Yesterday was a good day.

Yesterday was the annual WLS Fall Gala here in the Minneapolis Area, and it may be one of the best little area WLS conferences you never heard of. It started out about 7 years ago, a group of post-ops got together and they started having an evening of dinner and dancing, a way for those who have found a renewed zest for life to get out and celebrate a bit. After awhile they started having some vendors and a couple of informational, or maybe more motivational type speakers.

Now I’m not entirely clear on the exact evolution of all this, but as I understand it Deb attended a few years back and saw some great potential for this event… and last year they went from just an evening of fun to a full day of educational breakout sessions. Deb works for the Allina medical group and I believe through her efforts, the Allina Bariatric Centers (at Unity, Abbot Northwestern and United Hospitals) sponsor this event and help coordinate the education portion of it.

I was there last year, manning a table to help promote the WLSFA and did the same again this year along with offering some Gotein for sale. Last year I was able to catch a couple of the talks, this year I wasn’t as lucky.. and I’m really kinda bummed. At the end of the day I did sit in on part of one of the wrap up sessions where folks got together with a facilitator and briefly touched on the different sessions, letting those who were there a chance to share some highlights with those who were not.

A quick sampling of some of the talks given; Weight Gain After WLS From a Psychological Perspective, Disordered Eating, How to By Healthy Food Without Breaking the Bank, Mindfulness and Goal Setting, Pregnancy after WLS, Body Image – Reality vs Perception and two different talks on Vitamin Supplementation, one geared towards patients and another towards providers. I heard a lot of great things about all the sessions, and hoping a few of them are offered again next year so I can catch them.

Then there was the vendor area.. there weren’t a lot of us, there was someone selling Scentsy products, a rep for the It Works! body wraps, someone selling various essential oils, a woman offering chair massage and a guy that sells some great bbq sauces and such. All of these, except the chair massages were returning vendors from last year. Also there was folks from the Emily Program (a local group that works with those who have eating disorders), Allergan (makers of the Lap-Band), Endo-Ethicon (makers of the REALIZE band) and Lifetime Fitness. The rep from Lifetime led the group on a short dancercize routine after lunch that about a third of the 140 or so attendees joined in on.

Another new group there this year was The Metropolitan. They have a program geared specifically towards bariatric patients to help with all sorts of stuff, from wellness coaching to stylists, a psychotherapist and even someone to help you shop for better fitting, better looking clothes as you lose your weight.

I had some nice chats with the other vendors during the down time when the sessions were going on. I heard wonderful things about the lunch that was served by the cafe at the Crowne Plaza where the event was held. And I do have to add, the staff there was great, from those keeping the various snack tables filled to the event coordinator, to the servers working the tables at the dinner.

Dinner? Yup, there was dinner. After the day of education and such, I packed up and hung out to stay for the dinner and dancing. The dinner menu was very bariatric and non-bariatric friendly. A couple of nice salad mixes, some fire roasted veges that included some asparagus that was really good for this time of year, mashed potatoes (I did have a spoonful of those), and for entrees a choice of roasted pork with apricots (which I had) or a chicken dish, or a vegetarian pasta dish. I stole some of the portabella mushrooms from that one.

After dinner they awarded some nice door prizes including a Wii and Wii-Fit and announced the winners of the silent auction. The proceeds raised by the silent auction I guess go towards helping pay the way for folks who maybe are in a bit of a financial pinch so they can attend the next event. They try to award about 10 of these “scholarships” each year. And after that, they opened up the dance floor… and yes, I eventually got out there for a few dances.

It was a good time, I got to hang out with a few people I know from my surgery center at Unity as well as a friend that I know from BariatricTV that was there… (it was Patti that eventually dragged me out on the dance floor). All in all, it was a very good day… and I am looking forward to it again next year… I should have done so this year, but next year I will make sure I spread the word more about this great lil event.

Ok, so the other day I introduced you to the OAC – now it’s time to talk a bit about another of my Dash From Obesity beneficiaries, the Weight Loss Surgery Foundation of America. I’ve mentioned the WLSFA off and on for awhile now… so I don’t know that I need to get in to a whole lot of detail… so instead what I did was basically ask the founder, Antonia Namnath, the same questions I asked Joe from the OAC… and here’s what she had to say!

What is the WLSFA and what is their “purpose”?

