Happy New Year - Not Far Away!

Hi all,

Young Reg here for a weekly / monthly update. How has my Christmas been you may ask? Well to be honest it's had it's high's and some low's but all in all has been good!

The Pro's

• Some nice lunches and quality time spent with close friends!
• No work - or very minimal!
• Work is still going well - ahead on targets on all fronts :)
• I got a Wii Fit Plus which I have set up and starting to use
• Nice Chrissy Day with the parents and brother and sister + other assorted relatives.
• Visited my younger (but older looking) brother Mikey Reagan and stayed overnight we had a fun day of Snooker, pokies and piss, followed by a huge dose of pizza. This is the first time I have really "got into pizza" since I got the band done. The first slice was a bit of a challenge but I soon got back into the swing of things! (Please note this is a once off occurance with pizza being one of main reasons I put the beef on in the first place)
• Going to James Reyne in a couple of weeks and staying away for a couple of nights which will be great and definately something I am looking forward to!

The Con's

• Too many beers and the odd scotch consumed
• Too many late nights - like every night for the last couple of weeks (I've gone off the rails abit this Christmas!)
• Still "messed up " big time on the personal side of life - marriages - accomodation etc etc
• Weight loss still heading South! hit 99kg's the other day (wohooooo) but put a kg back on so sitting on 100kg's which is cool and to be expected this time of the Year.
• Too much smoking when I'm on the grog.
• I hate a place called the Bank Hotel due to an ongoing war with a female security (lesbian) who for some reason has taken a disliking to me and won't let me in the shit hole!!!!! (i can't understand she wouldn't love the Reg Man????- but anyway it's her call) the biiiiaaaaaatttttcccchhhh (This has nothing to do with my state of intoxication or lack there off). I think she's on a power trip - stuff the Bank Hotel there's plenty of other places to go!
• The Wii plus I got off Santa reckons my physical age is 55!  man I'm only 43 something is wrong there, so rechecked today and I'm on 47! So somehow I question the accuracy of the Wii ;)

Still undecided about New Year's Eve tonight but think I might head down to the local Club and see what pans out from there! Hope you all have a happy NYE.

Love Reggie Reagan xxxx

Almost There - Merry Christmas - Almost!

Hi All,


Young Reg Reagan here with a long over due update!

Things have all been going on!  Mr and Mrs Reagan are going our seperate ways in Jan, which to be honest will be the start of my second "cuming" pardon my spelling and crude connatations. Twenty years is way too long and I shoulda been outta here 10 years ago but stayed for the kids.

Work is cranking which is good, we are working over Christmas with Reg "attending" in the lightest sense of the word!

Weight wise I'm still cruising down to 101kg's.........i'll be struggling to get to the the old 99kg target by Christmas but stuff it!  39kg's gone aint bad in 4 months!

Anyway enough said,  time for another beer........stuff it, it's Christmas time :)  and yes I just said it "HO HO HO"  no "HA HA HA's" here!

Hope all is well in your parts of the world.

Reg Reagan xxxx

Day 115 and Getting Close to the Century!

Hi All,

Young Reg Reagan here...... with another update in the life of a male Lap Band patient!

So what's happening?  A hell of a lot!!!  Work has been busy, with a couple of people retrenched due to a bit of a downturn, not me fortunately but I am the one delivering the bad news, at the wrong time of year unfortunately :) but I am just the messenger so if it wasn't me doing it someone else would.

Dramas with Mrs Reagan...... after 20 years of marriage to be honest I've had a gutful :(  and don't know what to do......  It's like the old song " will I stay or will I go?"  don't remember who sang this one but it's very apt at the moment cause "I've lost that loving feeling"

Lapband wise all good :) down to 104kg from 140kg so happy, and will smash my Christmas goal! so I'm lovin that. I went and saw the dietician but decided against another fill and I am still losing on average about 1kg / week. They are so pleased with my loss in 4 months that they want me to speak at an upcoming lapband seminar for people thinking about the band....and of course I said I'd love to.

That's about it from me, leave a commment and I hope all is going well in your life.

Love Reggie xxxx

Busy Days - 102 Days Post Op!

Hi all,

I have been away for work a bit recently and had alot going on in my personal life so haven't had time to do any blog updates. But now that I'm home and won't be going anywhere for work until the New Year (with one exception a trip to Narrabri/Gunnedah for a couple of days) I will be looking to post at least weekly.

This blog is an important part in the weight loss process and helps me to keep track of how I am going. Plus I really enjoy reading your comments and encouragement!

On the weight loss mission I haven't lost anything much in the last couple of weeks unfortunately - with being away from home I have been thrown out of my usual eating routine - and eaten foods I normally wouldn't have - and in larger than normal quantities. It might be time for another 1ml in the band, which will bring me up to 4.5 / 10 ml. I have an appointment with the dietician and fill guy on Tuesday next week so will be pushing for a bit more fill.

Positives of late are that there have been so many people that I haven't seen in ages noticing the 30 odd kg's I've lost which is great. I am still learning how deal with these nice comments and find myself trying to change the subject ..... I really need to learn how to deal with these comments better, because they are being given to me by people who care and are genuinely pleased to see me making the change. Most of the people ask me what I've been doing and my response to most is that I've been cutting down food intake and exercising...... which is true - but only part of the story!

Some of my closer friends know about the band - with a couple even spending time with me getting the low down on all my experiences to date, with the view to getting this procedure themselves. I am becoming such an advocate these days for the band, that if people are genuinely interested and seek out my input I will go out of my way to give them as much info on my experience so far as possible. The information is always given with the overiding message that I can only comment from my experience and what has happened to me might not necessarily happen for them, or might not happen at the same rate I have been fortunate enough to drop the first part of the weight I want to lose.

My family life is settling down I hope finally working out with the Daughter - I hope I haven't jinxed us again because last time I said things were looking good they all turned to shit!!! But I can only be hopeful.

The house hunting still continues and there are a couple of house that look OK - so hopefully by next week I might have some more certaintity in that department.

Anyway time to get to bed I've got a big day on tomorrow and alot to catch up on that's built up over the last couple of weeks I've been away.

