I am one week from my surgery, so I think it is time to start my blog. Today I am going to start with my story:

I am currently 40 years old and morbidly obese at 323 Lbs. I have been overweight probably since age 3. I remember my earliest attempts at a ?diet? started around age 15. After 25 years of dieting I am sad to say that I have become a professional dieter, and a failed one at that. I have been fairly successful in most areas of my life, with one area that I have never been able to succeed in long term. Early on in dieting I tried many diets and fads: slim fast, nutri-system, good old fashion running, lifting weights, diet pills, sweat suits, fat reduction belts, sports, karate (up to Black belt level), work sponsored personal trainer and doctor led diet system, cardio of every type, interval workouts, several best-selling diet programs, diet software, internet based diet programs (ebooks) etc. With myself as the human guinea pig I know what works to lose weight. Some of the best programs out there that really worked for me and were actually healthy were based on the principles you see in ?Body for Life? and ?Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle?. I know the ways to lose weight safely and steadily. I know how to mostly avoid or break weight loss stalls and plateaus. I don?t know what?s worse, being ignorant and fat or knowing exactly what to do but failing over and over doing exactly what I know is self-defeating. It is like the mechanic who can fix everyone?s car but his own.

More about exercise: I inherited my mother?s strong cardiovascular system, anytime I work out during a diet, my heart is back in shape within a couple of weeks. My cardiovascular system far exceeds my physical capability. In other words If I did not have so much extra weight I could run forever?my muscles and joints give way long before my heart or lungs are winded. As an example during one of my better diet runs (the doctor led one sponsored by my work) I got up to where I could run 12 miles and I was still at 250 pounds?my knees and shins gave out that day, but my heart and lungs could have kept going. My goal at the time was to run a marathon and I had built up to this distance over time, but I injured myself and went fell into a terrible slump gaining the weight back and much more. Just this past year starting what would be my final diet attempt I went from 340 down to 320 pounds and was working out hard?just to give you an idea of the heart health I had an EKG at 320 lbs. and my resting heart rate was 44 bpm. The doc who did the EKG and physical made a comment about how healthy my various blood pressure and heart numbers were even compared to some athletes she had seen. I was like so ?I?m a healthy fat guy, how does that help me??. She then mentioned the VSG or Lap band to help me for long term weight-loss. I had not really entertained thoughts of WLS very much?I?m a ?professional dieter? after all who knows what works and what doesn?t (HA!) I am so glad she brought that up because it got my stubborn technical brain to really research WLS. This was reinforced when I had 2 other friends at work have WLS (one band one bypass) and I was seeing their results. For the first time I looked at the surgery objectively and read every technical detail I could about the options out there?this is what led me to the VSG as the best choice for me. My failure in every diet has been my lack of a ?Full? sensation. My mom says I had no full button as a kid?if she put it in front of me, I ate it. I have always over eaten; even when I eat healthy I eat too much in portions. Here is an operation that finally gives me an ability to feel full with just a few ounces, not have excessive hunger, and it does not have the major drawbacks of the band or bypass.

So this is not a magic bullet, it is a tool. This is the tool I have been missing in my so called ?professional dieting? career of 25 years. I also know and have already planned to get some mental assistance to deal with the fact that I can no longer live to eat. I start my journey using this new tool on 4/28/2010. I can?t wait to run again and not have to worry about my weight slowing me down! I plan to use my knowledge to benefit me in this journey incorporating the good healthy principles I have learned over the years. Now that I have the right tool to assist me, I will succeed!