The Weight Loss Surgery Foundation of America is a nonprofit organization raising money and resources to give as grants to people who have been denied access to weight loss or reconstructive plastic surgery after massive weight.

Who are you (your background?) and what do you do for them?

I am a weight loss surgery patient I own my own software company and I Volunteer as the CEO of the WLSFA.

My Husband Dr. James Namnath and I have raised six amazing children together and celebrate that each one is a college graduate.

We welcomed our first grandson this year and we look forward to many more!

I am organizing the WLS patient community to work together to accomplish the mission of the WLSFA.

If there was just one thing someone could do to help out the WLSFA, what would it be?

Tell your bariatric surgeon there is now a charity to help their patients in need and ask them to donate!

What’s your “elevator speech” that you would use to get your message across to someone you’re just meeting?

At 47 years old I was dying, I was put on oxygen and told that I would have a cannula in my nose for the rest of my life.

Today I am 50 years old, I am a healthy weight, I need no medications and I do not need oxygen or cannula , weight loss surgery cured all of my medical conditions associated to my morbid obesity and gives me a 85% chance to stay at this healthy weight the rest of my life.

Before surgery I was a statistic, the all to common story of a person losing and regaining weight unable to maintain a healthy weight.

At a gathering of fellow WLS patients, I realized my purpose in life was to help people get WLS if they were denied access through no fault of their own.

I knew how hopeless my life felt when I was 303 pounds, unable to breath or move well, unable to stand for more than a few minutes and feeling as if I were drowning in my own body.  I had to share my miracle and I knew that fellow patients would feel the same desire and I was right! Together as a community we have already granted two surgeries as and we are working on number 3 & 4 right now . Wont YOU help us?

There you have it, the WLSFA in a bit of a nutshell. With the great response to this years Meet & Greet by both patients, vendors and sponsors alike, the WLSFA is bound to continue having a positive impact on the lives of those waiting for surgery.

Remember, the Dash From Obesity fund raising starts June 1 and making a donation is a great way to help out the WLSFA and is eligible for the prize drawings.

Connie Stapleton, author of Eat It Up! is just finishing up her second book, and already she’s got her sights set on a third. This third book though isn’t going to be written by just her – she’s going to have the help from a few dozen or so of her “close friends”.

Basically, what Connie is doing it taking YOUR weight loss surgery stories and is going to compile then in to a book… a sort of “Chicken Soup for the WLS Soul”… which I’m assuming means something to some of you, even though I’ve never ready any of those myself…

Anyways, you should check it out. Basically, she wants your story … about 5-6 pages worth… and she’ll take a whole bunch of them to put together, likely with lots of words of wisdom from Connie herself. And like I said, it’s all for a good cause… all proceeds from the sale of this book are going to go to the Weight Loss Surgery Foundation of America.

If you want to submit your own story, here’s what you do:

1. Please send us your 5 or 6 page typed story in the form of a Word document -OR- you can use this submission form. Send us your story about what lead to you becoming morbidly obese and what was your breaking point?
2. At the bottom of your story please include the following information: Your full name and age, phone number and email address. If you want to be Annonymous send us your “Pen Name” Example: Sleepless in Seattle
3. Email your story to book@wlsfa.org
4. After they receive your story, they will contact you if your story is selected for the book and you will be sent a release form for you to authorize the WLSFA and Connie Stapleton to publish the story and give them the right to use the story at no charge. All profits from the sale of the book are to be donated to the WLSFA as a fundraiser.

So… whatcha waiting for? We all have a story to tell about our WLS journey, so get to it!

Connie Stapleton, Ph.D., who is a licensed psychologist and owner of Mind Body Health Services in Augusta, GA. Connie is certified in addictions counseling and works closely with local bariatric surgeons, conducting pre-surgical interviews for potential surgical weight loss patients and follows up with extensive therapy after weight loss surgery.

I mentioned this last week… that I was going to be teaming up with a bunch of folks for a WLS Food Tracking sort of event, and inviting others to join in as well.

Some of the folks involved are tracking their food today to post tomorrow… others (like myself) will be tracking my day with Joe tomorrow to post (hopefully) later in the day. I thought I would throw out the list of those I know that are taking part and invite others that plan on doing so to start posting links to their blogs or facebook pages or whatever – just post a comment here… and I’ll add links when I do my posting tomorrow.

