Well Happy New Year!

I feel like I've been a slacker in updating my blog in a timely manner, but my excuses sound really good to me. December was pretty busy and I'm glad to have the holidays in the rear view mirror. Also had to finish an online Masters class that, of course, I waited till the last minute to finish my assignments.

I had my third visit at Dr. Woodmans' office Dec 28th. Up to that point, I had 2 fills under my belt...well, really one since the first one wasn't really a fill per se. This time, I met with Dr. Woodman himself. The other two visits were with his nurses. Now.....Dr. Woodman has quite a reputation for being a straight shooter. He will not sugar coat anything, nor will he hesitate to chew some ass if needed. I had been hovering around 272lbs for most of December, and I attributed that to having willingly sacrificed some work out time to get other things done. Class, work, shopping, traveling, etc... I knew we would be talking about this, so like a defense attorney, I prepared my case. As I explained myself to him, I started to realize that my reasons didn't really sound so good. I was putting the one thing that I wanted, and needed, on the back burner. And come to think of it, it is at about that third or fourth month that my previous weight loss attempts reversed their course. I kinda felt like I had let him down, and his nurses, and all the people who were in the operating room on the day of my surgery, even the insurance company that made it possible. Sounds a little crazy, but that's how I think sometimes. Because I still felt I was eating more than I needed, I requested another fill. He stressed that I needed to set a portion size and eat it, not eat till I fell full. If I kept eating till I was full, there is a pretty good chance of stretching the upper pouch.

Same process, numbing spray, poke out belly, insert needle and squeeze the saline into the port. This time was a little different than the last. Last time, I actually felt a tight feeling deep inside, like the band was pinching a little more. This time, I felt nothing. I actually thought that Dr. Woodman might have given me a "ghost fill" after the little pep talk...thinking that the motivational speech might be enough to change my habits, kinda like a psychological experiment. Even a couple days after the visit, I didn't feel any different. But the third day, holy cow, what a difference. I can eat a little over half of what I was eating the week before. Not sure why the delay, but I am in the green zone now.

With my fill and renewed commitment, I've broken the plateau I was on for almost a month. I feel great and am looking forward to the next few of months. I hope to be at my goal weight by June or July. I love the reactions of people who I haven't seen in a while. While playing racquetball tonight, I received probably one of the best compliments of all time. While between games, I was talking with a group of players. One of them, a rather loud and flamboyant guy, was talking. He stopped mid sentence and said "Damn! How much weight has your fat ass lost?!" (you have to know him to get the full effect). It really made me feel good.

My weight today is 267.5