Hope everyone else is going OK?

Love Reggie xxxx

Day 91 - Friday Night Blues

Hi all,

As I have mentioned in the past I love a good Friday night drink - and I have promised myself each and every week since I've had the Lap Band that it's not happening this weekened. Guess what? I have blown it again.

I am good all week watching my food make-up and quantities and ensuring that I am doing the right thing, and to be honest losing a couple of kg's each week has been do able, and not too difficult. Then on about Thursday I "get a hankering" about the Friday night piss-up ( a ritual that has been part of my life about 25 years) and when Friday night roles around after a long week at the office a switch in my head "flicks" and the Friday night piss-up is on again. I have no willpower on Friday night - what the hell is wrong with me????? The rest of the time I am focused like a machine on my weight loss goals.

Enough is Enough!!!!!

That's it no more Friday night merriment for the Regmiester! I haven't gone to the expense and effort of getting a Lap Band only to put back on half of the weight I've lost by drinking excessively once a week...... the net result is I am losing weight half as quick as I could be! Don't get me wrong I am ecstatic about the 31kg's dropped to date but it could've been alot more.

From now on their will be no more Friday night drinking sessions!!!!!!

Does anyone have any ideas which might make it easier to achieve this goal? I'm thinking other positive rewards- the Friday night drink is an old habit and it's hard to break let me tell you!

Any positive and constructive suggestions or input would be greatly appreciated......thanks

Reggie boy xxxx (ex Friday night pisshead)


PS: Thought I'd put in a picture of my mate Jeff Fennech and myself at a recent charity event - my six pack will be like Jeff's one day!!!

PPS: I dropped 1kg this week down to 108.5kg - should have been 2kg's  :(

Day 82 - The Journey Continues!

Hi All,


Had the weekly weigh in this morning and I'm pleased to report a loss of about 2kg last week!!! I am now down to 109.5kg - my next goal is to be under 100kg by Christmas Day ........ I really hope I can get there!!!


Since the the 3rd Week in August 2009 (when I started the pre-op Optifast) I have lost 30.5kg or about 67 pounds! That's a drop in BMI from 40.6 to 31.7 which still makes me obese but it won't be long my friends till I am just "overweight" which is good for now :).


I am feeling proud of myself for making the decision to get the Lap Band - to be honest I had a few apprehensions, both financially and also the whole surgery and risk part of the process. The band is the key to the so loss so far but I have also been working hard to make the right choices - from a food quantity and type aspect, and it's great to get a good result so early into what is a life long process.


My aim is to get to 85kg by May next year - the plan is for my wife and I to go to America on holidays for a month..... I've been there before but my wife hasn't so it will be a great experience for us both as a couple. I am actually very focused on the holiday and am using it as a motivation when "bad food opportunities" present themselves. If things continue as they are I will easily meet my goal by May next year:)


Below is a picture of me on my last American holiday arriving at Las Vegas Airport - complete with Hugh Hefner pipe and harem of beauties!!! They all wanted a piece of the Regmiester and I'm not saying which piece ;)






The band has been going well ...... I can pretty much eat whatever I want in smaller quantities and eating my lunch for example takes about 20 mins, which is about right. I am going back to the Surgeon's Office on Tuesday next week for a weigh-in and potential fill, which if I get it will be another 1ml taking me to 4.5ml in a 10ml band. At this stage I reckon I will give the fill a miss ........ I believe I have enough restriction and don't want to get to the point where I can't eat and spew everything up! I've read allot of blogs and as always there's "a fine line between pleasure and pain" in band fills- I think I will leave it another month and see how things go.


Everything is calm on the home front - we didn't get the house I mentioned in the last post, which we were shattered about as it went for about $40k more than it's market value and although I "wanted it bad" my head ruled my heart and we made the right choice in stopping at our upper limit.

That's my update for this week - feel free to comment!


Loving the band and loving life! Reggie Boy xxxx

Day 75 Post-Op

Hi all!

Sorry about the delay in posts but life goes on and generally life has been good for the Regmiester since my last post.

Work is moving along nicely with the industry I'm in not being knocked around too much by the supposed downturn which is great - and it's almost time for my annual wage review so I am hoping for somewhere between a 3 and 5% wage rise which would come in handy!

We are going to an auction this morning to hopefully buy our new house - we have been renting for 12 months since we relocated back into the area and have been looking for a long while to find something we really like. Who knows whether we will win the auction or not, only time will tell! here's a link and a picture of what will hopefully be my new pool!

http://www.rwmaitland.com.au/pol/property/search.asp?f_PropertyID=1172967&f_AgentID=2966&xsl=2966&f_st=1





Things have settled down a bit with the daugther dramas I spoke about last post - and I am hopeful we are headed in the right direction - I am getting her back into year 9 at high school on Monday so another meeting with the Principal .... we are now on a first name basis and good mates. I am thinking of asking him over for a BBQ next weekend - haha.

Now onto the Lap Band Stuff!!!

Weighed in this morning at 111.6kg down from 140kg which means I am more than 50% to my goal weight :) Things have slowed down substantially though I am still heading in the right direction and have no doubt in the world getting this lap band is one of the best decision I have ever made - and I would make the same decision again in a second.

I recently had some blood tests done and guess what???? my LDL HDL and total cholesterol count is down from 6 to around 3.8 - man was I stoked with that. I am also on blood pressure tablets each day and suspect that the dosage may soon be able to be reduced. I will go to my GP to seek his guidance but I am hopeful that this medication will now longer be required as my weightloss continues.

I have had two fills the first they injected 2.5ml's and the second a couple of weeks ago they put in another 1ml, after fill number one I still had no or perhaps a minor restriction, but that extra 1ml made all the difference.At 3.5ml's in a 10ml's small AP band I am now feeling a good restriction. I have another fill appointment scheduled for the end of this month, I am not sure if I will get anymore put in at this stage, but I'll see how I go. As far as "PB's" go I need to be really careful to chew food thoroughly and take my time - if I don't watch out "up it comes". I believe my fill level is right though - it's just my own behaviours I need to keep in check and make sure I don't rip into the food like I used to pre-band. As far as what I can eat, well there is really nothing I can't eat as long as I "pace myself". Steak, bread, you name it, it's on my menu in small quantities-which makes me very happy as I thought I may have never been able to eat some of my favourite foods again.

