36 days after....

Well, 19 days since my last post...longer than I wanted to, but it has been a busy month. My gift of procrastination was a factor. Things have been good so far. I'm still getting acquainted with my new parameters of food consumption. At this point, enough time has passed to consider my stomach fully healed. I was cleared to eat regular foods on the 21st. My incisions are still healing though. The two longest are still open wounds, but are beginning to close. They are right in an area that, when I sit or bend, contracts and expands. Also, when I work out or play racquetball, my wet shirt rubs any scab away.

Now, in my mindset, being cleared to eat regular foods means nothing to me. I'm not going to begin eating any of the foods I've been avoiding for the last two months. I will keep my caloric and fat budget as planned. I don't want to undo anything I've done so far, or get comfortable with eating those good old meals that put me in this position. And the thing that pisses me off the most is to stay at the same weight for more than a five days, which has happened twice. Based on my research, I know I will hit plateaus. Our bodies make adjustments to defend themselves. There are ways, however, to trick our bodies.

I just got back from a week long trip to Paris and Budapest. I was a little worried that I would have a hard time travelling and eating properly, but things worked out good. I stuffed my bag with my fat free tuna packets as a backup...which did come in handy. In Budapest, I shopped a local grocery store for turkey / chicken lunch meats and juices. Nothing on the packages was in English, so there was no interpretation of nutrition labels. I had to wing it....but I was confident in the choices I made. I worked out in the hotel gym when I could. I was hoping not to gain any weight, but as it turns out, I lost five pounds.

I can see a slight change in the mirror as far as my face goes. My sunglasses are a little looser. And it's the little things that are rewarding to me. I had to drill about 6 extra holes in my belt to keep from giving everybody butt crack. I can cross my legs comfortably. I'm getting quicker in the racquetball court. When I used to jump seat on my companies aircraft, it looked like I was wrestling a squirrel in my lap to get the seat belt on....now there is belt strap left over. I feel as if I'm smiling more.

The band is doing what I expected. It is an invisible barrier that I sometimes hit. It has motivated me to not give up. And after all I had to go through, it scares me to fail.

My weight today is 285.0