’s been about a week (though seems like a month) since I posted anything and I wanted to get some updates out there. I’m down a few more pounds and with each day I’m gaining more and more mobility. Just the other day I managed to go grocery shopping without the use of the motorized cart, and not just to pick up a few items. I was in the store walking around for about an hour with no trouble at all.

But with improved mobility comes sciatic pain and now that I’ve lost some weight I think I’m at a place where physical therapy will actually do me some good, so tomorrow afternoon I have my first appointment and with that I hope to get to a place soon where I’m riding my bike on a regular (or semi-regular) basis as well as just getting out more and more.

So from weight loss and exercise to food and eating habits. I realized I need to listen to my body more because I wasn’t eating enough (something I still Image4find hard to comprehend) and as a result wasn’t losing weight that well so I’ve started supplementing my diet with Pure Protein Shakes which some in a few flavors. Vanilla and Chocolate which are both good actually, then strawberry which was tolerable but will never be purchased again and finally cookie’s and cream which was so awful I couldn’t finish one 11oz can. I’ve also started eating more solid meet type foods and yesterday was my first steak (top sirloin) since having surgery and it was really very good…so much so I had the rest of it for lunch today.

I’ve found a few decent protein supplement bars as well (also Pure Protein) and as a result I’ve been able to eat a spinach salad with red bell peppers and cucumber and not worry about being able to get all my protein in for the day. Now the shakes and bars are not cheap (average a couple bucks per bar) but in the end its still less money than I used to spend eating out, even when combined with my grocery bill.

imageMoving this rambling post right along with little to no logical transition…my pants…yes pants. I wrote recently that I’m finding new (old) sets of clothes as I’d never thrown anything away but I wanted to mention that while that’s true it’s still rather amazing to me how fast I’m dropping inches…take the pants in this photo for example. They were too small for me just a month or so ago and now…they are almost too big. I know I’m still big and have a long road ahead but being too small for these pants already when just 5 short weeks ago they didn’t even fit me is one hell of a motivator to stay positive and keep moving.

And finally…I’m just doing more. I drove myself to Nashville recently and I’ll be doing it again in a few weeks to see Star trek with a friend of mine at the 3D IMAX. I’m making plans to drive up to my sister’s house to visit for a long weekend and I’m also trying to work a trip to Chicago in at some point this year to get a pin-up girl style tattoo from Hannah Aitchison. (If I can get her). And I am also looking to plan a trip out west to stay with a friend of mine in Arizona next winter (won’t do summer there willingly).

And there you have it…a not so short bumbling post to put things out there for what’s been going on…I’ve been rather busy with work so writing these posts has been pushed on the back burner, and while I wont likely write every day I will try to do more than one a weekish.

 

~rev (424 Pounds)

image