• Pam – Journey to a Healthier Me
• Beth – Melting Mama
• Andrea – WLS Vitagarten
• Tom – Beariatric
• Shelly – The World According to Eggface
• Nik – Bariatric Foodie (she’s the one that started this particular ball rolling BTW)

So… you going to join us in sharing your day… at least as far as your food goes… with the rest of the world?

I like to talk. I like to write. That petty much summarizes why I blog and take every opportunity to talk about my life after weight loss surgery. I also enjoy listening to fellow weight loss surgery patients’ stories. It is through our collective stories that people come to understand the often misunderstood subject of bariatric surgery.

I find that many people are unsure of how to tell their story or even what story they should tell. In today’s post, I am sharing some techniques I use in my storytelling. The techniques are actually pretty straightforward and easy to use. I hope that you can use them to tell your personal story.

“Your readers care about themselves first and foremost, not about you.”

I recently read a good post, Why Nobody Cares about Your Content (And What to do about it) on Copyblogger. The above sentence grabbed my attention and directly applies to our weight loss surgery stories. The post explains that your story will have value to your audience if it connects with them and gives them value. Two good recommendations were offered in the post on how to make your message relevant and something that people care about. They are good things for you as a bariatric patient to keep in mind as you tell your story.

Be personal (but not too personal)

The art of storytelling is useful when sharing your personal journey as a bariatric patient. It is that personal insight of you as an individual that your audience needs to understand and relate to during your presentation. It is definitely permissible to talk about your successes. Motivating my audience to succeed is a key component of the message I seek to convey in my blog posts. My message is also directed inwardly as part of my own therapy. As a recovering abuser of food, what I say reminds me of where I have been and where I need to go.

When do you cross the line to being too personal? I learned a lesson in a storytelling workshop that helps me overcome my tendency to over share my accomplishments and victories. Choose a single event that changed your life. Spend 20% of your message telling the story. Spend the next 40% of the time explaining how the story was a transformational event for you. Finish your message by relating your story and transformation to your audience’s life. With this technique you develop a personal connection with the audience through your experience that connects with their needs and life.

Put the focus back on your reader

I use a relational form of writing and speaking. My personal style is to speak from my life experiences and relate it to my readers’ life experiences. A typical blog post starts with me sharing a personal story. I need to catch my readers’ attention early on to retain their interest. Focusing too much on my life can lead to spending the wrong message to my audience. I could be perceived as being egotistical and self promoting.

“The only reason people read any blog is because of the value that they get from it.”

The above statement from the Copyblogger post puts the purpose of my blogging into perspective. I am not a celebrity or internationally known expert. I believe people find themselves reading my blog to learn about how I live as a post-op bariatric patient and how to apply the lessons I speak about to their personal lives. The storytelling technique I spoke about earlier is key in making that happen. Make sure your message is about helping your readers and not about helping yourself.

Summing it up

I hope this post encourages you to tell your story. I hope that what you take away from this post is that people like to see the personal side of fellow weight loss surgery bloggers. It is through that personal side that you make the connection to your audience. You need to speak directly your audience through your words. Most important, you need to demonstrate the value of your message to their lives. Don’t be shy. Get out there and tell your story. I know I want to hear it.

Tom @ Beariatric

Two years.

On April 8, 2009 I had my RNY gastric bypass surgery. I weighed in that day at 323, down nearly 60 pounds from my heaviest.

Today I’m at… I don’t know. My scale is busted and I don’t check in with my nurse until later today, but I’m around 215 I think.

That’s a bit heavier than the 205 I maintained for pretty much all of last year. I’ve been… it’s been a … I don’t want to say rough few months. Cause it really hasn’t been rough. But I have been eating stuff I don’t need to be, including candy and cookies on an unfortunately regular basis. Combine that with job upheaval that’s thrown my schedule into disarray and a general feeling of blah over going to the gym, and yea. I’m up from where I’d like to be.

I’m not making excuses here, I mean cripes, even at 220 I’m looking at being over 150 pounds less than I was when I started this whole thing.

It just is what it is. I know what I need to do. I know what I don’t need to do. I know I can do it. I just need to do it.

I’m hoping I can really start getting out and doing more biking again. I did 700 miles last year. I want to do more than that this year… more than 1000. Unfortunately I’m getting a late start thanks to the lovely weather we’ve been having in MN. Last year we were getting 60s and 70s in March. Here it is the first week of April and just hitting the 50s this week.