The only thing preventing faster weight loss is alcohol! I have always loved a beer /scotch or 20, and things haven't changed. Since I have been banded I have had one "piss-up" per week where I might have 15-20 drinks in a session >>>>>>>> not good I know but old habits die hard. I have always only drunk one night a week either Friday or Saturday night and have found it hard to stop this 25 year habit! What this does besides the usual health and social issues is puts me back 3 days / week before I get back to where I was pre "pissup" ... this is really "weighing heavily" (pardon the pun) on my mind and I need to cut this out or try to at least moderate it substantially - otherwise I am cheating myself

Here is a pre-op picture of big Reggies gut:

And here's a shot taken last night by one of my mates, when we were having a few coldies out the back - some people are starting to notice my weight loss and tell me I'm looking a bit pale????

Anyway thanks for reading, please feel free to leave a comment I love to read them.

All the best Reggy Boy xxxx

Day 48 - Post Banding

Hi all,

Hope all is well in your parts of the universe! Reg has been keeping busy and out of trouble for the most part. My daughter is back but still causing trouble and the weight loss has slowed, but still going in the right direction!

I have my first fill scheduled this Tuesday and they reckon that the "real" weight loss starts from here on in..... bring it on I say! The band (and me) have both been behaving well with only a few "spews" in the last couple of weeks, with each involving me not chewing well enough and rushing my food. So far I am lucky there's nothing I really can't eat! And I have tried most of the "healthy foods" which is great.... I only have a smaller serving these days.

I'm down to 115kg from 140 so that's a nice 25kg drop (14kg Optifast pre operation and 11kg post op) and I'm hoping from next Tueday the weight loss slow down of the last couple of weeks will be a thing of the past.

During my life I've met many famous people and Ray Martin is just one of them! see below for a picture of Ray and I from a few years back.

Anyway until next time....... love Reggy xxxx

Day 34 - Happy Father's Day Fuckers!

Well Hello,

It's young Reg Reagan here enjoying a few VB's on a nice sunny Father's Day Sunday!

Father's day in the Reagan house was celebrated this year with a BBQ at my younger - but actually older looking brother Mike Reagan's place down on the Central Coast of NSW.

A nice night was had by all, with young Reggie getting into his first T-Bone steak since becoming a bandit! And I tell you what ----- I've still got it and love a steak! albeit only 1/3 of what I used to eat. At the BBQ there were 3 generations of Reagan men in attendance...... and for once I had to leave the drinking games up to my Dad .......... Johnny Reagan (retired first grade Front Rower from the Budgewoy Budgies! and Mike my younger bro (ex hooker from the Kings Cross Queens) ....... I chipped in with sucking down a few VB's and even chomped on a decent serving of Pavlova!!! go the PAV!

All was good when we set off for the return journey back to Maitland at about 9:30pm Saturday night. We got home at about 11pm to find what looked like 30 "little scooters" - you know those little silver fuckers! parked out the front of my house. I didn't mention early but my daughter Shiela Reagan the 15 year old terror from hell didn't want to go to the BBQ and stayed at home with a promise which sounded something like this " Mum - Dad ....you can trust me !!! please give me a chance to prove myself! " so we did - to our later dismay.

Back to the story.... little scooters parked everywhere...... I get out of the trusty Ford Territory only to hear music pumping from my house at 1 zillion decibels! I go charging in through the front door (all 6 foot 2 of me, like a front row prop down the blind side (and I'd only had a few beers!) and guess what I saw to my horror?

About fifteen young scum bags sitting in my lounge room, on my new lounge...... you know the fuckers with the baseball caps poking to the side and look like they ain't been feed in 6 weeks...... tehy fukin thought they were the Aussie equivalent of home boys, only problem was they were hangin in my fucking hood!

They were drinking my VB and were into the second fucking carton and even working over a bottle of my finest Grant's Scotch Whiskey! a collectors item I had acquired in Fiji a few years back.

Well a usually calm Reg Reagan saw red and tossed about a dozen of these little fuckers out the front door! .....literally they went out the door airborne without touching the ground.

My house was trashed....broken glass ......... marks on the walls! , even a pool of blood on the tiles!!!
By this time Reggie boy had completely lost the plot and was looking for his daughter who just happened to be in her bedroom with her boyfriend and some other scumbag (I hate to think WTF was going on there???) .......... but have a fair idea. .......

The boyfriend won't dareto come back here anytime soon after he felt the wrath of the Regmeister! his arse didn't touch the ground until he landed nose first with a huuuge thud on my front lawn!

After the missus and I cleaned up the mess.......... we went to bed 2 hours later...... less than impressed. The whole scene reminds me of something out of one of those American teenage movies when Mum and Dad are away and it's open fuckin slather.......... there were little fuckers flying out windows and doors left right and centre when I burst through the front door....... NO RESPECT FOR PEOPLES PROPERTY. We also lost two mobile phones as well that must have been pocketed by our most unwanted scumbag guests!

Anyway that's enough ranting! I've had a reasonable week on the dieting front, dropping 1.6kg's and still feeling full on and motivated.

I thought I'd post a picture of my Lapband surgeon and myself just before I went in from surgery. This is a day that will go down as a major "moment of truth" in the Regmeister's life! Timbo "lapband installer extraordinaire - you are da man!!! It's Reg's shout mate!





Peace and Happiness and a dash of Happy Fathers Day to all!!!
(except those 15 year old fuckers that trashed my house last night!!!)

Reg Reagan xxxx

Day 26 Update

Hi all,


Young Reg Reagan here back for the weekly Blog update after another week at the Salt Mines!

