Sunday Morning Ramblings

Here I sit once again in a quiet household. I'm the first one to recover from a losing battle with that dreaded Sandman last night and I'm up watching something on HBO and collecting my thoughts for the day.

We had a pretty good day yesterday at Jonny's Birthday Party. I would say that he had himself a very good day when it comes to presents, you can tell that this little boy is very much loved by a very large family. Jon and Laura did a great job of hosting and organizing yesterday's festivities.

Since we traveled yesterday, today is going to be pretty boring, grocery shopping this morning as well as our weekly laundry that we fell a little behind, but it's still very manageable.

I am officially restarting my diet and blood glucose monitoring again today. My last A1C wasn't anything to brag about and my blood sugars have not exactly been healthy. I lost 105 pounds and then but about 50 of it back on since Michelle's surgery, and that has thrown my blood sugars out of whack. I'm officially documenting everything once again as of today (I basically stopped after Michelle had her surgery). Goodbye excess Carbohydrates, it's been fun.

Have a great day.

Michelle's Surgery

Today my beautiful wife will be having a life altering surgery. She will be having a gastric bypass surgery early this morning and we will be at the hospital at 5:00 AM to report in.

This has been a long journey for the both of us and she is choosing to finish the journey where I have chosen a different path. With so much success just changing my eating habits, I've opted out of the surgery and she is seeing this all the way through.

I'll try keep all appropriate people updated as to her condition and how her surgery is going.

Please keep my lovely wife in your thoughts and prayers today as she has this procedure done.

I can't say how much I love her and how much that am proud of her, she is my rock and my inspiration.  She has a great support group behind her as her Sister and Brother in Law have had a lot of success with this procedure. Her Mother and Sister Danni will here here as well as me and her Sister Chris.

Keep us in your prayers today.

Traveling Kind of Day

Here I sit once again in a quiet household, I'm the first one to recover from a losing battle with that dreaded Sandman and I'm watching Reel Steel on FX and collecting my thoughts for the day.

We have decided to make this a travel day and we are heading to Moundsville, West Virginia to visit and tour the Penitentiary. We were there last year and decided that we were going to return this year, but it's not until today that we actually making it back. It's a facility that I have always wanted to tour, as I had an Aunt and Uncle who lived just a few blocks down the road.

There are a couple of other places we are talking about visiting today, one is going to be Cabelas where we are going to stop and see what kind of spices and casings they have for making sausage. I bought a meat grinder and sausage stuffer attachments for the Kitchen Aid last weekend we are looking for a few supplies and tips to be able to use it.

A trip to that area would never be complete without a stop by Dicarlo Pizza, but I think I'll limit it to a slice or two rather than half of a pizza. I'm doing good on my weight loss and don't want to get off track.

Speaking of my weight loss, since May 22nd I'm down 83.7 lbs and I'm down 98.7 lbs since Christmas. I've still got a way to go, but I'm still focused despite my intention to enjoy myself with a little bit of pizza this afternoon. Just for the record, my BMI when I went to my first diet class in May was 43.51 and today it is 31.84. What has this done for me? My A1C in June was 10.4 and I was on 92 units of insulin. My A1C earlier this week was 5.4 (5 whole points drop in a few months and eliminated insulin completely with no other meds). I'm getting there, I'm just not there as of yet, but I'm getting there. I think I can spare a slice or two of pizza today. =)

Have a great day.

Labor Day Monday

Ah yes, these are the kind of Monday's that I enjoy, ones where I still am getting paid but don't have to be at work. Our weekend extends one more day today as Michelle and I both enjoy the National Holiday Labor Day.

I'm still up around my normal time (yes this is a live rather than pre-written blog) and watching a little bit of the boob tube.Trouble with the Curve is on and I'm trying to get a handle on what we're going to do today.