With everything that’s changed for me these last couple years… heck, just looking at the last six months… I can’t even imagine what my life would be like right now if I had not had this surgery. Instead it’s amazing to think about what it is like right now.

The people I’ve met, friends I’ve made, both in person and virtually thanks to places like Twitter and BariatricTV. Going back to school and on the verge of starting my own nutritional coaching business. Continuing to work with my surgeon’s office and getting the opportunity to work with them in going to my state legislators to talk about obesity issues. Heck, I’m on the verge of becoming one of the hosts for a weekly radio show on health and wellness. I’m in a great relationship with a wonderful woman. I’m going to take part in the Warrior Dash this July, just after my 44th birthday. I’m looking forward to getting out on the paintball field as much as possible this year.

I know… I know they say that having weight loss surgery is not the “easy way out”. And it’s not. But for whatever reason, more times than not, I do feel as if I’ve had it, well, easy.

I don’t know exactly why I feel like this. I know I’ve made some significant changes in my life – what I eat, how I eat, exercise and more. Changes I’ve tried to make time and again over the last few decades and just haven’t been able to for whatever reason – until now.

Was it the surgery? Was I just finally “ready” to make the changes for good? Probably both. Yea, there are days I’ve wondered if I could have made these changes in my life at this time without the surgery. There may have even been a few days where I feel I could have. It’s that whole “if I knew then, what I know now” sort of thing. But then again, would I know what I know now if I hadn’t made the decisions I made? I try not to dwell on it too much, cause I think it’s just going to give me a headache if I do.

At the end of the day, I know the surgery helps me control how much I eat. I still have to fight the urges, I still have to make the right decisions about what I eat.

It’s cliche to say it, but I’ll say it anyways. This was a surgery on my stomach, not my head.

I sometimes wonder if I’ll always be the “fat dude”. As far as I’ve come, as much as I’ve changed, it’s only been two years. And actually, only just over a year since I reached my lowest weight. Compare that to over two decades of being fat… yea, I know I shouldn’t expect all that to magically disappear. I guess I shouldn’t expect it to change “overnight” for others either.

For example… I ran in to someone in the hall of the building I am currently working at. I used to work here a few years ago, before I had surgery. We exchanged the pleasant “hello’s” in passing and she made a comment to the effect of  “looking skinny as usual.”

She was smiling, and I know she meant nothing but nice things by the comment, but yet… it sort of struck a nerve. I had a flash of a thought – “c’mon. I’m more than just my weight.”

I’m sure she was saying as a compliment. And yes, this probably sounds odd coming from a guy who created a site called “Former FAT Dudes”. And it probably seems rather ironic coming from someone that has been making obesity (or fighting it rather) such a pivotal part of his life.

I guess for better or worse, it is part of who I am. Even if I am a FORMER fat dude. It’s still there. It has to be. Otherwise it could be way to easy for that adjective to go away.

I realize I can’t go forward if all I do is look back, but sometimes it’s hard to not keep looking over your shoulder, worried that your past is going to catch back up with you. Of course it doesn’t mean I can just blindly charge forward either, ignoring that past.

That past, for better or worse, has made me what I am today. As long as I’m throwing out cliche’s here… to ignore that history is to risk repeating it. And whether it is in spite of or because of all the ups and downs, all the mental, physical and emotional challenges, I’m enjoying my life way too much to do that.

I’ll start by confessing that I am a former fat dude. I was happy to find this blog. As a dude who blogs about weight loss surgery, I also find that guys blogging about their personal experiences are in a minority. I am excited to be a guest blogger on Former Fat Dudes! In today’s post, I’ll introduce myself by sharing some of my weight loss journey and my evolution as a weight loss surgery blogger.

I am a blogger and have blogged for over five years. My blogging began during my recovery from a heart attack and triple cardiac bypass surgery. I played with journaling over the years and saw this new public form of journaling as a support mechanism to move me to a healthier life. My early years of blogging were a diary led of my life events with occasional rants about religion and politics.

In early 2008 I committed to change my life with weight loss surgery playing a big role in that change. In February I began the insurance approval process, pre-op testing and health assessments leading up to my July Lapband surgery. Early in this process I stumbled upon a blog of a successful post-op Lapband patient. He was quite a role model to me. His blog spoke to me and highly motivated me. I committed to blog about my weight loss hoping that my blog could possibly have such a positive impact on others.