Reg in transit for a work trip - Sydney Airport

On the weight loss/lap band stakes all is progressing well, I am back onto solids and to be honest really enjoying my food again albeit in smaller quantities. I've had only one "food recycling" event this week which involved dinner on Thursday night and some baked chicken, which I chewed each mouthful about 30 times, but for whatever reason spewed back up...... So baked chicken is off the menu for me for now :(

Most other things even toast are going down well if they are properly chewed so I am happy. The challenge comes this week when I try a piece of steak for the first time.....hopefully this is compatible with my new lap band lifestyle as I love my steak and a good BBQ!


Me and a couple of good mates at a recent BBQ (Jeff "I luv ya's all)Fennech and Wendall (where's a straw mun?) Sailor

Weight loss has slowed this week only dropping 1.1kg which I suppose is what they recommend.....and I was expecting. And I have to be happy with that cause this ain't a race! I only want to lose another 33 kg's, so 33 weeks if I can be consistent is nothing in the big scheme of things :)

Started at 140kg down to 118kg so lost 22kg of blubber that will never return!!!

Work is going well, from all angles we are exceeding budget and longer term strategies are falling in place - "I love it when a plan comes together!"

Family has been challenging with my daughter still attempting to "fly the coup" at 15 years of age...which I will not allow. She is mixing with the wrong crowd and I am really concerned about her future. Police got involved only once this week which is better than the week before! I'm lucky because I go to work and have other things to occupy my mind, but my poor wife has taken 3 weeks off work to try and work with our daughter to get her back on the rails....... the stress and drama of the whole things is really upsetting her and I need to make sure that I'm extra supportive. Hopefully we are slowly fixing this problem....only time will tell.

People are now fully aware I have dropped a bit of weight with several comments again this week........ I have not made it common knowledge I had the band done (only told a couple of close work colleagues), so just give everyone else who comments the old " cutting down on food and grog + a bit of exercise routine" which works fine. I'm a private person about some things and this is one of them. My clothes are getting loser! and I am feeling a lot more energetic and generally well. The cuts from the surgery have healed up well after almost a month, they did one big cut (only 4 cm long) and 3 smaller cuts - from what I read there is often five cuts done...... so I got lucky! here's a rough picture of the scars, sorry about the quality the pics off my mobile.

Anyway another long post from the Regman, hope everyone is winning their own life battles and making the most of their opportunities, please leave a comment I love to read them.

And Ute thanks for your kind words after my previous post ! And Cazzie as always thanks for your motivation!

Love Reg Reagan xxxx

Day 19 Update

What a busy week....... work has been flat out and fairly challenging, but I love my job so that's a good thing.

I have had a decent week on the Lap Band front, and lost another 2.5kg's, which is way down on last week but I am slowly introducing solids back into my diet so I am happy with that. I've brought food back up twice this week, both times I didn't chew well or long enough and tried to swallow too much at once..... I have to remember I am not the old Reg Reagan who scoffs food down like a mad man!! Plus the pain I get when food gets stuck and has to be brought back up is very painful, so I reckon I'll completely eliminate any "food spewing" this week because I will be taking the food nice and easy.

Been having major problems with my daughter who has ran away again..... it's a long story, but to keep it short the Police found her and brought her back, we are currently working with Counsellors to get her back on track. At 15 years old she thinks she knows everything .....and no one can tell her otherwise :( I am hopeful the counsellor will help sort out these issues.

The weather is slowly starting to warm up with about 30 degrees expected here today ...... for once in a long time I am actually looking forward to summer because by the time it really hits my weight should be down to a reason figure, and I will be able to tolerate the heat better and actually feel like going for a swim at the beach or pool.

People are starting to notice a bit of a physical change in my appearance, which is great! Last week I had about 5 or 6 comments like ........ "I can notice you're losing weight....your face is smaller" and "what are you doing to lose weight?"

One thing I am enjoying is the non scale victories, I am now on the 4th hole on my work belt, before the lap banding I just struggling to use the first hole on the belt. And this morning I put on a shirt that wouldn't fit me 2 months ago..... last time I tried it on I threw it back in the cupboard in disgust.......... this morning I was actually proud of myself for taking control of my destiny from a weight perspective and am starting to see some early successes. I will continue to keep positive, and aggressive in my efforts to get to 85 g's, and in my mind it's not a matter of if, rather a matter of when ...... the battle of the bulge is in it's early stages but progressing well!

I am hoping to drop another couple of kilo's next week, which I'd be happy with as my dietitian advised most people put on weight during this phase of the lap band journey. I have my first band adjustment or fill in the first week of September so I am looking forward to that and this is when the "real weight loss will start". Currently I am still feeling a reasonable restriction and not feeling hungry at all which is good..... I don't know how much fill I'm going to need based on how well the band is working now.

Anyway thanks for reading and have a great week......... I will do an update each Saturday it's the only day I can find the time!

Reg Reagan xxxx

Day 12 - Post Op

Hi all,

Well time is flying by in my world and I am really starting to get a feel for what my band and my body are telling me as far as how much food I can eat and when to stop.

Over the last few days I have had a couple of painful "learnings" where I have brought food back up, this happened for a couple of reasons which I can totally avoid - either I swallowed too much food at once, or was rushing and didn't chew the food properly. I can still feel a good restriction which limits my intake dramatically - I have my first "fill" scheduled for the first week in September so I am looking forward to that :)

As I am on Day 12 since the band was installed, I should really be just finishing up on the fluid stage and moving onto mushies. To be honest I was onto mushies after the first week and I am now "dabbling" in mushey food and even trying some non mushie food (prawns - boiled eggs etc) I am being highly cautious to ensure that everything gets chewed 30 times so there is no possibility of blockage or my band slipping......it's cautious as I go.

Another thing I have done is made sure I started an electronic "Food Diary" - I looked around the web and found a few good ones, but settled on CalorieKing which is made by Australians and has all the usual Aussie foods by default, and if they aren't there you can add your own custom foods. It's free to start an account and easy to use - here is a link if you haven't check it out yet..... highly recommended. http://www.calorieking.com.au/today/

I have my own history available for members to view so check me out if you want to....my username is - ac1966

Below is a cut and paste from CalorieKing incase you can't get into my results and graphs:

Daily Averages
food calories:	842	cals
exercise minutes:	0	mins
exercise calories:	0	cals
net calories:	842	cals
fat:	20	g
saturated fat:	6	g
carbohydrate:	87	g
sugar:	53	g
protein:	32	g
fibre:	4	g
sodium:	1,187	mg
potassium:	760	mg
calcium:	570	mg
iron:	5.0	mg
zinc:	3.4	mg
cholesterol:	141.5	mg
effective carbohyrate:	58	g
water:	16	cups

We recommend that around 50-60% of your calories should come from carbs, 15-20% from protein and under 30% from fat.


