I wanted to do something to show how much life has changed for me.

A few years ago I borrowed my mate Gavin’s mountain bike. I cycled down the road about 3 k total. When I got home I could hardly move, definitely nearly died  walking up the 3 stairs into the house.

Now I regularly ride 25km or so (2-3 times a week), and whilst at Radio Rhema I saw an ad for this poverty cycle.

I thought I would give it a go. Now, I intend to cycle the full 50km, so I thought I better see if I can do it, so I have done one 48km and one 44 km ride since then as well as my normal. This weekend I am going to ride the poverty cycle route (mostly because I want to know where I am going) and then the weekend after I am going to do the whole shebang!

If you want to support  me, and do something to help TEAR fund do something about poverty, then click the link below and sponsor me. You can either pay per KM, or just donate. I dont get the money, it goes straight to tear fund via the interwebz.

http://www.povertycycle.org.nz/myride/AKL052

Send me messages of support or even turn up and watch on the day..

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2 years ago I waddled into the Manukau Surgery Centre to meet Kate, the nurse in charge of bariatric (weightloss) surgery. I was about 190KG, having lost about 20kg. I was approved at this time to have the surgery on June 30 2009. I had to lose about another 10kg.

I could hardly walk, I had sleep apnea, hypertension, diabetes, and was in constant fear of bruising or scratching my legs and getting cellulitis.

I got the surgery, had some complications, and today, 18 months or so later, I am going back for my final post surgery check up.

The difference today is instead of having sleep apnea, hypertension, diabetes, and being in constant fear of bruising or scratching my legs and getting cellulitis, I am healthy, and fit. Instead of being hardly able to walk, permanently out of breath and having a resting heart rate of 80-90, today I am going to cycle to the clinic (about 10km 1 way), and I have a resting heart rate of 50bpm. Today I am about 110kg. I can run, jump, swim, cycle, and THEN do the housework

Sure, i still have a few issues, my knees are a bit dodgy, and so is my back, but they no longer “bother me”.

The biggest issue for people having this surgery is the mental one. I’ll write another post on it in a day or so. I’ll also let you know what Kate says today

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So far today i have cycled 10k with my 3yr old on the back of my bike, hung 2 loads of laundry, fixed the fence, fixed the garden retaining wall, cleaned the yard, changed the dog water, cleaned my tool bench, fixed a PC. And I’m not at all tired… this time last year I’d have been dead by now.

AMAZING.

Anyone who says the government shouldn’t pay for surgery for people like me is an idiot.

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Bit of an update:

Been doing a bit of cycling on my mountain bike, and i’m up to 10km rides. Tomorrow I am aiming for 15km.. so we’ll see how we get on.

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Turns out, that losing weight is great. Problem is, I lost alot of muscle mass off my shoulders.
Went for a run with the dog. Dog freaked out, I feel over, dog went backwards at 3000 miles an hour, with his lead tied around my hand.

Now I have a “sub luxed” shoulder – a dislocated shoulder thats not completely out of joint. The doc and the physio cant really understand it. Xrays and ultrasounds show nothing except inflammation.
So, today its off to the doc to get a referral to the specialist. I am in a lot of pain, because from the surgery I cant stomach any “decent” pain killers. Its making me tetchy and grumpy, and making it hard to think straight (yes yes ha ha.. I know thats not all that much of a change )

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Well, I hit 122 KG today, (269lb for you americans, or 19 stone for the Poms..wow, just realise I have gone for 33 stone to 19 stone)

Its really quite amazing, I am now lighter than I have been since I was 20.At high school (13-17), I was between 90 and 110 KG, so its entirely possible I will get to be slimmer than I was at high school.

I still have issues though, my tummy burns sometimes since I stopped taking omprezole, I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to eat a steak or  a roast meal, but I cant.

Oh well.. life’s tough eh?

Edit:

According to my diet plugin:

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because I havent lost weight for a bit. But then, the realisation that since I had the stents out means I have been eating more, and I have been more active, going to the pool and walking the dog etc, means i have been putting on muscle and kinda cancelling out the weight loss. This means I had bette measure myself, so here goes:

Neck:         46                       =>               45

Wrist:         18.5                   =>               19.5

Bicep:         40                   =>                39.5

Stomach:    133                    =>              138

Chest:         135                    =>             138

I’m guessing that either last time, or this time my measurements werent very accurate. I’ll get the wife to measure me and  get a more accurate gauge.

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Well, things are progressing in the food stakes. I need to be really careful I am not eating bad food though. I am sitting here eating a slice of burgen toast with about a tablespoon of baked beans on it. Its taken me all week to eat a tin of baked beans and its still 1/3 full

Last night I had a little lasagne for dinner, it was very tasty and beats my usual poached egg and chicken I am going to start integrating some salad into my meals now, the problem is, the meals are so small, the salad is also going to be tiny, but I need to, so that my stomach can handle lots of different types of food.

My biggest issue is eating slowly.. really… must… concentrate. Eating too fast causes me massive discomfort… heartburn, indigestion, and a really really full feeling… not like the old “i’m too full” discomfort… but real pain.

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I cant begin to tell you how much better i feel. No vomiting.. I ate a little bit of sausage last night..

I had a tiny coffee for breakfast.. I’m currently eating half a weatbix and half a pot of yoghurt. I was able to drink well over a litre of water last night too… its amazing.

Turns out the stents are huge and also my stomach had collapsed somewhat so it was only a few mils is size.. now we’re back to the full 100ml and zooming. Today i think I try baked beans for lunch!!!!

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and it feels good.. I finally saw one and they are HUGE.. no wonder i was having isssues… I’ll let you know how I get on without em

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