February may be the shortest month of the year, but it has been full of activity and busy-ness that 170 lbs ago was taxing on my body and energy. Having the energy to complete all my family, volunteer, and fun activities is an exact result of my weight loss, so, to me, less weight means the ability to do more stuff.
Celebrity Friends
It has been a long while since I have seen my friends who are celebrities in David Osmond and Shawn Bradley. David came on our afternoon show; The Place, which is at the end of my day—meaning that my energy would still need to be high. I bumped in to Shawn and his family at a Utah Jazz game, and in previous years I would go out if my way to take the elevator, but now the stairs are no problem.
Island Cupid
Valentine’s Day is synonymous with the month of February, and I had the pleasure of playing Cupid around the office with my co-workers and our church youth group.
Health and Fitness
I have been steadily going to the gym and fortunately have been able to avoid serious injury. My latest goal is to get down to 280 pounds by November when my daughter Jaelyn comes home from her LDS mission in Australia. It is a lengthy amount of time, but I wanted to slowly and steadily lose the weight so that it would be attainable and sustainable.
Thank you to one and all for the kind words, encouragement and examples of eating right, working out, and making time for the important things like family. Remember, everyone is different and every experience varies. If you are in need of help maybe a consultation with BMI Utah and Dr’s Cottom and Richards to see what the best option for you might be. My wife Jennifer followed me and she has shown great progress, here’s how she’s doing this month:
Thank you sweetheart. Seeing your weight loss success with BMI and contemplating my weight struggles how could I not follow you.
I have continued to have successes and challenges this month, which has just confirmed to me that this weight loss surgery was never a quick fix; it is still something that I have to work on every day.
Before my surgery I was someone who was always wondering what I would eat next. I loved food, loved to eat out, loved sweets, loved baking sweets—which I am finding is still who I am. I still love to bake sweets, I still crave those yummy foods that I enjoyed before, but the difference now is that I know that I can’t have those foods anymore. I know now that if I eat sweets, popcorn with lots of butter or hamburgers and fries, that I am cheating myself.
The mind is a powerful thing, and if I am not careful the thoughts that I have about eating just one cookie will turn into me thinking that I can have two cookies. So, let me tell you that this is a daily process that comes with many tough decisions.
My saving grace is that I continue to see results when I step on the scale. I am down another six pounds this month and I feel amazing. My clothes that I bought last month are starting to be loose on me. My skin feels and looks healthier, and my knees feel great. When I walk around now it is hard to remember that I ever had knee problems or that I had two total knee replacement surgeries. I remember only when I see the scars on my knees from my surgeries, that is how great I am feeling.
Having 64 pounds off has improved my joints and my skin, but most of all my ATTITUDE. I am so much happier now than I was five months ago, I can see that now. I have always been a really positive upbeat person, even at my heaviest weight, but I can honestly say that I have peace. Peace that I have control over my eating, peace that I know that I made the right choice for me to have Gastric Sleeve surgery, and peace in knowing that my life will continue to get better with hard work and discipline.
This month was extremely busy for me with the planning of my daughter Kilani’s Senior night for the Jordan High girl’s basketball team and a youth church event that I was in charge of. I am so grateful for the weight loss that I have had so far. It helped to increase my energy in order to accomplish these events. It would have been a real struggle to pull off these events if I still had on all that extra weight.
My biggest highlight this month was being able to go to a Jazz game with my family and not having to worry about walking up all those stairs at the arena. I had no problems at all making it up and down the stairs and I wasn’t out of breath when I reached the top. This may seem like a small thing, and you could be wondering why this would be a highlight, but believe me when you are 255 pounds and can’t make it up stairs without stopping it becomes a big deal when you can.
Another highlight has been being back at work and doing what I love. I work at a treatment facility for teenage girls and it is very challenging at times but mostly rewarding. My energy level that I have now has made it possible for me to do my job the best way that I can.
Finally, my challenge and goals that I have for this coming month are to be more consistent in making it to the gym three days a week, even if I am tired from working all day. I need to do at least 30 minutes of cardio and light weightlifting in order to keep losing weight.
Along with the exercise I am planning to start meal prepping for the week so that I can make sure that I am getting the right amounts of protein, fat, and carbohydrates that I need to be successful. This journey is one that I continue to love and to work at every day because I know that this is the lifestyle that I want to live a HEALTHY one.
Thanks to everyone for the ongoing support! Click here to follow our Losing for Life journey.