So obviously because I am still building up my level of eating I am only averaging 842 cals / day when my break even point is 2000 cals, I will build this up as I go but that's what is allowed me to lose the 5kg last week. The graph suggests that what I am eating is fairly balanced and healthy - so I'm happy with that. The only thing I haven't got into properly yet is exercising, which I will commence in the next week or so.

I have also included a ticker graph for my blog which will hopefully be another visual reminder for me to keep working towars my goal.... I am a highly visual type of person and I think this will be of benefit! It details how much I have lost in kg's and what my BMI is...... I am almost obese (35 or less) and not morbidy obese (above 40 BMI)! I expect to crack the 20kg's lost mid this next week !!

So far so good, I am getting more and more confident that my decision to be banded was the right one, obviously time will tell and I will document my progress on this blog but so far.......... I am "jumping out of my skin" with how well it's all going and how easy it has been.

As they say this is a major lifestyle change, and the band is a tool, so far I am loving it!

Thanks for reading lots of love from

Reg Reagan xxxxxx

Day 6 - Back to Work and a Dietician Visit

Hi all,

Had a good first day back at work, not too many dramas awaiting me after my week off which was great!

Also visited my Dietitian this morning and on their scales came up with a 16kg lose since I went on the Optifast :) The Dietitian believes I am progressing well enough to start introducing some "mushies" into my diet a week ahead of schedule. I welcome this but will proceed with extreme caution as there's no way I want this band to slip......but am almost ready for a change after 3 weeks of Optifast.

Overall I am back to normal from a pain perspective and feeling great.......probably the 16kg's I have lost. I am feeling positive and highly motivated at the start of this journey and want to capitalise on my loss to date and really make every post a winner!

The wife and I had a nice Sunday afternoon at the Newcastle Brewery listening to a pretty good but mellow band....... while I was there I decided to reward myself with a couple of Vodka and Oranges. Normally I would have sucked down half a dozen pints but not anymore!
I reckon that a bit of a reward once in a while won't kill me - you've got to live as my dietitian told me this morning after I told her about my 2 drinks.

All is good and will update on my progression to mushies and how successful it is.soon ......

Love
Reggie xxxxx

Day's 3 and 4

Hi,

Day's 3 and 4 have both seen an improvement in my general mobility and ability to take in fluids such as Optifast etc, water however is still going down slowly with me struggling to drink 1 litre per day.

The aches and pains I had all over my body during day 1 and 2 have all gone which is great.
As I am on fluids only I am not racking up many calories per day, with me lucky to be consuming approx 700 cals, most of which is from Optifast. My carb intake is low as well so I thought I'd see if I was in ketosis and guess what? I am in heavy ketosis which comes up as a deep dark purple on the ketosticks (for those of you who know what I am talking about) - this means I am burning fat which is goood!!

Net result was a good loss from Day 3 to 4 of almost 1kg! bringing me down to 125 from 140kg since I started me pre-op diet on 20/7 so I am very happy...... but also very aware that this rapid lose will tapper off soon..... my weight loss goal per week is a reasonable 1kg, which I feel is very achievable.

As I am now feeling a bit better I am heading out this afternoon for a 30 minute walk, this will be the start of my exercise regimen. The aim is to drop the weight down to 100kg's by Christmas and start back into one of my passions - weight training early in the New Year. I going to Weights and did quite a lotof training as a young bloke.

Only negatives at the moment are that I am feeling a little nauseaus for some reason and slightly light headed - probably to do with the lack of food over the last 3 weeks!!!

The other thing I have my eye on is my Blood Pressure which has jumped post operation??? it was a consistent 140/90 pre-op and it is now sitting at 170/106 which suggests something isn't right or has recently changed driving the BP too high?

Beside that all is good and on plan for the Reg man, with me looking to return to work next Monday.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Love Reggie xxxx

Day 2 - As Stiff As an Older Fella!

Hi all,

Well I had a good nights sleep and have woken up a bit worse for wear today....aches and pains right across my entire body, it feels like I've gone five rounds with Iron Mike.

Still I am in high spirits and know I have made the right decision and this is to be expected day 2 after surgery, and will soon pass. I have just upgraded my drama/pain score to 4/10 :) I am taking the liquid panadol 240 medicine once every three hours and it is going OK.... will keep this up until nature takes it's course.

As far as the water intake goes I am working may way slowly but surely through a one litre sipper bottle but it's slow going! but I will get there by early afternoon, they weren't joking when they talk about restriction from the band and also the swelling from the operation - if I take anymore than a big sip I can feel that I have had enough and it starts to flush back. I haven't let this happen yet but if I did have too much water in one go I am sure I'd regurgitate it!

I had an Optifast shake this morning to add some goodness to my food equation, it went down slowly over about an 1.5 hours with no major dramas, this will make sure I am getting some "good stuff" into me. As well as this I had some Supradyn vitamin supplements which have been recommended by my dietician, these went down nice and easy.... I put them in the fridge last night as directed to ensure all the bubbles have dispersed.

Weight wise I thought I'd jump on the scales this morning, and found that somehow I'd put on 2kg's. I thought WTF, how can this be? I've been eating SFA for days..... but after doing some reading apparently this happens to most people postop, not sure why??

Anyway day 2 going along nicely :)

Reg Reagan checking out xxxx

Day One

Well Hellooooo!

It's young Reggy here freshly back from his Lap-Band Operation, and guess what? It was a piece of cake - well I shouldn't say cake because that's fattening, plus I couldn't eat cake anyway even if I wanted to at the moment.