I know we are going to smoke a roast this afternoon, and we're probably going to be going to Walmart this morning to get some things are going to need for the cruise (sun tan lotion, memory cards, etc). We're going to block off our old bedroom today to any cats and start packing for our vacation. It's never too early and this gives us a few days to make sure that we take what we want to take with us. We want to have that done by Wednesday Night.

Thursday this week we have our fifth of six dietitians meetings as a pre-requisite for Gastric Bypass surgery. So far since May 22 when I had my official weigh in I have lost 72.3 lbs and I'm down 87 lbs since Christmas. I am now actually within 10 lbs of the high end of the target weight range the Gastric Bypass team determined I would be one year after surgery. Needless to say, there is about a 99% chance that I will not have the surgery as this is the general consensus of off the Dr's I have had to go through to get approved for this surgery. It is not a diet, it is a Lifestyle change so there will be continued results hopefully the rest of my life. I set a personal weight loss goal at my first meeting in May, and according to my loseit ap, I'm probably going to hit that target in Mid-January. I am well above pace of when it initially started, back then it anticipated I would reach 200 lbs (112 lbs from my first official weigh in and 127 lbs from Christmas) by June of 2015, and it's looks like I will get there abut six months sooner. I'm sure it is all going to slow down soon. Next week will be interesting as all the food I could ever want will be presented to me, but we are going to be snorkeling for a couple of days and I can easily burn off 2,000 calories each day of doing that.

Have a great day and enjoy your labor day weekend that has been extended one more day.

Monday Morning

All good things must unfortunately come to an end, and by good things that also means those fun filled things we refer to as weekends. Now it's time to stick our noses back on the grindstone for another fun filled week of work, so we can do the things we like to do on the weekends.

For me, this is my last Monday for a few weeks as I will be off the next three either due to Holiday or vacation that is extended an extra day as we regroup from our cruise. I guess all I have to do is get this week in and to do that we have to go through a Monday.

Looking at my week ahead, there are no Doctors appoints that I have scheduled this week, that's the first in a while for me. I've done everything that I have needed to do other than two more dietitian meetings to fulfill all the obligations on my end to have the gastric Bypass Surgery. To be honest though, I'm down 65 lbs since May 28th and 80 lbs since Christmas, and I am within 15 lbs of being within the high end of the target weight the Dr had set for me one year AFTER surgery. I may be within a few pounds or have reached that by the time I get to my sixth and final dietitian meeting in early October. The odds of me actually going through with this surgery now are getting slimmer and slimmer, especially when I'm doing so without any medical assistance or surgery. I've not been this low in weight in I can't remember when, maybe the early 90's and I've still got a long way to go. There is no finish line, only goals as this is a lifestyle change and not a diet.

The ALS Ice Bucket challenge is amazing in what it can do, it's raised over $70 Million as everyone and their brother are either doing it or donating to it. I can't say I have ever seen a grass roots campaign ever have this much success or be that successful. It's actually quite amazing what it has accomplished.

Hi ho hi ho

Monday Monday

All good things must come to an end, and unfortunately that includes those formerly peaceful things we called weekends. Now it's time for those of us in the working world to put our noses back on the grindstone and do what it is we do for a living. The rest of Morgantown on the other hand is starting their first day of classes today as WVU starts their 2014-5 Academic School year. This is also the first day of school for Mon County Schools as well as Fairmont State University where Chad attends.

Good luck to all the students from Kindergarten to Grad school on their academic endeavors for the now starting school year. I guess I have to say welcome back to all the WVU students. (Traffic GRRRR).

I'm doing a stress test this afternoon at the Heart Institute. Nothing to worry about, I chose to do it since I'm losing weight and am starting to do some serious activity, just a checkup to make sure everything is OK with the ticker. I'll also have to have a Colonoscopy  when we get back from the cruise, but that has nothing to do with planning for weight loss surgery and everything to do with turning 50. Oh the things we get to look forward to when we reach that first half century mark in our lives.