My life did indeed change after my Lapband surgery. The weight came off slowly and steadily. I lost those 90 pounds and continued to blog. I began blogging about bariatric friendly recipes for about a year on Beariatric.com. I had made a commitment to concentrate on my weight loss when I was pre-op and soon realized that maintaining two blogs was too distracting. I abandoned Beariatric .com and continued blogging about my life and weight loss on my personal blog.

In the summer of 2009 my life took another turn. An on-line weight loss buddy cycled a charity bicycle ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. I was amazed that he could cycle over 500 miles in 7 days as a one year post-op bariatric patient. I got on my bike and soon realized that I loved cycling. Through the summer, I invited friends and fellow bariatric patients to cycle with me. Our impromptu cycling group morphed into a bariatric cycling club, the Spin-Offs. I spent 2010 cycling 2-3 times a week with them. I cycled in a 150 mile charity ride and a century ride; quite an accomplishment for this former fat dude!

At two years post-op, I knew that my focus needed to change in my weight loss journey. I observed that at this point many bariatric patients veer away from the bariatric principles by which they have been living. It’s that pivotal time at which success can quickly turn into failure. I can’t speak for others, but for me this is due to boredom with my daily routine, being comfortable with my weight loss-to-date, and the daily pressures and demands of everyday life. I began searching for “the answer” that would keep me on track.

The answer came from my on-line buddy who initially motivated me so highly with his blog. He spoke about the wellness vision he was developing for himself. I Googled “wellness vision” and found out that it is your personal vision of wellness in terms of where you want to be at a given point in time. This vision is supported by goals which achieve this vision. I had spent many years setting goals for which I had mixed results. The idea of linking goals to a vision seemed to be the answer for me.

I developed my wellness vision. You can read it on my blog. I thought it was going to be an easy exercise. It turned out to be a multi-month exercise during free lunch hours and evenings. It made me dig deep within myself and really give some thought to where I needed to be at this point in my life. What surprised me as I gathered my thoughts was that the vision revolved around happiness. I came to understand that happiness is what truly defines my life.

That brings me back to my blogging. One of the key things I discovered was that I am a pretty decent writer and speaker. People have told me that my cycling has motivated them to be more active. I knew I had to focus these talents and energies on my blogging. Bariatric.com was reborn in January 2011 as my personal weight loss journey with a focus on living life to its fullest as a long term post-op bariatric patient.

I want to thank Rob for inviting me to be a guest blogger on Former Fat Dudes! He is a talented blogger and motivator. It’s an honor to contribute to his blog. In future posts, I hope to share how I am living my wellness vision and how that vision drives me to achieve the goals that support it. I invite you to follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and my blog, Beariatric.com.

“The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination. — Don Williams, Jr., American Poet and Novelist

So yesterday I posted about why I decided to have WLS. As I mentioned in the comments, it was sort of a rebuttal to a posting on another blog. But more than that, I wrote it primarily to be a part of the site I’m currently developing for my upcoming nutritional coaching business.

I’ll be honest, I’m having some… concerns? Doubts? Reservations? While it would be wonderful if I could build a business geared exclusively around helping bariatric patients, that would really be limiting my market way too much I think. I do believe I will be able to help give some particular insight for folks looking in to or have had bariatric surgery, but really, why limit myself?

So that sort of brings up my concerns – would someone trying to lose weight really want to be told what to do by someone that had WLS? After all, the overall public perception of WLS is that it is the easy way out. I know statistically that the chances for long term success are dramatically better with WLS, but do I think that it still can’t be done the old-fashioned way? Do I think I could have lost my weight without surgery?

If you had asked me that two years ago, I would have said no. Today…? Knowing what I know now, I’m not so sure.

But the problem is, it is because of the surgery that I now know what I do. So we have one of those chicken and egg things going on here.

So moving forward with my business plans, I just have to be open and honest about my history, about what I’ve learned, about how I feel, and about what I believe I can help others accomplish. If someone decides that I’m not the best coach for them… so be it. There’s many reasons why someone might think that, I guess I don’t need to waste any more time worrying that it might be because I had WLS.

So anyways, when my twitter announcement went out, I had someone ask if she could borrow the topic for her blog as she was about to hit her 10-year anniversary. I don’t own the topic, so of course I told her go for it. In passing, I even suggested we should get others to do so and compile the stories.

Well, that idea sort of stuck… so yea, why don’t we do that? I’m putting out the call.