The operation went well, no real dramas, the worst part was the guy putting the IV in, he took about 4 goes before he got a vein :( Once he had the drip in and turned on the "jungle juice" I was off into the land of nod. Next thing I remember is waking up in recovery, then going back to my room. I'd estimate 1 hour for the operation, 2 hours in recovery and you are done!

All in all the whole process was no where near as painful as I was expecting based on my research on the Lap Band Forums (I should have remembered that people who post in forums generally have an issue - otherwise they would be posting) I think this had me expecting much worse. I am able to report that on the "drama/pain scale" the whole experience rates as a 3.5/10 which is as I said above a piece of cake (I give that rating based on only one days experience with a lapband, so this may change moving forward......but I hope not!)

One positive was that during the pre op phase I was on Optifast and amanager to drop for 140kg's to 126kg's in two weeks which was great!

Caz, thanks for your suggestion on the dehydration, I am sipping my water like a champion.......and burping furiously as well, which is good supposedly!

Anyway time to have a rest, more to follow when I lose some more weight alone my lap-band journey! So far so gooood!


Love

The ever diminishing Reg Reagan xxxx

I'm Back

Hello All,

Well it's been a while, and I just haven't had time to get the basic requirements in life covered - let alone blogging. But I found 10 minutes spare and thought I'd say hello.......that's if anyone is still checking this blog? Hellooooooooooooooooo !

Anyway most things are going well, work is going great and just had an excellent review from my Manager which was very satisfying as I have only been managing this business for 9 months and things have really turned around! And I think I am providing the direction, motivation and environment for the staff to deliver their best......so work all happy :)

Home is getting more challenging with my kids getting older and becoming more independent and let's call it "strong willed". To be honest my daughter aged 15 is getting more distant each day, and is not even speakiing to me half of the time, which isn't good but I am working on that challenge. My son who is 16 is doing a traineeship at KFC, which is going well.... he too can be a handful!

The days are not far away when the Chicks will fly the coup, and then it will be HAPPY DAYS!!!! Not that I want them to leave but as they have gotten older and their behaviour worsens it has been putting addition stress on the relationship with my wife. When we are "kid free" we get on like we used to as best mates....... but just add the kid drama and things aren't much fun and stressful for us both.

The diet is non existent and I have put on a shitload of weight and now weigh just under 140kg's which in any ones terms is way too fat. I have made a decision that will hopefully change my life, on 4/8/09, I am booked in for Lapband surgery. I am going to use this as a tool to restrict my eating........ as I drop a bit of weight my intent is to get back into some exercise and run my body like the machine it is - or used to be! ( calories in less calories burned up = fat)
I plan to be putting in minimal calories and burning up allot of fat, so I should be back to my fighting weight of 90kg's easily within the next 12 months. I haven't been under the 100kg mark in 15 years and I am going to fix that real soon.

Being overweight / obese or whatever name you want to give it - is really the only negative thing in my life at the moment, and I tell you what - I am going to fix that problem the same as I conquer other challenges in life......... The time has come!!!

Anyway if you are still reading thanks for your interest! please leave a comment and say hello. My intent is to turn this blog into a bit of a weight loss journal.... I took my before pictures last night so might put them up in my next post - as long as I don't scare people off :)

All the best

Love Reg Reagan xxx

Times Are Tough

Hi all,

I have been out of action for a couple of weeks due to work commitments, unfortunately in my job I have to travel once in a while....... which pisses me off but is all part of the deal :)

Up until now I reckon I haven't seen much effect from the global recession, but guess what?
The recession has hit and in a big way.....with a lot more to come by the looks of it.

The level of workload in the mining industry in which I am involved is on the decrease, with what is still available being scrutinised like never before! Every cost, every hour invoiced is under scrutiny! Fair enough the mines are businesses with shareholders etc, and this current economy is hitting everyone.....Time are indeed getting tough!

Then one Kevin Dudd with his half baked schemes to solve all our problems springs to mind...... here are a couple of gems from the great man:

1) The great Alcopop tax...... implemented before it was passed in Senate only to be rejected and $300M having to be repaid ...... to who? it appears the collected taxs are being paid back to the alcohol manufacturers, my comment here is, the pissheads paid the tax they should get it back.

K Dudd should put on a big $300M alcopop party for everyone and we can all get shitfaced and forget about our problems......... what do you reckon!!! A giant pissup - I'll be there!

This guy is a fucking clown........ his master stroke of genius to stop tennage binge drinking was to chuck a couple of bucks tax onto premix spirit prices that the kids drink..... mmmm OK that will fix those fuckers thought K Dudd. Think again Dudd you rickhead......all the kids are doing now is buying 750ml bottles of scotch, vodka or whatever and mixing their own drinks and getting even more wasted.
Some of the people who think up these "do gooder" schemes have no fucking clue about the real world. Kids have been getting smashed as a right of passage in Australia and everywhere else in the world since Captain Cook rocked up, and guess what they will always be doing it well after the Duddmiester has left the building! Amazing plan and well executed Dudd - NOT!!!

2) Another major breakthrough - the great stimulus package........ give away a shitload of money and lets hope people will spend it to stimulate the economy........well at least K Dudd is trying I suppose.

But unfortunately we have another royal fuck-up......... His master plan has now been challenged because it's has a couple of minor "flaws" such as paying the money into Deceased Estates, paying it to people who filled in a Tax Return last year but who are no longer in the country. These are just two little oversights from Dudd, but overall on par from what I have seen from the little man so far.

He is trying to buy people off and can't even manage to do that right! I'll be getting nothing as usual because I don't fall within the income earning limits........... fuckers!!

Anyway I'm back and kicking sorry about the economic report but I blog about what's on my mind and today it's doom and gloom unfortunately.

Love Reg

Last Weekend

Another big weekend for the Regmiester...... we happened to capture some of the fun on my trusty old Nokia 6120 mobile phone.

Click here for a look at one of the highlights from last weekend!

Love Reg


* Credit for the clip to my good mate - imosh06

Growing Older Gracefully? Bloody Oath !

I remember what seems like only yesterday I was young! or considered to be young in the big scheme of things. The next thing you know it, your not a kid any more but an adult aged 42 with two kids and a wife........ this isn't a bad thing, but just how things have evolved for me, and to be honest I am more than happy with how things have played out.

