So, here's the deal... the tooth that was pulled was fine, needed to be pulled and I'm glad its gone. The problem however is this, the tooth that was pulled was NOT the whole issue. There was, or is, an infection in another tooth. It drove me mad with pain and of course there was no prescription for antibiotics when I had the original extraction. So I had to get a new scrip and wait for it to work.

Bottom line? 3 more sleepless nights....

There's no end I swear.

However, today I feel great, no pain at all and just waiting to finish out this course of Antibiotics and it off for a root canal... FUN I tell you.... FUN!!

Scale still dropping though...

Here we go, awful truth time...

I had snuck back up over 300 lbs.

Crazy.... like an addict I kept putting it back on and denying it.... but there you go.

Anyhooooo..... I was at 314 lbs this time around.... 314lbs... crazy number huh?

I got the fright and jumped back on the program again. My wife is my whip in this, my kids are the carrot.

That 314 was on July 1st, now, July 20th, not three weeks later, I am at 290. That's 24lbs in three weeks for the weak in math among us. Not bad, about what I would expect to be honest. It'll slow down some now.

Looking at setting a gym up in my shed. I just have this romantic image in my mind of going out there in Mid-Jan, getting the wood stove lit and stoked and working out while it's -15 outside and the snow is howling. Kinda like Rocky in Russia lol...

Also thinking about a bike... Gabe is learning now, it would be nice to be able to bike ride with him.

Thats about it for now...

Zach grats on the wedding and all that goes with it.... there's nothing better than a wife who loves and supports you...

Jason... gratz on getting it done!

So, I went to bed last Thursday with a slight discomfort in my jaw, nothing serious, almost as if I had bitten something hard and caused the tooth to throb a little. A couple of Advil and bam, pain gone, problem solved.

Not so much.

Friday was ok, had a wedding Friday and on the way back from it I started to get that throbbing again. Oh oh... got home took some pills and it went away. That night the real fun started. A throbbing nearly constant pain, alleviated somewhat by meds, but not totally. Water swishing in the mouth seemed to help best, but try doing that in bed. I almost drowned several times falling asleep with water in my mouth. Sleep was sporadic at best, a half hour here and there with no prolonged periods. I was convinced that I was dealing with an infection. Tried to treat it myself as best I could, since I couldn't see a dentist till Monday, using anti-biotics on hand etc. Nothing really helped for any amount of time. I was miserable, like gun to the head miserable.

Needless to say I didn't get any walking in. Nor did I get much eating in either.

Finally got to the dentist on Monday, figured an exam with some prescription for antibiotics and perhaps ( YAY ) painkillers. Nope....

Dentist entered the room, pulled up my x-rays on the puter screen pointed at the offending tooth and said " See that shadowy mass on the root? That's the bane of your existence and the tooth has to come out now."

Shiver.... an abscessed tooth.... HEAVILY abscessed tooth.... and he was going to pull it then and there...

YIKES!!!!

He did promise me a couple of things before he started though...

1- It would be a difficult extraction.... joy...
2- It would likely take a while
3- It wouldn't hurt, he was going to make sure it was well deadened
4- I would sleep that night

He delivered on all!

1- Difficult yes, the tooth exploded when he put the clamp on there. You have to know, this tooth, it looked flawless from the outside, there was NO indication visually that there was anything wrong with it, but there it was, dead on the inside, abscessed at the root. So, crown gone, nothing to hold on to to extract. Drilling holes into the exposed area to get a grip to loosen, tooth kept breaking. Finally had to cut the gum, drill into root and rock back and forth until loosened , then he cranked the chair up, stood up, braced feet and pulled and pulled and pulled until finally pop, the remains were extracted. He laughed, I love my dentist by the way, and said, " Man, there's NO way anyone would knock your teeth out that's for sure!!" Three stitches and done

2- See above

3- He was bang on, with the exception of the pressure exerted and having all those instruments etc. crammed into my jaws, there was no pain at all, I was thrilled.

4- I slept for almost 12 hours straight.... sigh.... it was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO nice.

As I was leaving he made me another promise. I wouldn't have a lot of pain from the procedure and shouldn't require any prescription pain killers, BUT, I would know he had gone to work on my jaw.

Again, he kept that promise.

Woke up this morning feeling as though I was kicked in the side of my jaw, but NO pain at all from the socket.

Now that's behind me, I can't wait to get out for my first walk in a while tonight.

Scale shows MAJOR downward trends.... that's always nice!

More to come on that front!

.... in more ways than one.

This thing, this battle... melodramatic as battle may seem... its one thats won in the trenchs. A war of artition, a battle on inches.

I am seeing changes. Small, but there. Dee, god bless her, says she can feel it. I'll take her word for it. I do know that its getting easier. The eating is simple at this point, nothing drastic, no calorie counting, no plans or miracle fads. It's simply this, eat less, drink more water, do NOT pull into a drivethrough EVER. Eat simply, eat close to the ground, off the vine, from the sea, avoid cans at all costs.