Why did YOU choose to have weight loss surgery?

Post about it – you can use the comments here, your own blog, I even started a topic for this over at the Bariatric TV forums. If you post something on your own blog, maybe toss a link back to here or my original post so I am aware of it, and over the next week or so I’ll compile them and post a summary or three about the various postings out there.

C’mon! Tell us your story!

photo credit: GiniMiniGI

Ok, I’m not usually the best at blowing my own horn, or pimping myself, so to speak. But what the heck…

Diva Taunia started these WLS Awards by taking nominations for favorites in a number of different categories on a special FaceBook page last week. She plans on making this an annual thing… here’s how she describes it herself:

The first annual “Giving Thanks:  The Backstage Pass WLS Awards“ has begun!   The purpose of the awards is to acknowledge the individuals and companies within the WLS Community that are making a difference, and supporting not only each other, but the community as a whole.  Every year, on the Monday evening program just before Thanksgiving, we’ll celebrate those in our community that we think are superstars!

I was kinda thrilled when I visited the nomination page early last week to see a few people had nominated me/this site under Favorite WLS Blog. I was listening to Taunia’s show last night because I knew she was going to be talking about the recent What Would You Do? show… and was quite surprised I was also nominated under Favorite WLS Chef.

I mean cripes, this really is kinda neat considering the company I’m in. Eggface and MeltingMama…? I mean really… in some ways, seeing what Shelly and Beth were doing was part of why I started formerfatdudes.com in the first place. So yea… suffice to say I am humbled.

That said… yea, I’m gonna ask that you head over to the WLS Awards site and vote for me. Ok, you don’t have to vote for me, but would be nice if you did. But head over there and vote none-the-less. And while you’re at it, vote for Baka and Mike from BTV and Toni or Lynnda too. And Sarah! Cause they’re also all inspirations behind what I do here.

Originally posted October 13, 2010

Ok, as I posted yesterday… I’m looking in to bariatric surgery, or as folks around the net seem to refer to it as “weight loss surgery” or WLS. The pros of doing something like this are pretty much self-evident. What about the cons? What about the risks? I haven’t been blowing sunshine up my own skirt on this, I’ve been trying to find out about the downside to doing this as well.

First off, even the minimally invasive procedures are still … well… invasive. It’s still major surgery. There are inherent risks any time you get put under for a surgery. But those, well, there is little you can do to avoid them other than not having the surgery. So I guess I put that stuff in the category of “not gonna sweat it”.

After surgery, this turns into a HUGE life-style changing deal that is going to (if it’s gonna work) change how I eat for the rest of my life. That’s something I’ve been trying to do in little steps any ways, because I recognize that I need to do that to keep from dying before I hit fifty… or if I don’t die, at least be able to walk up a flight of stairs without passing out or falling from a joint giving out. WLS, in that regard is a major kick start.

Maybe the difference between doing this via WLS and not is some of the things that, from what I’ve been reading, become not just things that I “should not have” but rather things that I “can not have”. It’s still early in my learning on this, but a few things that I think are going to end up on that list that I am really going to miss would be Coca-Cola, fruit juice, popcorn at the movies. I’m trying to find out more on a post WLS diet, cause I’m also going to miss cooking I think.

I love to cook, almost as much as I love to eat maybe? I don’t get real exotic, but I enjoy trying new things. I read cook books for entertainment. I hate cooking for just myself. Cooking for two is bad enough, there are tons of cookbooks out there on it. Cooking for one is probably worse… tho maybe I didn’t see much difference cause lots of times I was probably eating enough for two any ways. But the point is, going through the effort of cooking a single burger, or a single chicken breast and a side dish and other stuff – that was enough of a pain when they were “regular” portions. What about when the majority of a meal consists of a single egg?

Will that make things easier? or harder? Will the impulse to not want to have to mess up the kitchen for something so minor increase the odds of just hitting a fast food place on the way home from work? Granted, post WLS I’d likely not be able to handle much more than just the patty from a dollar-menu burger rather than a couple of them with fries and a pop, but still… that can’t be a good thing, it’s just on a smaller scale. In some ways, I am sort of approaching this as a challenge though. I have a freezer, I have a food-saver. Ok, so I cook once a week and I’m good for a month now? I recently started a recipe site that I haven’t touched in a few weeks now, maybe I’ll have to give it a new direction. We’ll see.