Even though it has been three years since my vertical gastractomy weight loss surgery I still do not eat narrowly what I use to.  Yes I am eating more than a couple of bites.  I had the pleasure of helping a relative on her first Thanksgiving since having bariatric weight loss surgery (RNY).   I watched her eat and stir  her food like all of us have done that have had weight loss surgery.  I keep a vigil eye on her and after a few to many bites I could see she was not able to figure out away to get away from the table.  I made up an excuse to get her and I away from the Thanksgiving feast.  She thanked me and we talked about not being afraid to get up away from the table and if she wanted to return after digesting a little.

Even after three years I excuse myself from the table all the time.  I have to just walkaway from food.  If I don’t I  will eat myself sick and that is not a pretty site.  My recommendation to anyone that has just had weight loss surgery and this is your first holiday season is to Just Say NO!

Don’t be afraid to get up and get away from the situation.  Otherwise it will be more embarrsing to have a problem right at the table.  With this in mind

Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays which ever makes you more comfortable.

I notice going on the three years since having weight loss surgery that I like coffee drinks. However I do not want to have all the sugars associated with the big coffee retailers. I found that if you have coffee and add sugar-free chocolate or sugar-free vanilla the only sugars you wind up with are from the dairy. Here is the key to keeping it low in sugars. Most coffee houses and baristas will use 1% or fat free milk. I highly recommend using breve (half-n-half) instead as it has a lot less sugars.

Try it sometime you might just enjoy the test.

Try making it at home to help save $3 to $5 a pop. Found this how-to video (click image) trick you might find interesting. It talks about using coffee ice cubes to help keep you iced coffee from getting watered down. Nice tip here!

Stumbled upon this youtube video from Pacific Laparoscopy about weight loss surgeries.  Doctor John Rabkin is the same doctor that performed my vertical sleeve gastrectomy weight loss surgery August 2005.

If your new to my blog I highly recommend clicking on May 2005 in the archives to the left this is where it all started.

Good morning all:

Today is Tuesday my typical weigh-in day to chart my weight loss surgery update. As of this morning I weight 174 pounds. I have been holding steady right between 174 and 180. Not to bad for a guy that was 359.5 pounds in May 2005.

Have a great day and see you online.

Wanted to list my protein drink that I make every morning. I loved mocha frappuccino from that big retailer but they are loaded with sugar. Here is my alternative

Jeff Protein Blended Mocha Beverage
1/4 cup (2oz) – Half caffein coffee
2 scoops – Protein Powder (EAS Premium Protein)
1/4 cup – Half & Half
2 Tbsp – Sugar Free Chocalote syurp (Torani)
Ice
Blend well

Makes about 16 oz mug of cool refreshing protein beverage

Here are the specs on this drink.
300 calories
110g Cholestrol
4g Sugars
30g Protein
65g Sodium
200g Potassium
9.5g Fat
0 Fiber
7 pts for Weight Watchers

Lower in sugar and high in Protein is what I look out for due to my weight loss surgery. Just wanted to share this since I finally figured it all out. I some times substitute half caff with decaf

Later
JB

I had a heart appointment today and my ejection fraction is about 47% that is up from last test. I was hoping for higher at least in the 50% range. Trying to not be discouraged about that result but tough.  I know I should be grateful that I still have my original heart and not taking 50 different medications.  My cardiologist said if my ejection fraction was above 50% we could talk about taking my defibrillator out.  I will keep you informed as I get more information thank you for reading.

Good day to all:

It’s been awhile again, I tend to go days, weeks and months in between post. Quick weight loss update I am now 177 pounds. If you have been following my weight loss progress you know that is amazing weight loss. My health has been doing great. My heart is rebounding like it should be. I see my heart doctor in January and look forward to a great update from him

I went to Salt Lake City for three days to replace a server. The trip was quick but a great one. The swap went off without any issues and we had a few of the key people praise us for a good turn over

Everything else is going okay for the most part. You know with 4 kids life is always fun.  Especially with 2 teenagers, a 9 year old, and a baby. We need a bigger house to accommodate everyone.

For now I will leave it at that and try to send a new weight loss surgery update tomorrow with more details. Take care and have a great week.

Almost forgot to add my one year, to the day since weight loss surgery, photos. Here I am 134 pounds lighter 1 year after weight loss surgery.

Good morning all:

Just had a nice relaxing three day Labor Day weekend.  It was nice, we did absolutely nothing.  The only bad part of the weekend is the fact that I grazed all weekend.  Due to this unusually bad habit I gained 5.5 pounds.  Yes that is correct 5.5 pounds after weight loss surgery.  This is so not me it makes me sick thinking about it.  I completely deserve it and brought it on myself.

I need to find better things to do with my time then eat or as I call it grazing.  The reason I call it grazing is because I don’t actually eat much but a little bit a lot of times in the day.  I need to start focusing on 3 meals a day and maybe 2 smaller snacks in between.  Since I don’t eat a lot at a meal a snack would be okay.  I don’t eat sugar items and I try to watch my carbohydrates.  The only bad thing is I eat nuts and cheese its a lot.  The nuts are okay I suppose but the cheese its are not so good.  This eating is all in my head and I know it and that is what frustrates me the most about it.  I am not hungry but just for some reason need to have something to eat all the time.  I am not sure why I feel that way but I need to get to the bottom of it soon.

Other than that the weekend was nice.  Brandon went camping all weekend and had a good time.  Brittany had to work all weekend and she did not much care for that.  Adriana hung out with Tammy and I all weekend

Good afternoon all:

Had my defibrillator checked just a little bit ago. They said everything looked good and had no issues. They saw one spot where the unit went into monitor mode. It did not go off (luckily) so they were not to worried about it.  The technician can not believer my progress after weight loss surgery.

I don’t have to get the device checked but every 6 months. So now I have my heart doctor and defibrillator check up at the same time which makes it nice. Have a great day everyone and watch out for the heat.