So today marks the end of the holidays and I am now post surgery 4 weeks. I am waiting for my first fill in 2 weeks and am adjusting to the need to implement portion control. I did very well during these 4 weeks by losing quickly and then hit a flatline with a slight uptick in weight when I moved to solid foods last week. In my first entry I talked about that frustration of going up a little and decided that I needed to continue to maintain focus, which I did and since the first posting (4 days ago) I am down 3 pounds and feeling good about making good decisions. I am purposefully moving to amore soft foods diet to avoid weight gain and build up my portion control focus. This is working well and everyone in the household is adjusting well. It was nice to hear from my wife, who is very fit, that my change in focus on food and the fact that several times I said no, or I can't have that, actually helped her stay on track as well. That was very energizing for me to have that positive comment and helps me to stand to making the right decisions. Today we went to Pink's hot dogs (yeah not great for a bander) but I was able to have fun with the family and have very small bites of a hot dog (no bun) and leave satisfied and happy with the experience without impacting anyone else.

I go back to work tomorrow and will have to make good decisions there, but will go in a little later than before to have a good, healthy, portion-controlled breakfast at home (used to get something on the way...bad decisions were always my problem), leaving only lunch to worry about. I am finding that eating out and fast food are not something I will do as much and with a little planning things are working well. So leaving this second post, pre-fill I am feeling good about my mental progress of changing my lifestyle, which is what I knew had to be done to make this work anyway. I have a mental plan and with good focus each stage will go well, as I enter stage 2 I feel good so far.

Stage 1 - Pre Surgery I had to focus on making this real for me and admit that I had a problem (sorta my own individual 12 step program). I followed the Optifast 800 fairly well and cut out fast food. This allowed me to lose 70 pounds in the year leading up to my surgery. For the first time in a long time I saw some positive results in pictures and this added to the motivation.

Stage 2 - this stage is my goal between now and Christmas 2012. My goal is to lose 70 more pounds. I intend to up my walking and exercise during this time with the goal of being at a low enough weight to use an elliptical machine in my home by the end of the year for additional excercise. I am hoping that the band will help me to internalize new, better eating habits with portion control to make this stage a success.

Stage 3 - this stage will begin immediately upon completing stage 2, but hopefully no later that Christmas 2012. This stage is where I leave the crutch of the band and need to make the changes "biggest loser" style with excercise. I will be adding a full time gym membership expectation with this stage with the goal to lose another 70 pounds (this would be a combined 210 in 3 stages). This stage is targeted to be complete in regard to body change and weight loss by Christmas 2013. This is my lifestyle change stage and should lend itself to a much more active family set of activities.

Beyond - I will asses my weight and body at the end of stage 3 and add new goals in regard to weight, fitness, body composition but from this point on I am in a balance lifestyle with a maintaining focus. This is a while out, but I believe good gools come from having the end in mind.

So 2012 is beginning well for me and I hope to continue this journey to a new, improved me!