ertlandia

To keep myself motivated I set outlandish goals. Before I could finish a 20 mile bike ride I registered to do a 100 mile charity ride. I knew that I would have to push myself to get to that point. I am also a strong self motivator I lift alone, bike alone and run alone. I challenge my self to get a better time per mile, go longer distances push more weight. I use a heart rate monitor and the digifit program to track my stats. I have progressed to being able to complete up to 66miles on the bike in a single day. When I feel like I want to quit I have a picture from right before I was diagnosed with Diabetes that I keep on my phone, I look at that and know I don't want to go backwards. It drives me to keep moving forward to become a better, healthier, stronger version of myself.

I start out first thing in the morning with sit-ups crunches and push ups. I use a decline sit-up bench and have started adding weights. I do this 6 to 7 days a week. I am working on getting my jump rope skills up and adding that to my mornings.

that is awesome. way to go. That is an amazing feeling

@lovetodeath I have been told that I look like opie, a total stranger walked up to me on the street and said I did. It felt pretty awesome. thank you @dafierce1 thank you. anything is possible. I have far exceeded anything I thought was possible. @chelenka I will be checking out that book. thanks nothing like a good book @getlownurse I will have to admit I blushed a little when i ready your post. Not something I can say I have heard in the past very often. Thanks @lifetimelooser so i read your post and started laughing outloud, i'm wearing a batman shirt as I write this @Phoenixthediva, @jumperthebean,@??2013, @veronica75 Thanks

awesome job

Thank you all. So far it has been an amazing journey. I am so happy that I did it. @thetattooedlady the beard..., the beard will never go away. @nursepez Hiking is one of the two activities that I do now to "get away from the stress of the world" I have covered from indiantown gap area down to michauex. Once I get all of PA done I will try and get the entire trail under my belt. It will take me awhile, but I will do it.

thanks everyone. I have been following post on the forum since I started the process. If the story of my success up to this point helps one person I will be happy. @Aries riding my bike has been the greatest thing assisting me. Not only have I saved a ton of money on gas I feel amazing afterwards. I do not ride any longer for just exercise, I find in therapeutic.

At my largest updated pic ohhhhh ahhhh side by side current 213.5 and day after surgery 380 I have always been heavy. When I was a kid playing little league football I had to play with kids 3 to 4 years older than myself to "make weight" This was the start of my struggle with my weight. When I got to Jr High I started power lifting and did that for a few years. I quit while in high school to get a job. It was at that point I started to pack on weight. I was used to consuming a large amount of calories for my physical activity and never scaled it back down after i quit. I quickly balloon up to 300lbs after graduating and getting a desk job. Fast forward to November of 2011. I was diagnosed with diabetes. I weight 442lbs at the appointment. I still remember that day vividly. Its funny how you can remember the details of major events like that. I was in denial. I left the Doctors office and went to a philly cheese steak place and consumed a meal that consisted of 3500 calories. the entire time thinking to myself, "thats bullshit, I don't have diabetes, my liver function can't be at 60 some odd percent.". It took me a day to process everything and come to terms with it. It was then that I decided to pursue the option of WLS. I made and appointment with a local surgeon. I started the pre-surgery diet before I even meet with the nut. I did that with the help of the diabetic education system that the local hospital has. Leading up the the surgery the process was took 6 months because of insurance requirements. My surgery was August 17th. During my stay at the hospital all I can remember were the apologies for not having a bed long enough for my 6'3" frame. It was only about 2 days until I really wanted to get up and start doing stuff. I did not become very active due to the doctors warnings to take it easy. The only issues with the post surgery diet that I had were issues with food intolerances. No eggs or turkey, kind of saddening but lift goes on. At my first check up on talked with the doctor about when I could start exercising. He gave me a date that I would be cleared to go. I called some of my buddies and we setup a time to go for a hike on the Appalachian trail. My first real exercise was an 8 mike hike on the trail. I was beat and went home and slept for like 12 hours. I didn't slow down there. We started hiking every Saturday. We have covered about 1/3 of the Trail in the state of PA, multiple times over. I set a goal to get down to 100lbs below what I started and I would buy a bike. When I hit that goal November of 2012 I went out and bought a nice mountain bike. When I started riding the bike I would park at a friends house about 4 miles, direct route to work, and ride in. I would get between 8 to 10 miles a day. This went on for about a week. As my friends put it I went a little crazy one saturday on my way home. My house is 14.6 miles from work I rode the entire way home after riding for a week. That was the start of my commuting via bike to and from work. I started out getting 30 miles a day. I kept going riding 4 to 5 times a week. When the weather started to get snowy and really cold that slowed down and I joined a gym. I set another goal, Complete a 100 mile ride for charity with in a year of my surgery date. I registered for the JDRF Ride for a cure, sold my Mountain bike and picked up a road bike. Starting out I was only able to get up to a speed of about 8 to 12 mph through my rides. I started taking the long way to work getting an average of 28 to 32 miles one way. After weeks of working on my speed I have gotten up to a constant 15 to 17 mph peaking with sprints into the high 20's. At 9 months post op I am at 214 lbs a loss of 228 lbs total 174 in the 9months post surgery. I am no longer on diabetes meds and riding 60+ miles on the days I ride. I still hike and trail run. I have taken up yoga strength training and will be giving cross fit a try. The surgery has given me the tools to be as active as I wanted to be. I am not healthier than I have ever been. I have started running group rides for friends that want to get out and cycle to loose weight. I, for the first time ever, was called a role model. the morning before surgery and few weeks ago(will take a new pick I have dropped 15 or 20 lbs since that was taken)[/font]