Speaking of weight loss, I'm doing great and am down 59.2 lbs since May 29th and down 74 lbs since Christmas. I still have a couple more meeting scheduled before I can be approved and scheduled for surgery, if I make it that far. My BMI started out at 43.51 in May and is currently 35.25. You have to have a BMI over 35 and at least two contributing factors (diabetes, sleep apnea, bad heart, etc.) or a BMI over 40 to be approved for the surgery. I would say by the time we get back from our cruise, that mine will be well bellow 35. I'm doing this on my own. To all who ask, no I did not join some commercial weight loss program, didn't eat a Subway Sub every day but if you want to pay me to replace Jared I'm willing to say I did and no drugs. It has simply been eating smarter (not really less) and moderate exercise. That's it, no pills, shots, points, membership dues, or any magical product other than doing a little research into how we eat and altering it a little to healthier options (and I only eat salads once a week on Monday).

Looks like rain all week, my guess is FallFest is going to be a big wet T-Shirt contest tonight...LOL

Have a great day.

Hi ho hi ho

Weekend is over, back to work

All good things must come to an end, and unfortunately that includes our fun filled weekends that we work so hard all week to be able to enjoy. Now it's time to head back to the office for another fun filled week of work.

Yesterday turned out to just be a normal relaxing day at home, we got a much later than normal start for grocery shopping and there were a number of chores we had to do around the house. We ended up smoking a pork roast on the grill and watching re-runs of Kitchen Nightmares.

Now it is time to turn our attentions to the next five days ahead before we get invaded by College Students when the dorms open on Friday. I have one Dr's appointment this week as does Michelle and one more meeting with our dietitian. Our insurance requires six meetings prior to surgery and this will be our fourth of our six meetings. I think we have one more prior to us going on our cruise and then one in October and we will have met that requirement. I'm doing very good, down 55 lbs since May 28th and 67 since Christmas. I'm not too far from going completely off of insulin. Hopefully by the end of the week it can be a thing of the past.

Have a great day and week

Hi ho hi ho

Saturday Morning Ramblings Part 3

The creative juices must really be flowing this morning, I have written two blogs for the same low price of free, BUT WAIT, if you read the other two blogs I'll throw in this third blog absolutely free. Yes that is three blogs for the the low low affordable price of nothing.

This Blog is to almost celebrate a Milestone. As I have mentioned to everyone previously I am considering and going through the motions for Gastric Bypass Surgery that may be scheduled for later this year.

Years ago when I had just gotten laid off from Helmick where I was working 60-70 hours a week in a Foundry pouring metal I had a weight that I weighed. Since then my lifestyle had went from totally busy and very physically demanding more of a Sedentary career. Age and lack of activity caused my weight to go up and up and then when I was power lifting a few years ago I was packing on muscle weight before topping the scales at my heaviest weight at 327 pounds.

I had stopped lifting and the muscle went away due to the torn labrums to both arms, first the right and then I kept going and ended up messing up the right shoulder as well. My weight at Christmas this year converted from Muscle to fat and I once again reached that 327 lb mark.

Earlier this spring I had decided to have the Gastric Bypass Surgery and started the long and tedious task of jumping though all of the hoops for the insurance to have this surgery. I had my first of six that I have to have with a dietitian on May 28th. At that meeting I had my first official weigh in of 312 pounds (I'm convinced that switching from regular soda to the soda stream at Christmas has a lot to do with that).

This morning I'm at 261.2, that is a loss of 50.8 pounds in two months and 65.8 pounds lost since Christmas and I am still going.

When I got laid off from Helmick I weighed 260 pounds and came close to flirting with that weight a few years ago when I was eating nothing but salads and walking 5 miles a night after work and brought my weight down to 265 pounds after getting my diabetes under control for the first time.

I was on the maximum oral dosage for Diabetes a couple of years ago and wanted an exit strategy to get off of actos, hence why I spent an hour and a half in the gym, five days a week for a year and a half before injuring myself.

