Mattymatt

Hello! I hope everyone is doing well today! I had a nice little NSV. My jeans went from a size 48 relaxed fit to a size 44. Just remember that inches matter as much as the scale, if not more. :-)

I actually got into a pair of 44 Relaxed Fit Wrangler jeans today. They fit perfectly. My old pair are 48s. The relaxed fit stretch a little so I lost some mega inches off of my waist.

Getting back to work has been really good for me! I am so busy I hardly have time to think about food or eat much and the scale and pants really show. I am either going to need a smaller belt or new jeans. A new belt is cheaper so I'll try this first. My tee shirts hang on me now.

So how's everyone doing? Hope all is well. It's good to be finally back to work. Once I became healthy enough to go back to work, it was a bit challenging to find a job that wouldn't require me being away from home for a week or two at a time. I landed something temporary moving cars between Carmax dealerships. It keeps me so busy that I sometimes forget to eat because I am not hungry. Now that I am not quite so bored, I don't reach mindlessly for food to fill up time. LOL! Hoping to maybe get 7 pounds more off by August 4th for my brother's wedding. Matty has his eye on a bride's maid .... LOL! At least the scale is starting to move again. I think if I lose another 7 pounds, my size 48 loose fit jeans won't even stay up with a cinched belt anymore.

LOL! I've lost so much weight that I can feel the muscles at the base of my neck. Fat no longer covers that area. Whodathunkit!?

I've noticed that another bad behavior has crept back into my life. I've started not giving a full half hour between food and drink. Today I put the kibosh on that. It's back to waiting the appropriate amount of time. On the other hand, I've been really good about getting a minimum of 64oz of liquid in per day. Often, I am above the minimum. Post-op food lifestyle is a constant balancing act and the trick is catching things when they start to go out of balance.

Today I hit 299. Feels really good to be below 3 bills!

I am sure some of you are wondering about my date with the 3rd year med student. It's a one and done and I am honestly relieved. I was almost headed down a road I swore I would never go down again: dating a type. I would honestly rather find someone less ambitious and more on my wavelength of living simply with less material things. I reject the consumerist lifestyle and would rather live simply instead of being in the buy, borrow, and spend cycle. The stress of living this way was one contributor to becoming 366 pounds and profoundly diabetic. 

Uh oh! Something happened to Matty this week. I was in a local Wawa (think east coast convenience store) and a gorgeous girl ran smack into me while I was grabbing a grape Propel - just couldn't deal with anymore water today. She was texting and walking ... okay, yeah, this missed me as Gen X'er. Well she looked up at me and flashed me one helluva smile. I was feeling pretty good that day so it was time to bring out some game, "So you know I can't let a gorgeous girl who crashes into me go without getting her phone number." LOL! She turned beet red, asked for my phone and sent herself a text message from mine. She said, "Because you men never call ..." I don't know quite what I was thinking but figured it would be one heck of a ride. What is it with me and short girls? I seem to attract them and I don't honestly care about height. She's all of 5'4". I knew she was young but it didn't occur to me how young. What did I just get myself into?

I told myself no dating until the scale reads 190 but this new me is feeling sexually driven like I have never been before. Well, she's right I wasn't really planning on calling her so she called me. So I told her my age (41) and was shocked to hear that she generally goes for men older than 35. We must've talked on the phone close to 3 hours. You're going to think I am lying when I tell you she's a 3rd year med student and is interested in training to be a bariatric surgeon. The stars might've just aligned but I want to go slow and told her that I had weight loss surgery. She's totally my type - the professional, highly educated, and ambitious woman. That's what frightens me, because in the past, this has lead to unhealthy relationships. Well, I've got a date lined up for Saturday and I just want to have some fun. I needed money in order to make this happen so I sold a bunch of old computer equipment and managed to raise some capital for this adventure. I know I won't be drinking alcohol but that's okay.

Good morning, everyone. I know I've been gone for a bit but I am doing so much better now. It seems as if I am healing right up. The nausea is completely gone and the only time I get an upset stomach is if I eat too quickly. Alas, this is still something of a learning curve. On the upshot, I am ready to return to work and I am going back to tractor trailer driving because it's the best path to make a decent living given my skill set. On July 3rd, I will be starting for Schneider. It's been a few years since I've been behind the wheel of such a big vehicle so I chose the free training (and I don't have to sign an agreement either) offered by Schneider. The particular driving that I got hired for is all Mid-West lanes dedicated to Home Depot so there is no East Coast and no West Coast. In fact, just four states ... CO, NE, MO, and KS. The job is 3 weeks on/1 week off and they fly me between my home in Philadelphia and Kansas City. All in all not a bad deal.

