Pre Op Weigh in #3

Opti Fast Diet

I started this Optifast diet on Sunday July 19th. I took a class on July 15th to learn all about it and purchase the 1st weeks products. During this class I was given pre Surgery weight loss goals. Part of the reason for this very specific diet is to help shrink the size of your liver and they say that studies show that bariatric patients that do this diet pre surgery do better and recover quicker. It is 5 Optifast products daily and one meal that consists of a lean protein, a vegetable, and a fruit serving. It allows one small amount of fat, like butter, per day if needed. It is VERY restrictive.

Above is my goals vs my actual weigh ins. Only one more weigh in to go. I need to lose 6 lbs this week to make my goal. I have been doing indoor exercise, but I decided i needed to take it up a notch and get out and walk and sweat some of this weight off. The south in the summer is the perfect environment to do some sweating! My daughter went with me and rode her bike with me. We walked around the parking lot that circles a large number of buildings. Its uphill part of the way and downhill a bit as well. It was a good workout and I enjoyed having one of my kids with me. Man, did I work up a sweat! AND the exciting thing is my knees didn’t hurt me at all. I know I have only lost 15 lbs and I am not saying I am feeling amazing, but I do feel like I am feeling the effects of losing some weight as well as moving my body SOOOO much more!

Why I do this Blog!

Doing this blog is very hard for me. The old me wants to be ashamed that I got to this point, but the new me is doing this blog because it is empowering me. It is giving me a voice and it helps me to focus on the task at hand. I also want to speak for the thousands of other men and women who are suffering in silence with obesity. It is an ugly disease. It is so hard to talk about all the problems being obese causes. For example. The dentist we go to doesn’t have any chairs in the lobby that I can fit into. I go sit on the edge of the seat in the play room with the kids so no one can see that I don’t fit into the seat. Today when we got to the exam room for Jades cleaning I had to ask for another chair because the one in that room was just like the ones in the lobby. They found me a folding chair to sit in. In situations like that I have learned to hold my head high when I ask for help because I will not let this get me down. I have missed out on company functions like going to the baseball game or a hockey game because I know I won’t fit in the seats. It hurts a persons heart to have to be left out of things all because of the size of your body.

I am being a voice for me and for all others who stay silent! And it is my hope that I will reach even just one person. Just one person who is waiting for the motivation to get up and make one step in the right direction just like I did. Those first steps are hard and they hurt, emotionally and physically, but if I can do it then someone else out there can to. And to know that I might help just one more person out of that deep, black hole of misery would make all this worth while!