Hi everyone. I am now 1 week out from surgery and my approval came back from Carefirst and i am good to go. I was expecting to have to pay $275 in copays + 20% coinsurance. Apparently Carefirst changed my policy and now they cover 100% of everything except for a $25 doctor copay. That was great news for me.

I am into week 2 of my modified liquid diet. (Allowed 1 high protein low carb meal a day + 4 protein shakes and under 1500 calories a day). I have been doing very good with this except for yesterday for Easter. I went over by about 600 calories and had double the carbs I should have. I still did so much better than I would have before I started this process. In the old days, I would have easily eaten 5000 calories. Back to my shake this morning and for lunch and back to the pool this afternoon.

I have been swimming 90 - 120 minutes a day 3 - 4 days a week. I am going to miss that during the 2 weeks that I can not be submergered in water. I strongly recommend water exercise/swimming for anyone who has not been exercising because it is very low impact and burns lots of calories. At my weight, an hour of swimming is about 1300 calories burned. It took me about 45 days to build up to swimming this much. At first I swam some and then walked laps in the pool and then swam some more. I am sure post surgery, it will take some time to get back to being able to swim that much but I am committed to making that happen.

I have not been on the scale yet this week and my scale does not match my doctor's scale. My goal has been to be below 400 prior to surgery and it will be close. Crossing my fingers and plan to get to the pool at least 4 days this week.

Thanks for everyone's support. I will post next week after my surgery and I feel strong enough play on the computer.

Keep up the good work Mike. Your worth it. I admire your determination to swim as much as you do. I've been horrible at exercise. My downfall I guess.

I'm sure you'll do great.

j~

I've been horrible at exercise.

 

Well exercise is pretty new for me. I have been inspired by a facebook friend who started walking in the pool and doing weight watchers. She has been doing great and she updates her status frequently and that helps inspire me. I don't mind the physical part of the workout now that I have worked up to it but finding the 2 hours at a time is the hard part. I have a gym at my apartment building that is great but I feel more comfortable in the pool so I go to the health club. I think once I get a little smaller, I will feel better in the regular gym.

 

Like our eating habits, I guess changes take time and most habits take consistency for a while before it becomes the new habit.

 

I am sure that you will get better with the exercise as time goes on and you feel better and lighter.

 

...Mike

Mike, you are doing great. Keep up the great work. I actually like the gym, but always have trouble getting into the "habit" of going continuously. The reason I like the gym is because I am very competitive especially with myself. I love setting workout goals and beating them. I started back at the gym about 3 weeks before my procedure on 4/5/12. Now my surgeon wants me to wait 2 weeks before going back. He'd rather I walk around the neighborhood instead of on equipment. I can't believe that I am already longing to go back. Maybe because I'm feeling pretty good 5 days out, but took off 3 weeks (my surgeon wanted 4 weeks) and am feeling some "cabin fever" already.

Mike, you are doing great. Keep up the great work. I actually like the gym, but always have trouble getting into the "habit" of going continuously. The reason I like the gym is because I am very competitive especially with myself. I love setting workout goals and beating them. I started back at the gym about 3 weeks before my procedure on 4/5/12. Now my surgeon wants me to wait 2 weeks before going back. He'd rather I walk around the neighborhood instead of on equipment. I can't believe that I am already longing to go back. Maybe because I'm feeling pretty good 5 days out, but took off 3 weeks (my surgeon wanted 4 weeks) and am feeling some "cabin fever" already.

 

Thanks. I am a bit nerveous about getting out of the habit after surgery. My doctor wants me to not lift anything more than 10 pounds for 1 month and I can't be in the pool for a minimum of 2 weeks.

 

I work from home so being here won't be so bad but I am only planning on taking 1 week off even though my doctor would prefer 2 weeks. Hopefully i will feel up to working after a week.

 

Glad to hear that you are feeling so well after your procedure. Keep up the good work and those pounds will be melting off.

 

...Mike