This is going to sound really freaking weird but I feel like I am in the twilight zone ... like this is all a bad dream I am going (or hoping) to wake up from. I hate food! I mean I fscking hate it! It tastes like saw dust ... I am never hungry and never have a desire to eat. Eating hurts and no one knows really WTF is going on. I mean they think the cause of this is the stomach ulcer but what if all this stuff heals up and I am still messed up? I am down 60 pounds and almost 6" from my heaviest but I could care less. I sleep but it feels like I get none at all. When I wake up even though my stupid CPAP says, "Hey dumbass! You had less than 1 apnea an hour. GTFU!" It's supposed to be really easy to find work because unemployment is low, yet I keep getting turned down for work. At this point, I am like what next?

Thank you @Frustr8, @Creekimp13, and @FluffyChix for all the concern and well-wishes. Here is the update. I have a stomach ulcer infected with H. Pylori. This isn't good news because it needs to get treated with a pretty serious course of antibiotics. The upshot is we know what's going on. The downside is that I am looking at 6-8 weeks of antibiotics to fight this little b*stard off. I will also need another endoscopy in a month to make certain that the course of antibiotics is working. H. Pylori is a nasty little phucker ... it has been known to cause stomach cancer according to the Mayo Clinic. It's going to take a bazooka to kill me though. LOL!

I had some mad energy today because I spaced out while doing my favorite exercise, the elliptical machine. I only intended to do about 20-25 minutes and looked down at the timer and it read 40. Ooops! Then I looked at the calories burned and it was at 560 and I sighed because it means I am going to have to eat that much more to keep from getting nauseous or sick. Well, I guess this is a good problem to have.

Hello to everyone. Hope all is well! I am still battling the nausea and trying to figure out what is causing it but at least I feel cheerful, not despondent.

Saddness .... some labs came back and my A1C is 6.4%. I was hoping that it would be in the normal range. Well, we'll see what it is like in 3 more months. The nurse practitioner at the hospital said that it is good progress. However, if in 3 months it does not get into a normal range, I'll need to go back on an oral medicine. When it rains it poors. At least, I finally got some sleep and I feel like getting up and walking around again. Anyone that thinks surgery is the easy way out is just plain ignorant. Le sigh!

I had a setback yesterday. I went to the ER in severe stomach pain and nausea. It turns out that I had a stricture so the ER stabilized me and then I was transported to Wilmington Hospital, where I had the surgery to begin with. They did some emergent repairs. I am doing okay but in too much pain to get around. Anyhow, the surgeon emphasized rest and not getting up and moving. I will be discharged on Friday morning as they want to keep me for observation. Life happens but we keep moving, right-o?

I seem to be in one helluva stall. I thought it had broken, but alas, I was wrong. Although to be honest, I think this one is my fault as I got away from careful tracking so today I am getting back up on the horse. Need to watch calories as well as make certain that I am getting 100g of high quality protein.

This is one day that I am really glad is over. After more than 24 miserable hours, my stomach is finally beginning to settle down some. Egads! I was really worried about a stricture. Despite being sick, I was still productive. I got the FAFSA form filled out for student loans come August when I go back to community college for Automotive.

I can tell today is just going to be a tough day. I woke up nauseous and constipated and feeling a bit down. Soldiering on.

WOW! The scale is really starting to move again .... I got on the scale this morning and I was down a pound. Then, I felt the urge to have bowel movement. So, I decided to have a second go at the scale. I guess I had a full pound of sh1t, because I am down 2 pounds total from yesterday. I'm about to do the hula dance.

The scale started moving again. I'm down 2lbs in 2 days.

I am starting to really like physical activity! Just did a 30 minute hi-intensity cycle ride at LA Fitness. Yeah it was tough but it sure feels great afterwards. I feel like a completely new and different person; like the depression is starting to lift and I feel a renewed sense of motivation. I actually feel like getting my performance bicycle out of mothballs. I haven't ridden it in 5 years and right now I am so glad I did not get rid of it. I am going to get it over to the bike shop, tune it up, and get ready to ride. There is an event on August 25th, almost exactly 5 years to the day that I rode my first ever century ride, 100 miles. I marked it on my calendar and the training begins now! I need something to keep me on the straight and narrow, something to focus on. Even if I am the last rider at the finish line, I will be a winner.

Saw the head doc again today because I am feeling so mentally out of sorts. You cannot put a price on a good psychiatrist. A little med adjustment and she thinks I'll be on the up and up. Sleep has been terrible post-surgery so I am hoping this non-narcotic sleep aid she prescribed works well.

I get to tick off another morning at the gym. Make it a good start to the new week. I want to try a spin class but I don't know if I can handle that just yet.

After a good rest day yesterday, I tore up the elliptical at 30 minutes and I be very happy! Well, except for not reading the food label on Greek Yogurt drink and a first experience with dumping syndrome. Ah the lessons we learn ....