Guess what though? I still feel young on the inside! Life does go by too quickly, and when I look back over mine so far, I reckon it's been pretty good and I wouldn't want to change a hell of a lot.

I live in the best Country in the world, in a comfortable house, have a good amount of money in the bank and my future looks OK financially (albeit not as good as it did 12 or so months ago before the Stock Market shit itself......) but I consider myself lucky with another 18 years of work to contribute and many more ups and downs ahead on the stock market over that time.

Many others aren't as fortunately particularly those who have recently retired and have lost 50% of their "nest eggs" with the market crashing. One thing I have learned from this market meltdown is that about 5 years before I am ready to retire I will hedge my bets and make sure I don't have too much high risk exposure in my portfolio.

The first 42 years of my life have gone by in a flash so I reckon the next 42 will do the same..... key upcoming challenges for me are:

1) Loose the 30 or so kilograms to get me back to "not looking like a fat bastard". This will improve many things: general health, longevity, blood pressure, cholesterol, future employability and will make me feel a hell of a lot better about myself.

2) Once the weight is lost - maintaining it within a healthy range.

3) When the kids inevitably "fly the coup" in the the next 4 years or so, we will purchasing a smaller home to suit just my wife and myself.... We will get something nice and tasteful as we will be able to keep it looking nice and look after it. As is par for the course, we are continually having "kid accidents" some of which include but are not limited to: accidentally damaging walls, accidentally punching a hole in the gyprock while showing friends how tough you are (without realising that gyprock isn't that strong), dropping food on carpet, dropping coke on the carpet, consistently wrecking things with no rhyme nor reason.

4) Putting more into my self managed super fund (going into Cash at he moment !) - and setting us of for our retirement

5) Once the kids move onto their own lives the wife and I will be able to save allot more money than we do now, and we will get into some world travel! (BTW, I am not trying to get rid of my kids, I love them dearly)

Both my wife and I, love a good holiday and seeing new places but haven't been able to do a great deal of late with trying to cover the costs of living and building a modest nest egg along the way. We will definitely be doing at least one big overseas holiday per year (maybe 2 if we can afford it!)

A picture of my beautiful wife and a few of her friends taken during our last holiday on the Gold Coast

This is me in my element at Jupiters Casino on the Gold Coast, QLD.

Well there's a few thoughts from the deepest recesses of the Regmiester's brain, but I wanted to share them so people understand a bit more about me and where I am trying to go in life.

Reg

Still Off Work

Went to the Doctors yesterday and had an ECG (might have a letter wrong there) but it's the test they do where they hook about a dozen leads to you and do a printout of your heart etc. They also did blood tests to see what was causing the chest pain etc. The results for the ECG were provided almost immediately and were all good :)

The blood tests were due later in the day and I had to call back. When I called back they wanted to see me so have another appointment today - I don't think this is a good thing as usually they will give you the all clear over the phone...... anyway time will tell.

Today I will have an easy day maybe do some work email, and a general catch-up, I want to make the most of this opportunity and actually gain some "work benefit" from it - it is rare for me to have time off during the week so I will make the most of it. Besides if I don't keep on top of email etc there will be a major backlog when I return. I aim to go back to work on Thursday - hopefully all will be running "like a well oiled machine" while I have been off, but I have my reservations.

Diet wise all is on track, looking forward to a good weigh-in later on in the week, the exercise has been on the back burner the last few days while I have had these chest pains, but intend to get back into that once I get the all clear.

My daughter changed schools yesterday which is good for her, as apparently where she was they learned SFA, most of the time they were watching video which I find very disappointing. The new school looks OK and my daughter has many friends who go there so hopefully the transition will be smooth and the amount of video watched substantially less!

That just about covers things for today - probably the main thing is the Doctors appointment to get the blood test results.

Have a good one... Reg

A Good Weekend Followed By Crappy Monday

Last weekend was OK, from a low carb perspective, consumed a gutful of scotch and diet coke on Friday night and had nothing else I shouldn't have all weekend!

I feel crap though, think I have a wog or something (I am hoping this is what's wrong with me). I went to work today and only lasted four hours or so and had to come home. The concerning thing was that I was feeling pressure across my chest, pain down my right arm, hot and cold sweats and a hell of a headache.

Some of these symptoms could suggest something I do not even want to think about - so I hope it wasn't that. The trouble is there is a history of coronary disease in my family, so I hope I am not the next person it affects.
At work I didn't want to make a fuss, just said I was feeling sick and went home, I almost went to the Emergency Department at the local hospital but thought I would try to have a sleep and see if things improved. I didn't get any sleep but the chest tightness isn't as bad and the pains and sweating have stopped, just leaving me with a crappy headache, which isn't going away.



The information on this heart diagram above provides a timely reminder that loosing this excess weight is not an option for me.... It's something I need to do or I mightn't be around long term :(

Regards

Reg

Sol the Fat Cat Trujillo admits he is a Fat Bastard!

Check out his exit interview............ he has been living the good life (and lie) at Australia's expense for about 4 years too long!

WTF is going on with his fucking eye brows?

He is full of shiiiiit! listen to him and his fat cunt bullshit..........his focus never was Telstra it's all about his bottom line.

Who will be the next CEO? they have a hell of a rebuilding job from all perspectives ahead of them...........


http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,25113635-15306,00.html?referrer=email

Reg Reagan


PS.....WTF is going on with Don McGauchies hair? or should I say hair piece..........ahhahahaha what a clown, he is responsible for bring Trujillo into Telstra. He has a hell of a lot to answer for.

Missy Higgins

While I've had a few bevvies.................... I thought I would mention that I am listening to Missy fucking Higgins.

The missus and I went to her concert in Newcastle about 18 months ago, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The carpet was wall to wall in more ways than one (insert here visual images of women who like to chew the rug).

I am a social butterfly and will talk to anyone no matter what their chewing preferences may be. It's all about inner peace and doing what comes naturally so there is "nothing wrong with a bit of sisterly love:" this blogs is 100% lesbian friendly.