Earlier this year we changed to an injection type of med called Lantus. I started at 10 units a day and was supposed to go up two units if I had two consecutive readings of above 150 in the first reading of the morning. If I had a reading of below 90 at any time in the day I am supposed to drop 2 units. My first dose was on March 13th and my blood sugar at that time was 261. I had my highest reading at 443 on May 4th of this year and rose to a peak of 92 units of Lantus in Early June, that was upping it two units every other day until that point where for the first time it stabilized and my numbers not only dropped below 200 for the first time in who knows when but were below 150 consistently. And when I say below 150 it was the time we started our lifestyle change and my numbers were dropping below 90 on a daily basis meaning I was backing off 2 units of insulin every day.

Today is August 2nd, my reading this morning was 89 meaning I once again drop the amount of insulin I take. I'm now down to 16 units (from 92 2 months ago). My average blood sugars from March was 322.1. it was 335.1 for April and 317.5 for May.

Now the lifestyle change started on May 28th and my average reading for June was 103.9 and 100.5 for July. These are all based on three readings per day (427 total readings as of now) and my average for August (only 4 readings is 94.8).

Now to bring this into perspective your average fasting blood sugars should range between 70-120 for someone who is not diabetic and should go up 30-40 points at it's peak (150-160 range) two hours after eating your largest meal. I do three readings a day, one when I get up in the morning, one before I start to eat dinner and one two hours after dinner which is traditionally my biggest meal.

This has been a lifestyle change, not a diet. I have changed how I eat and not really how much I eat but I do eat in moderation when we go on our weekly Restaurant Visit on Friday night only because I can't control how the food is cooked. I still have a long way to go until I reach my target weight, but that 260 lbs (Helmick weight) is my first major milestone for me. My next one won't be so easy (sub 200 lbs), but I am quite confident I will be abler to reach that milestone by Summer of 2015 either by my own means of lifestyle change or one that is done surgically. I prefer to do so without cutting holes in me, that way I know I will have the own self discipline to maintain it on my own, but it's not a pride thing and I will do so by any means necessary.

I guess I've finally realized at 50 years old, the Pittsburgh Steelers were never going to call on my to anchor their Offensive Line so I might as well lose the weight....LOL

Have a Great Day.

Saturday Morning Rambling

Here I sit once again in the early AM. I'm the first one to recover from a losing battle with that dreaded Sandman last night and I'm up watching a show called Dating Naked on VH1. Strange show to say the least...lol

Since it is looking like it is going to rain all weekend, we really have no plans made for the day. Maybe start to get ready for our Buffett Concert later this week (My niece Valarie and her husband Bobby have just bought tickets to go this year). The tailgate could consist of anywhere from 6-12 people depending on who Gary finds as a date or how Jean is feeling. It'll be Val's first Parrot Head Experience, so I hope it's a good one for her.

My weight loss is going well still. I've lost 43 pounds since my official weigh in in May and about 60 since Christmas. It's been pretty easy and I'm not starving myself, not buying any subscriptions or pills, not using a personal trainer working my butt off, I'm just using an ap on my phone and and watching my caloric intake. I'm honestly not eating any less or missing any meals, but we have just changed the way we eat as I tell everyone who asks how I am doing it. If people are curious, one cup of Pasta is 221 Calories and one cup of baked Spaghetti Squash in 42. I can have 5 cups of Spaghetti Squash that is equal to one cup of regular Spaghetti. Ground Turkey, which we buy in bulk and spice up to taste exactly like Hot Sausage (I love Hot Sausage) one ounce is 45 Calories. One ounce of Hot Sausage is 120 calories or roughly 3 times the calories of just ground turkey. I can't emphasize how low calorie and tasteful Cucumbers are. Like I said, we just changed how we eat more than anything else and to be honest this has been a pretty simple lifestyle change. One egg 80 calories, four egg whites 68 calories.

So much for my dietary ramble on a Saturday morning. It's going to be a rainy day and a rainy weekend, might be a good weekend to just relax and work around the house.

Have a great day.