Bull Moose

I love the ones that call him out for "taking the easy/lazy way out." If only they, knew. I'm coming from a similar situation - an old football player who never changed his eating habits after all the football exercise and extra lean muscle was gone. I'm about half a foot taller and weigh 30 pounds less than him, and he had his surgery 11 days ahead of me, but it will be cool to be able to compare myself with someone high profile.

I read through the comments on the ESPN.com version of that story. Wow. There was a lot of ignorance and hate towards the band. A lot of people were calling Ryan out for "taking the easy/lazy way out." If only they knew...

Mine was after I trained 12 weeks and ran a half marathon and weighed more than I did when I started training - for the third time in a year. I finally got the picture that intake was the problem rather than the output.

If anyone asks me about the scars, though, I'm going to tell them I was shot in the gut for hitting on a mobster's girlfriend. That ought to get me some street cred, to boot.

I'm going to pay for a guided summit attempt of Mt. Rainier. I hauled my gut up quite a few pretty big mountains, I'd be excited to attempt the big mama with no belly.

When I started thinking about getting the band, I was of quiet about it. I went to the seminar without talking to anyone about it, including my wife. Then I told my wife. Then I told my family. Then I made a one-time announcement to anyone who I thought cared. Now I'll talk about it if asked, but I try not to talk too much about it because it probably bores people to death unless they are thinking about it themselves. I also work in a small office, I'm one of two lawyers with a staff of three others, so I couldn't just disappear for a week, plus I didn't want to worry them by just leaving it at "I'm getting surgery." I'm typically pretty thick-skinned, though, so hearing mean comments wasn't really a concern for me.

I'm on a two-week Medifast cycle prior to my surgery. I was given a box by my surgeon, which doesn't have most of the stuff you guys are talking about. I have oatmeal, pudding, soup, a couple different kind of bars, shakes, and that's it. (Of course I use these terms loosely.) I once lost a bunch of weight on Nutrisystem, but gained it all back because I got sick of the food. This stuff makes Nutrisystem seem positively gourmet. I'll live, it's just two weeks. My doc didn't give me much in the way of what to do with the food itself, but gave me a bunch of receipies, for the lean and green meal. I'm going to try one tonight - Mesquite chicken.

I've put on a couple pounds. I think it's because I have the excuse of, "I'll never be able to eat that or like that after I get the band, I should do it now!"

Just got my date today: March 23. I have to admit, finalizing that date gave me a lump in my throat. I'm more than a little nervous. I have to start the medifast diet on Tuesday, and I'm a lot nervous about that.