Never trust a man sitting on a bouncy ball

So, here's the scene. At my Optifast center last night, I go into the nurses' office to get an update on the change in my diet (since I'm working out with weights, I get an extra shake packet to take after my workouts). Instead of the distinguished, almost stern nurse that was there last week, this nurse is sitting on a blue rubber ball and, I swear, kind of bouncing on the ball as I talk to her.

It turns out that sitting on a ball is good for your overall fitness level and stress. See here.

"But what happens if I fall off the ball?" I ask. She just smiles. I'm being silly. Maybe you just get back on the ball and act as if nothing happened. I can just picture what would happen if we had these rubber balls in court...

I may be wrong here, but it was hard to take seriously what she told me about changing my program from Optifast 70 to the twice the calories Optifast 800. I kept wondering who would conduct a medical interview while sitting on a blue rubber ball. Probably some one much healthier than me.

In other news, I've become my tailor's new best friend because I'm constantly taking clothes to him. I started this diet at size 54 long, 46 waist, size 19 neck- now I'm down to a 50 long jacket, 40 waist and a very loose 18 neck. Losing fifty plus pounds really plays havoc with your clothes. Nothing I buy fits me for very long. But, as my father would say, that's a very good problem to have!

I still don't quite fit into my wedding tux, but all in time...

A total of 55 pounds lost.

Week 1- 5/8/14 334.5 16.5 318
Week 2- 5/15/14 318.0 6.9 311.1
Week 3- 5/22/14 311.0 5.1 306
Week 4- 5/29/14 306 6.0 300
Week 5- 6/5/14 300 4.5 295.5
Week 6- 6/12/14 295.5 3.0 292.5
Week 7- 6/19/14 292.5 8.5 283
Week 8- 6/26/14 283 4.5 278.5

Over fifty pounds lost!

It's been a life changing seven weeks. Yes, I'm still heavy- some 90 pounds to be lost to get to my goal weight, 60 pounds to get to my law school weight and maybe twenty pounds to get to my married weight- but I've erased some eight years of weight gain in less than two months!

So how do I feel? Like grabbing a double cheese burger and celebrating! Sorry... old habits die hard, I guess. Overall, it's gratifying to receive compliments on pretty much a daily basis and I'm thrilled with the weight loss so far. Still, I feel impatient to reach the weight where I can, say, go to the beach without feeling self conscious..without fearing that someone will try to throw this whale back in the water! I think I'm maybe another fifty pounds away from that.

My Optifast weight loss group has gotten smaller. On Thursday, there were only six of us. It's small enough that maybe I'll take the liberty to describe the people remaining in the next few posts. There is an IT guy, I'll call him Jake. He's twenty pounds away from reaching his goal weight and has an attitude that I appreciate towards food encounters. He deliberately puts himself in situations where he's around food, to improve his willpower at resisting junk food. I don't go this far, but I don't avoid parties where there will be food. Last night, I went to a birthday party with plates of chili nachos. It's getting easier to resist.

In group we talked about our families and the ties that they may have on our weight gain. For many people, being obese starts in habits that they develop as children. For me, I can't really blame my parents for any part of this. I was among the luckiest of children- born into a loving and supportive family. The weight gain that I later had in my thirties was completely my fault- my family consistently talked to me about my weight gain and offered advice. I remember being cajoled on to a scale when I weighted 265. For a while, my brother Carlos would even pick me up to take me to the gym.

So why did I gain weight? Stress of being a lawyer? Metabolic changes as a result of my cancer? Married life? I'm leaning towards seeing my eating as a way to cope with stress. Next step, I'm looking into doing some stress reduction via meditation. So, if you see a Kung Fu Panda of a guy stretching out on a yoga mat...

Eight and a half pounds lost this week.

Week 1- 5/8/14 334.5 16.5 318
Week 2- 5/15/14 318.0 6.9 311.1
Week 3- 5/22/14 311.0 5.1 306
Week 4- 5/29/14 306 6.0 300
Week 5- 6/5/14 300 4.5 295.5
Week 6- 6/12/14 295.5 3.0 292.5
Week 7- 6/19/14 292.5 8.5 283

Hey, this seat belt actually closes!

Ray Estolano 1. Seat belt 0! Maybe I should explain... One of the biggest uncomfortable places for fat men like me is the airport. It starts with being forced to partially undress at security, then stand with your hands over your head in a machine where a TSA agent sees a naked scan of your body in all of its fullness and glory. Then when you make it to the plane, you'd better check in early or you're forced to cram into a too tiny seat in between two other guys that may be your same size (or larger?). Then comes the seat belt. Try as you might, you find that the seat belt doesn't quite stretch all the way around you...time to ask for a seat belt extender?

Well..not today! For once, I fit comfortably into both the seat and the seat belt!

The flight took me to a family graduation- my wife's niece. It was a nice time. There was a ton of good food that I couldn't eat, but I was served constant compliments by my wife's family about my weight loss. "Where's Ray," joked a nephew standing next to me "I don't recognize him!" My niece (well, technically my wife's) was so impressed by the weight loss that she brought her roommates out to look at me. They weren't quite as impressed because..well..they'd never seen me before! They probably wondered just how fat this chubby guy in front of them had been. Trust me ladies, you don't want to know!

It was overall a good week on Optifast. Three more pounds lost, leaving me at 292.5, a little further south of the 300 pound line. My new suits at 50 long fit me now and I've dropped down to 40 on the pants. Bought a pair of jeans that are perfect, but for the plumber's view in the back. Think I'm going to wait a little longer for jeans...

Week 1- 5/8/14 334.5 16.5 318
Week 2- 5/15/14 318.0 6.9 311.1
Week 3- 5/22/14 311.0 5.1 306
Week 4- 5/29/14 306 6.0 300
Week 5- 6/5/14 300 4.5 295.5
Week 6- 6/12/14 295.5 3.0 292.5

total lost- 42 pounds

Going to pump you up!

My Optifast program cleared me to work out with weights, with the caution that it should be a light weight workout. So, I dug out my old weight lifting belt, put on the black t-shirt and told the wife, "It's time to pump some iron, woman." I'm not sure if the sound she made was a giggle...

Moments later at the gym, I looked at the bench press where I'd previously been able to lift a few hundred pounds. The theme from Rocky played in my imagination and I walked towards the bench. The bench was set up with only 135 pounds, which should be a piece of cake for someone that had previously lifted twice that weight. Still, perhaps I should start with a warm up- since it'd been a few months..years. I ended up deciding to use a light dumbbell to warm up my muscles. As it turns out, the dumbbell was me! I was completely exhausted after just a few sets.

I lay back in the bench and looked at my reflection in the mirror. One step at a time...

My results for this week:


Week 1- 5/8/14 334.5 16.5 318
Week 2- 5/15/14 318.0 6.9 311.1
Week 3- 5/22/14 311.0 5.1 306
Week 4- 5/29/14 306 6.0 300
Week 5- 6/5/14 300 4.5 295.5

Four and a half pounds lost- a total of 39 pounds lost in five weeks! I've officially moved down in suit size as well- the 54 long's have gone into storage.