Broke 300... and Then Stalled!!!

 One of my first real big milestones happened this past week. I crossed out of the 300s into the 200s. It has been a while since I have seen a three digit number starting with a 2. That was a nice momentum booster. Then came the stall I have been dreading. For the past five days I have weighed the exact same amount. I am not letting it get me down, but can't wait to see just a bit of movement downward again soon. 

Despite the fact that the scale hasn't moved, clothes are now feeling looser. I wore a pair of pants to church yesterday that had been borderline too tight that were now on the loose side. A few more weeks and I will probably have to move on down. I have also had a couple of people tell me my face looks thinner. Things are progressing, even when the scale isn't. I can't wait to see what my measurements are at the end of the month. Until then, I will just keep on keeping on. I can't control what the scale says. I can control my diet and how I react to the number that shows up each day. 

SW: 313

CW: 299

Total Lost: 14

Happy July!

 So I haven't typed anything in a few days. It isn't because I haven't had anything to say, but because I have been a bit busy. I continue to stay true to the plan that has been given to me. The great news is that I am not hungry at all most of the time. It is hard to wrap my head around sometimes that I am eating in one day the total calories I would often consume in one meal. It just helps me to know that I don't need that many calories to function. Scale continues to move downward slowly. I am fine with that. 

The upcoming week features the holiday and a couple of trips out of town for me. These will be my first big test to see how I handle this new lifestyle. I just have to remain focused. I continue to keep telling myself that this is only a temporary way of eating. Then I will begin the transition phase. 

If anyone stumbles across this, I wish you a happy 4th of July. 

SW: 313

CW: 302.6

When the Scale Isn't Kind

 I knew the day would come. I was riding high on a great streak this first week. I knew that it was a woosh and the numbers on the scale would start coming back to reality, but I still wasn't mentally prepared for it when I stepped on the scale this morning. After all, I had done really well yesterday... including a nice walk on a greenway trail by the creek with my girlfriend. But, alas, what said 305.0 on Saturday, now said 305.7 this morning. 

Normally, that would get me all sorts of "out of whack" and would lead into eating something to spite the scale (as if it cares what I eat). While I definitely didn't want to see a small uptick, I know that is normal from time to time. Building muscle, retaining water, not having a sufficient bowel movement, and even sometimes when the planets aren't quite in alignment (okay, that one is in jest) all can contribute to small gains on the scale. How I responded this morning and how we should always respond is with a reminder that this journey is not a straight line. It is a curvy, semi-staircase type trip with lots of ups and downs. As a fitness freak friend of mine once said, "If you didn't eat it, you don't own it." 

I have made so much progress already and I am just six days into a very long journey. I have to keep that in perspective as well. 

SW: 313

CW: 305.7

Day Three... OMG...

 The first two days of the program (I started on Monday) were not bad. It had been an adjustment, but it wasn't anything too tough. Yesterday, day three, was a huge exception. I battled a headache all day, I felt exhausted, and I was so hungry even tree bark and wallpaper sounded appetizing. 😂 I hung tough and was able to persevere through the day. 

This morning I woke up and the scale greeted me with a weight of 308.1. I realize this early week is likely a lot of water weight and the initial whoosh of the scale lulling me into that false belief that every day will have a good number, but it was helpful this morning to see that. I also feel much better today. Granted, it is early in day four, but I don't feel as exhausted and I am not battling the headache. Perhaps I have pushed through whatever voodoo that was yesterday and made it through to the other side. 

SW: 313

CW: 308.1

#optifast #weightloss #journey #confidence

Here We Go... and... How Did I Get Here?

 

This blog is going to document my journey as I tackle a medically supervised weight loss plan along with an endocrinologist and dietitian. This blog has a couple of goals: 1) to help me to express myself through writing as I make this journey, and 2) hopefully provide inspiration and/or motivation to others who may feel as hopeless as I have at times. 

Monday morning I weighed in at 313. That is the highest weight I have been at in quite some time, but it isn't the biggest number I have ever seen on the scale. In early 2012, shortly after the passing of my grandfather, I walked by myself in the mirror and was horrified at how I looked. I didn't own a scale and while I had struggled with my weight since youth, until that moment it had never really hit me just how much I had let myself go. I purchased a scale and weighed in at a whopping 375 pounds. I remember vividly seeing that number and I cried. Not just a few tears... I am talking full on meltdown sobbing and weeping uncontrollably. It was then I knew I had to do something. My answer was Nutrisystem. 

For a period of about 4 years, I worked (mainly successfully... with some periods of not as strong compliance as I should have) and found myself down to 259.3 pounds at my lowest. I was feeling great and nothing was going to derail my progress --- or so I thought. It was early 2016, while I was driving to a conference, that I experienced the worst chest pain in my life. I thought I was having a heart attack and so I rushed as quickly as I could to the nearest emergency room. Thankfully, my heart was fine, but the diagnosis I would eventually receive has changed my life. 

After a series of additional ER visits while waiting to see a specialist, I finally received a diagnosis by my gastroenterologist of eosinophilic esophagitis. I will spare you a lot of the details here, but the brief summary is that my esophagus had decided that some of the foods I was ingesting (along with other environmental allergens) were harmful to me and caused inflammation of my esophagus. For many, it causes strictures and the narrowing of the esophagus. For me, it was basically these terrible "jackhammer spasms" that only Benadryl would tame. Then, after it subsided, would leave me weak and defeated. 

Over a series of several years, I have come to learn most of what foods my esophagus has decided are a "no go," and that includes fish, peanuts, peas, eggs, and green beans... among others. Because I didn't feel well during this whole process, I turned to comfort foods that I could eat and began slowly packing on the pounds. 

That brings me to where I am now. After consulting with my primary care physician about my weight, I was referred to an endocrinologist and dietitian who work together on a very low calorie diet to help people lose weight and gain quality of life back. We had discussed weight loss medications and even surgery, but I decided I was going to give this a legitimate try before we went those routes. 

I began my journey bright and early Monday morning. For the next several (number not set yet) weeks, I will be consuming Optifast shakes (the bars are out for me because I have esophageal reactions) exclusively to jump start my weight loss journey. I will drive an hour once a week to be seen by the specialist and the dietitian. This will be a major commitment, but one I am ready to make. 

I will be blogging about my "highs" and my "lows" on journey and documenting my progress along the way. I am determined to make this work and I look forward to sharing my insights along the way. 

So, here we go... time to scale this mountain. No looking back. 

#optifast #eoe #weightloss #obesity