Neal R.

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Well, I am active here and post some, but I realize I haven't updated my actual profile in several years! My bad. I am going to uplaod some new pics, as well. I had my 5 year "bandiversary" earlier this year. This is what I posted on my FaceBook page:

FIVE years. Five years ago today, I was on my way to the hospital to change my life for the better. And what a journey it’s been. Today is the Five year anniversary of my Lap Band.

I have battled obesity my entire life. For those of you who know me from high school, you know I was always the friendly, chubby kid. I never felt picked on, but I always lacked self confidence because of my weight. That carried over through adulthood. I continued to gain weight. The usual yo-yo dieting –lose 30, only to gain back 40. Before I knew it, I had gotten up to close to 350 pounds. Like my dad always used to say about himself, I was always in good shape for the shape I was in. I was still fairly active. Played on the High School tennis team, etc. But on my last visit to the Dr.’s prior to Lap Band surgery, I was diagnosed with high blood pressure, borderline diabetes, and sleep apnea. That’s when I decided it was time to take my life back.

Many will say I took the easy way out by getting weight loss surgery. It’s not accurate and I really don’t care. There are several types of weight loss surgeries, all having success and I don’t advocate one over the other, other than to say the Lap Band was the right choice for me. It’s not easy. There is no magic potion to lose weight. I still have to eat the right foods and exercise. The Lap-Band is a great tool, but not a cure all. It’s easy to say “Just stop eating so much and exercise. It’s not rocket science”. I wish it were that easy. Do we tell anorexic people to just eat? Do we tell smokers to just stop? No, they are offered help for the physical and physiological struggles to overcome their situations. You can’t just quit eating and keep yourself from being around food, like you can tobacco or alcohol. You have to be around it to survive. There is a reason that over 90% of obese people who lose weight gain most or all of it back.

So I am writing this because I am not ashamed that I sought out help. I am living again. I can fit in a restaurant booth again. I ride rides at the Six Flags again. I can fit comfortably in seats at Sporting events and airplanes without making those next to me uncomfortable and miserable. But most importantly, I can run around and play with my kids and hopefully ensure that I am around a lot longer for them, God willing.

So now I sit here almost 5 1/2 year post op and still doing great. Hovering around goal. The weight loss and my tummy tuck have boosted my confident so much. I still deal with shyness and insecurities, but it gets better all the time. it's a slow process.

I often get asked how I was able to loose so much, so fast. My first response would be that I am ver fortunate and blessed. I do think there are other factors to that as well though and I thought I would jot them down here and share my experience

First and foremost, I follow the band rules set forth by my doctor. Chew slow and take small bites. Protein first. No Drinking an hour before or after my meal and limit snacking to a minimum. Also, I put my fork or spoon down between bites to help me eat slower and eat only until I am no longer hungry instead of eating until I am full.

Since being banded, I followed a very strict low carb/low fat/high protien diet. I saw someone post here once about the "rule of 5's" I am too lazy to journal my food intake and count calories and such, but this I can do. Look at labels and don't eat anything with more than 5 carbs, 5 fats, or 5 sugars Per serving. That is the easiest thing I can do. I do make exceptions when I have oatmeal or beans. THey are a little higher in carbs, but still healthy.

As for excercise. I do it moderately. I was bad in the beginning, but since December, I work out on average about 3 times a week at the gym, doing mostly teadmill work. I plan to run a 5K by Labor Day this year. Hope this answers questions on how I did things. Its not easy and certainly not for everyone. But it worked well for me :)

Well, Like I said in my original post, I am terrible at updating this thing! :) Anyway, in Febraury, I hit my personal goal of 180. I have done well maintaining for the last couple of months. I try to stay between 175 and 180. That's the range I have selected to stay between. Its a great feeling and can never remember another time in my adult life where I can honestly say I am no longer trying to loose weight.



Also, I grew my hair out for the first time on like 12 years. Here is a pic with a cheesy smile.

Ok, so I am bad at posting. It only took 7 months to get anything on here at all, so I guess a couple of weeks isn't too bad. I made it to onederland on Christmas day. I stepped on the scales at 197. I weighed again on the 26th to make sure and it said the same. What a great Christmas present to myself. I also joined LA Fitness this week and plan to work out at least 4 to 5 days a week. Wish me luck on that! Until next time.

Getting very close to breaking into the one hundreds. I weighed 200 even this morning. My goal was to break 200 by New Years. Looks like it can acheive that. Here is a picture taken at Thanksgiving