Tales From The Fat Side

Even when I was a little boy, I was a big boy.  I remember my mom taking me to Sears and having to shop in the "Husky" section.  Other kids had all kinds of names for me - piggy, porker, lard boy, fatso...the list goes on and on.  Nod your head if you know what I mean.

After high school, I went into farming; I lost a ton of weight and was actually the thinnest I'd ever been.  The good thing was that I could eat whatever I wanted and not gain weight.  I really thought that I finally had this weight thing under control.

After a few years, I got burned out, and went to school to learn computers.  I got a "desk" job, which was nice because a desk doesn't kick you when you sit down by it.  The problem was that I kept eating like I was still farming.  Pretty soon, I was not only as big as I'd been before, but even bigger.  My expansion continued until I weighed almost 350 pounds (I'm 5' 8" tall).

I started taking more medications than most nursing home patients take (and I know, my mom's a nurse), and had a plethora of health issues - gerd (gastro-esophogel-reflux-disorder), sleep apnea, high blood pressure, various joint and foot problems, and gouty arthritis.

It got so bad I'd spend 10 minutes driving around a parking lot just to find a spot closer to the door, and forget about actually walking much in the store without taking frequent breaks.  I couldn't exercise for more than a few minutes at a time without getting so winded I couldn't continue.  I tried every diet plan there is - Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers, and drank soup by the gallon to try to lose the extra weight.  Nothing worked, and I stayed right at 350 pounds.

After much thought and soul searching, and far more than my fair share of salads, I decided to push the "reset" button and get bariatric surgery.  There are other blogs out there that deal with obesity and surgery, but nothing that I found specifically for men.  This blog will chronicle my experiences before, during, and after my surgery and since I've always loved to cook I'll include recipes as well.