The exercise plan is also a very simple one.

Walk, walk every day, park a little further from doors, take steps when steps are offered. Walk to the store, the post office, etc. Play like a 5 year old. Run and jump in the yard, throw a ball, laugh and giggle and tumble.

Things are changing, the outside and the inside.

Exciting to be so simple in my plan, satisfying to know that the simplicity is working.

Some have asked, pictures will be forthcoming.

Well, it never ceases to surprise me. How easy it is to eat WAY too many calories eating the wrong foods, how hard it is to get enough calories when eating the right. Amazing. Fill your gut with greens, veggies, fruits and unprocessed meats and it takes alot to get the calories in that your body burns. Right now, not including walking, my frame should be burning around 3500 calories to just get from point a to point b in the run of 24 hours. A larger frame, or a fatter butt, pick one may it suit yea, needs extra just to go about its business. Right now I am struggling to get 2k of quality calories into me. Now you may say, that's the point ain't it? Well no, the point is to lose weight slowly, to maintain an energy level, to not become sluggish, lethargic or disillusioned, that's the point.

So, what to do? Well, the simple solution is a protein powder supplement to get those extra calories. That's the easy way, but not the way I would prefer. The other option is an extra meal, which would likely be the route I take. It makes more sense to me. You keep the body digesting throughout the day and you get that metabolic burn increase that is what we want.

I have a little junk yesterday, not enough to screw my calories or suddenly make me blow up like Mrs. Puff, but not the kind of healthy, close to vine, just out of the ground, not far removed from grazing kind of food intake I want. That being said, those three Canada Day BBQed hot dogs were AWESOME...lol, there's something about singed and charred processed meat on a fluffy processed bun that is just sooooooo good ;)

Well off to work with me. Thanks for listening!

Just as a note, I will be sharing some of the same entries here as on my blog at http://hereweshrinkagain.blogspot.com  it won't always be the case, but from time to time they will be one and the same.  Some will be written here first, others over there.

Been 10 days into this now and no slippages at all.

The transformation is in its infancy, so there not really much that can go wrong right now.  Any deduction and reduction is going to come rather easily and it's easy to stay confident and positive at this point.  This is where my previous experience can be a killer.  In the back of my mind there is a chorus of idiots called memories who are clammoring about my past failures, and my biggest failure of letting the miracle I lived slip and revert back to the fat man.  The hardest part at this point is to get those idiots to shut up.

There is a plan though. 

In the coming days I will do my best to map out a course for the next 36 weeks here.  The one thing I can promise right now is that the person who types on this blog in week 36 will be a vastly different animal than the one who types here now.

Jason- brocolli is my all time fav green I could eat it with every meal.  A fav approach for me is to steam broc. onions and cauliflower with a light sprinkle of currie... a GREAT side.

Thanks for the welcome back you guys, its nice to know I was missed lol...

I look forward to continuing a very real and very intense relationship with my mind and my body over the coming years.  As I near 40 and my kids grow a little more each and every day the importance of not only losing weight, but of staying healthy and fit grows as well.  This venue has been so great for me in the past and I have every confidence that it will serve me well into the future.

I am including a pic of not only me, but of my wonderful family here as well.  As a reminder to me of what I am working towards and what I stand to lose should I slip again.

Thanks again guys, keep on keeping on.

Some of you will remember me, some won't.  I'll set my watch and warrent though that NONE of you would recognize me now.

When I was hear I was at the tail end of a success story.  I had dropped 120 lbs, I was an active member of a gym, I had quit smoking, I had dedicated myself to wellness and was, in the words of some, an inspiration.

Then the most beautiful thing to have ever happened to me happened.

I met my wife and my first son.

We got married, had another son.

Life was good, it was comfortable, its was too easy.

Things slipped.  I started the old habits, eating the old food, comfort ruled.

The pounds came back.

My mom passed away much too early and things slipped some more.

I started smoking again.

I started eating more.

I started hidding what I was eating.

I started hitting drivethroughs.

Then, I got a wake up call.  I visited my Doc for something completely unrelated but he took my blood pressure.  I was close to death.  As he put it, I was a flight of stairs away from a stroke.  My blood pressure at the tme of that visit was over 200/130.

That was almost a year ago.  I of course waded right back into the road to wellness, but things got derailed.  Our oldest son was diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, Aspergers to be exact, priorities shifted, I lost focus.  Work was a nightmare and life just kept on moving without much concern for me.  Now I still watched what I was eating, and I did quit smoking.  My blood pressure got under control with meds at first, now on its own.  But now, its time to make the extra effort to lose what I need to lose and guys, you were pillers for me in the past and I will be leaning on you again.

Be back with more a little later....