2 Month Post-Op

Nice to start the week with some good news...OFFICIALLY in the 270s!

277 pounds

Yes! I've lost 75 pounds since I had my VSG two months ago.  From a 4X shirt to 2X and 54 pants to 46. I'm feeling so much better physically and emotionally. I used to suffer emotional eating and just eat whenever I'm having a bad day but now I just go to the gym and walk, it makes me feel better about myself. I'm off medications and packed them all away!

Goodbye meds!

 Progress photos

I can now eat regular food but I watch my caloric intake and make sure I meet my daily nutritional needs. I drink at least 64 ounces of liquid a day to hydrate and replace fluid I lost from my work out. No more sweets and soda and I limit my carb intake. I average 5.5 miles walking on the treadmill everyday but sometimes when I had to work during the day and I don't make it to the gym on time at night, I just walk with my wife and kids around the block. Don't worry we bring a stroller with us and not let the kids walk for miles but they can walk if they want to. Just ordered a stationary bike so I can do some of my work outs at home, can't wait to get it delivered. 

God bless,

Joe

On Medications

This week was a milestone, this is the lowest my sugar has ever been since I started testing my sugar. Finally, my blood sugar levels are in the normal range without any medication.

A normal blood sugar level (2 hours after eating) is less than 140 mg/dL. 

I used to take 100 units of Lantus insulin in the morning and 100 units at night and Novolog insulin 20-30 units after a meal everyday beside the other medications that I take. This how a spot in our fridge used to look like, all my insulin boxes and syringe all lined up in one corner. 

Now I don't need to take insulin anymore, packed them all away and I replaced them with protein shakes for my daily nutritional needs.

The last of my needles, no more pokes!

So thankful God blessed me with a wonderful wife. She is my biggest supporter, helps me prepare all my meals and measures them out. She is always there to encourage me and is more excited about me buying new clothes than I am.  She is with me 100% through all the doctor's appointments, she even kept me awake during the boring classes, doing paper works for insurance, my actual surgery and recovery.  She is with me every step of the way, not just for my surgery but life in general. Thank you Jewel, I love you!

Thank you everyone for following my blog and for reading all my updates.

God bless!

PS. My daughter wants to say hi to everyone

1 Month Post Op

Been a month since I had my surgery and I can definitely say everything is going a lot better than it used to. No more medications, no more guzzling water, no more shortness of breath, and no more hunger all the time. It's not easy but I am motivated to lose the weight and be healthy. Doing a lot of walking on the threadmill, I do a mile and a half a day, 5 days a week.  I hit a plateau on the third week (which is common after a weight loss surgery) and got really upset since I was weighing myself multiple times a day so I decided to just weigh myself once a month. Sorry to let you all know that I don't have an update on my actual weight but I have pictures to show you some improvement.  I had to drill another hole on my belt since it is already too big on me, I definitely lost inches. 

 Here are some before and now photos of me. I asked my 4 year old son what the difference is between the photo on the left and the photo on the right. He was telling all the stuff about the color of the shirt is different, the belt is not showing, the one arm is not showing, the hair is lighter etc. So finally he got to the weight and he said "the one belly is big and full and the other one is small!" It was really good to hear that coming from my son and he added "the one is mad and the other one is happy", that is true for sure, I am a lot happier now than I used to.

Here's another comparison from side view

It's a lot of work but seeing the difference keeps me going. I started a food journal (My Fitness Pal) to track my food and calorie intake everyday. I measure my meals and count my water intake, count calories I burned with physical activity. Right after surgery I could only do 1.7 mph on the threadmill with no incline and I could only do 20 minutes. Now I'm up to 2.5 mph and incline set on 10 and can do at least 45 minutes which is around 500 calories burned. As for my meals I can eat up to 4 ounces of soft foods and no more sweets. Here's my daily nutritional needs:

Fluid - at least 64 oz (no soda and caffeine)
Protein - 80g
Carbohydrates - 30g
Calories - 800
Fat - 13g
Sometimes it is still hard to get all my nutrition since I don't feel hungy/thirsty and keeping a food journal really helps track how much more I need.
Weight loss is not just a change in eating but a change in lifestyle.

Thanks for following my updates, hope you all have a good week!
Joe

Progress Photo

Just want to share a photo of me taken 3 months apart. Can you see the difference? 

Hit My First Weight Loss Goal (3 Week Post-Op)

Since my freshman year in Highschool I've always been in the 300s and no matter what kind of dieting I did (Weight Watchers, Atkins, Slim Fast, South Beach, you name it) I would just get in the low 300s but never pass under 300. My first short-term goal for my weight loss is to be under 300 lbs. Today, after 17 long years, is a big milestone for me.

I did it! I hit my first goal. I can say I'm officially not a 300 pounder anymore.  I actually had a stall which is common on the 3rd week after surgery and I was stuck at 300 even for 4 days. I know you're not supposed to weigh yourself everyday but I was just too excited to get to my goal I was rushing to find out. 

Also been doing good with recovery from my surgery, I started going to the gym to do a 30-minute walk on the threadmill three times last week. As for my diet, I'm done with the full liquids and now am able to eat soft/mushy foods like mashed potatoes, ground meats, mashed vegetables, tuna in water, soft cheese and can do 3oz at a time now. Liquid intake is at least 64 oz a day as to not get dehydrated. 

I got to see my surgeon last week for my 2 week post-op and he is really happy about my weight loss and recovery. I have not taken any medications since last week since I do not need them anymore and my sugar levels are now controlled. Also my belt is already too loose so I tried to punch a new hole through and it was such a project so I just used a drill and it's so much easier.

Total Weight Loss: 
55 lbs