findinglean.com

So you will see below my picture isn’t the normal one…it’s a hint at what I’m doing for Halloween, though I may very likely need to get some help with my makeup. Pictures will come in October I promise but no hints before hand.

Oh and in other news I’ve officially lost more than 200 pounds! And the timing is perfect since my 6 month follow-up in Nashville as this Thursday. Now I’ve not lost 200 pounds in 6 months I’ve lost that in just under one year though. Since my surgery in April I’ve lost just shy of 130 pounds which is completely amazing. I know I have a long road of weigh loss ahead…especially as the loss slows down but I’m am confident in my diligence to keep it up.

So while this isn’t a big update in terms of the volume of news at hand it most certainly is a big update BIG update in terms of weight gone!

~rev (354 pounds)

I have way to much to say in a written entry…so watch this video instead. I’m sorry for the fuzzy video as I completely missed my floor mark after setting the depth of field on the 20mm lens.

Also I’m still looking for that dragon con footage…when I find it I will push the link here so come back later! Also (and maybe I’m just paranoid) but while editing I swear I noticed some grey hair dammit! Oh and I should have shaved…meh…

And if you want a little behind the scenes check this out for the first two minutes of footage to hit the cutting room floor. The rest however is gone…That video is posted over @ facebook.com/stephenrea

~rev (358 pounds)

It’s been a bit since my last post and I am working on putting a new video up soon as well, but sometimes life gets in the way and you end up busier than you expected. And in my case you add to that busy by working on a new project but more about that later in the post.

First off I’d like to talk about something I started doing recently that I’d honestly never thought I’d do. I joined a tanning place and have started tanning once a week (have been twice now) as a result of a conversation with (of all people) my dermatologist. I have psoriasis and sunlight is the best thing for me but a tanning bed is a good alternative and while my goal is over all skin health and not a good tan I’ve noticed color in just two visits and I’ve noticed my plaques are fading away. Now part of the reason for the psoriasis change for the better is I’ve also started taking Enbrel which is an injectable medication that has also been helping with my psoriatic arthritis as well as my visible psoriasis. So all in all I’m looking better and feeling better…and as it turns out on my way to a pretty good tan of all things.

Moving on but keeping with general health I am happy to say that my tendon issue with my left ankle (Achilles) is pretty much better now and I’ve started walking again and additionally I’ve started a once a month massage regiment (tomorrow is my next one) and that has really helped out with my lower back pain. In fact speaking for someone who was on 90 mg of Morphine a day less than a year ago even…I’m down to 30mg and thinking that pretty soon I may be able to drop to a lower end (less narcotic) pain killer all together as I both build strength in my back muscles and continue to lose the weight.

I’ve started cooking again as I mentioned in one of my last updates and while also working around the house digging through boxes I found this cookbook that a friend and former employer gave me several years ago. Needless to say I’m going to enjoy trying some of these recipes again. So far I’ve been fairly lucky with what I’ve been able to eat.

I just had moment of pause and remembered by it’s a bad idea to take so long to write a new post…I’m still not done talking about health and fitness.

Now to my sleeping issues. As I’ve mentioned previously I have, as most if not all obese people do, sleep apnea (obstructive) and in my case mine was so bad when I was tested 2 years ago that not only am I using a BiPAP (assisted inhale and exhale) to sleep with but I also am on 4 liters of Oxygen when sleeping. Recently I had my pressure reduced somewhat and last night I slept with a logging pulse oximeter to check my O2 levels while sleeping without the added 4 liters of 02 and while I’m not the doctor I did look at the machine this morning and I’m thinking I may be off my nightly O2 all together based on what I saw. I’ll know for sure later this week and will update for sure.

One last note. I’m taking a short vacation to go see my sister (brother-in-law) and their kids next week and on my way I’ll be stopping in Nashville to attend a support group meeting on Wednesday. If you are thinking of having or have already had bariatric surgery don’t just go to the one mandated support group meeting….go as often as you can. I can say for me they have helped quite a bit.

Enjoy the week and hopefully I’ll see you sooner next time…oh I almost forgot. That “other project” I’ve been working on. I’m starting a new podcast over @ thatstupidpodcast.com and while I can’t tell you what it’s about it starts in 2 weeks if all goes according to plan. Are you ready?

~rev (384 Pounds)

That’s right. This morning I weighed in at 396 (See what I did there?) so now down 159 pounds I’ve left the 400s behind and hopefully soon the 300’s will follow suit. So what does that amount of weight loss translate into terms of size? Well I’ve lost somewhere in the neighborhood of 18 inches off my waist line and my belt that was too small for me is now about to have its 3rd new hold added to keep up with me.

While I have slowed down substantially in the weight loss department it is still moving in the right direction though not everything is. It turns out I have a slight tear in my Achilles Tendon (sp) because my 2 miles a day was maybe a little too much so for now I’m taking it easy and icing it down till my doctor lets me know what I can do to fix the issue. Also I’m not stopping all exercise, just not pushing off so much so for now I’ll just have to be careful.

In other news I baked salmon for the first time since surgery and thankfully I still liked it, because you never know how you will react to some foods. This particular salmon wasn’t that great (quality) but was good enough to enjoy. The only problem is with my restrictive intake it will take a few days to finish the smallest salmon steak I could even find. I hope the leftovers as also good because you never know.

~rev (396 Pounds)

Not much to say…just watch the video. But I did want to mention one quick thing. Sugar-free popsicles are the business. Oh and Falling Skies Premiers tonight! Summer TV is the reason my treadmill is near the television.

~rev (403 Pounds)

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.

But 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)

That’s right. The internet isn’t just for porn and cat videos…turns out  anyone 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.

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)