079 Congratulations on 150 Pounds Lost!

I just wanted to say Congratulations to you, Jimmy, for reaching your newest weight loss goal and for losing 150 POUNDS! It's really amazing all the hard work you have put in to make this happen. I am SO proud of you! Keep going. You can make your ultimate goal!

062 Accomplishment of the Day

Today's accomplishment is that Jimmy was able to wear a shirt from 10 years ago for the first time in...10 years (almost)!

"Not Ashamed" from T.E.S.T.I.f.Y. Student Ministry from First Baptist Church of DeSoto, MO.

038 It Feels Like Forever

I always smirk at those people who tell you "See you next year!" on New Year's Eve. It's a big joke that it sounds like you aren't going to see one another for a long time when it is really a matter of hours/minutes. I had this feeling the other day when I was talking to Jimmy about eating.

For anyone who is really behind, Jimmy has been doing a two week pre-op liquid diet in preparation for his gastric sleeve WLS. He hasn't eaten any solid food since Friday, November 2nd. It really seems like it has been forever since we sat down for a regular meal.

More mind boggling still is the fact that Jimmy won't be able to eat regular solid foods again until sometime in January! When you say January it just feels like it is so far, far away. Yes, it really is weeks away but in the grand scheme of things life will be back to normal sooner rather than later. It just doesn't feel that way right now.

I guess what I am trying to say is that it is all a matter of perspective. When you think about the number of years and choices it took to get us into this bad position versus the time we have invested to this point in correcting it--we still have a long way to go! However, it is totally achievable. We just have to keep our perspective fixed on why it is worth it to keep trying!

Don't give up on your goals! You can make it! Victory is closer than it seems.

017 Jimmy's BIG Dreams

Today you are in for a real treat! Jimmy is writing this post himself. Then at the end I am posting a photo collage of some of the things I dream of us doing after the WLS.

As promised, here is Jimmy's post of his big post surgery dreams…





Losing hundreds of pounds is a good thing. It will make life even more crazy than it already is. Christiana has asked me to write a blog post about things that I look forward to doing once more and more weight comes off. So since I like Top 10 lists, I thought it would be fun to do the:

TOP TEN THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO DOING AFTER I LOSE WEIGHT OR TTTILFTDAILW for short.

Here we go.

#10. Go to more concerts. I like going to concerts but I don’t like traveling distances and standing for a long time. But losing weight means that I will be able to do both. It will nice to see that a band is playing within driving distance and not working about going to it. Plus this might mean that I will be able to attend some actual music festivals. Such as www.lifelight.org. Its only 5 hours away therefore I will be able to travel to it. Speaking of….

#9. Travel It will nice to not be hindered by being stuck in a vehicle or a plane or a train or a rikshaw uncomfortably as now. It will be nice to take trips to places that are off limits to me know like, I don’t know, apple picking or nascar races. That is the point. I can travel more easily.

#8. Paintball, lazer tag and other such. If I were to go PB or LT now I would be pretty pointless and useless. Serving as a very easy target. But once I become more mobile, quicker, sleeker, sneakier, more spy like, I will be a valuable to a team and more fun. Go ahead and lump Mini Golf in this category too. My wife always wants to go to mini golf. Oh and Picnics. Oh and playing basketball.

#7. Stand Longer. Might seem kind of boring and lame but true. Its annoying sometimes when you get stuck somewhere without a place to sit and you leave. Or having to take a chair to places where you need to be able to sit down. Or just simply to stand longer in the pulpit to preach. Either or. It will be nice to stand for longer period of times.

#6. Easier times at restaurants. There are certain places that we avoid simply because there are no tables, or the chairs are bad or there is limited space. It will be nice because we wont be as limited with this as we are now. Granted its not going to be there over night but it will be an improvement. Of course there will be way less eating out now. LOL.

#5. Discovering other fun activities besides eating out. Maybe hot air ballooning, maybe, maybe archery, perhaps fencing? Any of those and things I haven’t thought of yet. It will be neat to see what kinds of things Christiana will do that we don’t even know yet. I guess that is part of the excitement vs the depressing part of this. I got to focus on the things that I can do now vs the food I cant eat now. BYE BYE Capt. Crunch. (a little veggie tales reference for you)

#4. Going to the Theatre. Christiana and I both love the Theatre. We have only been once since we have been married. Why? Seating mainly. But again, that will be easier. I wont like dressing up but at least….

#3. Dress clothes more often. Do people even realize how expensive clothes for big people are??? Especially dress clothes, if you can even find them. I know that my lovely wife would love for me to dress up for often. Maybe even a dress shirt and tie. MAYBE! But I would love to be more like Corey Matthews of Boy Meets Wold and rock the Sweater vest some!! Again, more options. Clothes are still expensive but some are worth it like….

#2. Buying jerseys and sports clothes!! I always wear shirts and I never get to wear anything to rep my STL Cards or My UCONN Huskies. Well beside hats. I cant wait til I cant get that first Jersey or Uniform. Its going to be awesome. Also a nice plus will be WWE shirts. So I can walk around chanting YES YES YES YES to everyone. (like 3 people will get that. LOL)

#1. Not being embarrassed all the time. Overweight constantly fight self image issues. Since I view this surgery as very PRO ACTIVE it will nice to know that even if I am still a big guy (face it I will never be 150) I will know that something is being done about it and I can feel easier and better about myself.

Christiana's Dream BIG Collage:

016 Dare to Dream BIG

As I mentioned in my last post, we had a Dr. Appointment Blitz on August 10th. If you have no clue what I am talking about then feel free to read my last post “INSERT TITLE & HREF”. One of the appointments Jimmy had that day was with Dr. Taylor who is a local Psychologist who works with the WLS program at Heartland. As a part of Jimmy’s WLS team it’s her job to make sure that Jimmy is mentally prepared for this surgery and the lifestyle changes it will entail.

I think it’s really a no brainer that Jimmy was the most worried about his appointment with Dr. Taylor. I mean--come on--no one wants people to analyze all the things going on in their heads! Thankfully our appointment went really well and Jimmy didn’t have to lay down on any therapy couches :) One thing that we really did take away from our visit with Dr. Taylor was that Jimmy needs to dream big and think about all the things that he really is looking forward to/wants to do/wants to have that he was physically unable to be/do/have before and that this surgery and changing his eating habits will allow him to be/do/have now.

Dr. Taylor made a great point. She said that if he can think about and make a list of all the things that he wants to come as a result of this surgery then it will be easier to follow his doctors instructions and his new healthier lifestyle because he knows what he is doing this for. So when he is really tired and feeling lazy and wants to order a deep dish meat lovers from Pizza Hut instead of giving in he should say/think something like “I am choosing not to have Pizza Hut because I would rather be able to wear a UCONN Jersey.”

If you are planning to have WLS think about what you want to achieve through this surgical experience and make a list. Next time I will be sharing some of the things from Jimmy’s list with you!

Until next time!