hill climbs on the bike or mountain biking - gets a solid dose of static-x or mudvayne

Typically my usage of the gels was only on days of over 35 to 40 miles. That seems to be the mark were my body just says "i don't have any more go". On most ride days I try to get at least 30% more Protein in. If the maf doesn't fit the bill I will check out pocket fuel. There is a store that sells them locally, according to the store locator. Thanks 1000 times over Butter

Thanks I will check that out.

One of the goals that I set for myself was to complete a century ride for charity this year. I have registered for one and have started training for it. I am currently 7 months post op and only able to get 1200 to 1300 calories in with out using gel paks and the like. I have an appointment with my nutritionist in 2 weeks but I was wondering what others were doing intake wise during long rides?

awesome. keep it up

I had a hard time sleeping due to nerves. I was scared up to the point of them taking me back to the or. I was constantly trying to think of a reason to leave, because i am scared of hospitals. However it was the best decision I have ever made. hold in there everything will be a-o-k

awesome, keep it up

I have cracked the 200lbs total loss mark. When i found out i had type 2 diabetes I weight 442 lbs. 2 months later I started the process of going through the pre-requisites for surgery. I am Now down to 239lbs. first image 400ishlbs last March second 250lbs January

Sleeved on august 17th. Since surgery I am down 136 lbs, since the start of the process I am down 190 lbs on the dot. I have picked up a bike and until the recent snows was riding to work 35 to 50 miles a day, 4 days a week. I also registered to do the JDRF Ride to Cure Diabetes. The ride is at the end of July and I am going to attempt to do the full 100 miles. I just need to try and rustle up donations until then. (Link to Donation page) add me on facebook

add me ertlandia, sleeved august 17th

My surgery was August 17th. I did really well with everything i tried during the 2 liquid stages. During the soft food stage it seemed as though i am now unable to get eggs down. They make me sick, scrambled, omelets, cooked hard, hard boiled doesn't matter. toward the end soft food stage I got sick with a serious head cold. Now that I am on the "full diet" I have had crab cakes, Baked chicken, tuna cakes, and a couple of veggies that went down well. On the other hand Turkey not so much. I did very well with shredded turkey made into turkey salad, but whole turkey breast or ground turkey do not settle well. In fact this evening I tried a turkey burger and threw up for the first time post op(not related to my super cold) In an attempt to make sure i get all of my Protein in my daily intake goes like this breakfast: Protein shake made with milk Lunch: attempt to try something new solid food Dinner: protein shake made with milk

For the first few days i kept trying to move myself using my ab muscles because of it being natural, just have to watch that. About the 5th day after my surgery it was like a switch was flipped and my mid section didn't hurt, unless my dog tried to bury his head in my gut.

^o^ two more days..... And I am ready. I really thought I was going to be nervous or even a bit scared (fear of hospitals) any way super excited..

Best of luck with your operation.... this guy here is super excited.

ertlandia ... just signed up..