Check Missy out she is a real Aussie treasure...... and I love her hard...... like a good used carpet :)

http://www.myspace.com/missyhiggins

The Transformation King has "Left the Building"

Well thank fuck for that, this clown has been the leader of Telstra's "transformation" of which I was a casualty.

He has total rooted Australia's biggest Company to the point where new systems are not working, the company has alienated two Governments, Telstra has been eliminated from the NBN race, plus a heap of other things I will elaborate on later when I have more time - as you can see I am fairly opinionated on this issue.

Anyway good bye and good riddance you fuckstick - enjoy your bonuses.

Reg

Moving into the Weekend Challenge

This week has been average in the "diet wars" to be honest. Last weekends blow out really stuffed my progress up, and I am feeling strong so as to avoid a re0currence this weekend.

Weighed in this morning and was 127.8kg which is still down on my starting weight but only really getting back to where I was before last weekend's indiscretions :(

Anyway this lack of weight loss this week is hammering home the fact that I can't have "just one day off a week" I need to be committed seven days a week. I must loose this weight or my quality of life is being affected plus my longevity.....and I wanna be around for a long time yet!

I am trying to get one of those weight loss tickers for Blogger and it's supposed to be just a HTML "cut and paste job" but I am not having any luck so far. If anyone is reading this and know how to set one of these fuckers up please let me know.

Work is going well with no real mega dramas in the pipeline (that I know of), but I have a feeling we are about to see some of the impacts of the world economic meltdown beginning to impact on our order book...... time will tell, but I hope not, my bonus is at stake!

Anyway time to get to work........weight loss so far is 4kg so it's not too bad but I have done a lot better in past attempts using the Low Carb method. More weight related posts following on the weekend hopefully highlighting my "will power" and another kilo or so gooooone.

Day 9

Watched Underbelly last night....man I love that show! I reckon I should have been an underworld figure in the eighties. (wait a minute I was! no I wasn't just joking)

Diet is all going well but starting to think about scotches on Friday night which is dangerous this early in the week, scotch leads to me eating "shit food". Scotch and diet coke is OK on a LC diet, the problem is once you get pissy you want to eat other non LC crap, which from a sober perspective I do not want to do.

Haven't dared weighing in yet after the weekends "shame file" performance will probably do it Thursday morning so I hopefully see a loss of a kg or 2?

Anyway time to get showered and off to work..... for another "on track" day.

Reg

Monday Arvo Update

I was too scared to get on the scales this morning due to the weekends indiscretions....but will hop on in the morning, hopefully I won't be too disappointed.

Had a good day and back on plan..... more to follow tomorrow morning. Looking forward to Underbelly on TV tonight.

Reg

Day 8

More to follow on the shameful weekend from hell tonight......... (beer, pizza, kfc you name it I ate it !)
I reckon I have put back on 2kg..... This cannot happen next weekend, the weekends are where I come unstuck.

For the next month at least there is no alcohol allowed, that way I won't blow it again............. I am as keen as ever to drop this weight and not happy with myself about the weekend at the moment.

Reg

Day 6 Gooooooone!

It was all going to plan until the second bottle of scotch................. a low carb delight. The neighbours were over and we were out the back and someone had the bright idea to "go into town".

In my old way I was keen and the four of us were in a taxi, and on the way to the "brewery" which as the name suggest is not good for a young man living the low carb dream.

I was on fire....... and as the scotch and diet cokes were $9 a pop, went to plan B .......... schooners of VB (shame shame shame!)

Anyway after a shitload of the local brew and being surrounded by people young enough to be may children it was time to head home 4AM.........shame shame shame.

And we also had a stop in at the bakery drive through for apple pies and sausage rolls.

I am disappointed in my lack of will power............. and also getting $400 out of the ATM and returning home with $150.

Anyway back into the diet.......... I am currently drinking a 3 litre bottle of water to rehydrate me and flush out the evil toxins.

Regards from a very hungover Reg Reagan

Day 5

Another loss this morning......not as much as I may have hoped for but still a loss, with a drop to 127.8kg or down 0.5kg from yesterday.

Moving into what I realise is the danger time.............the weekend where I will be tempted with all my old friends: beer, pizza, nibblies, McDonalds, apple pie, etc etc etc - there is a cast of 1000 friends!

I am feeling strong and going to make sure I don't cave in this weekend.........wish me luck.

Reg

Thursday Arvo Update

Nothing to report here, except I'd didn't go for my walk as it was raining too heavy.and I stuck to the diet nicely today.

An update is coming in the morning......... now move along!

Day 4

Weighed in this morning coming in at 128.3kg which is a loss of 0.7kg since yesterday....which is OK by me and another movement in the right direction (I love LC diets).

Going to buy the "supa dupa" socks today and out for a walk this arvo.....which will be good (as long as the weather is ok and not pissing down)

Big day ahead with customer visits and looking to gain new work for the business. Time is short so I am out of here, heading into another day "doing the right thing".

Reg

Wednesday Arvo Update

Another good day today all low carb - no exception! and I'm pumping the water in like a demon! Three litres already consumed today. I am also moving into ketosis which will start to deliver good weight loss.

This afternoon was a non event as far as my walk goes....... I have real bad blisters from my new "supa dupa" walking shoes...... so am going to get some real good socks tomorrow to fix that problem hopefully.

Work was good the meeting I mentioned with the Senior management went well, I was well prepared and actually turned what could have been a major problem into a winning situation for me. At least that's my take-out from the discussion, only time will tell.

Another test I overcame today, was when I got home my next door neighbour was out the front having a beer and as we have for the last few months he motioned to me to have come over to his place and have a beer.......... guess what? I wasn't tempted at all...... I must be serious about this weight loss campaign.

The only beer I'll be seeing until I get to my goal will be of the electronic variety......... here's one for you, my shout!




That's the update for this afternoon, more to follow after the weigh in tomorrow morning.



Reg

Day 3

Lost 0.7kg this morning not as much as I would have hoped, but any loss is a good one. Going strong from a personal perspective as well.

More to follow

Reg

Tuesday Arvo Update

Just got home from work after a better day than yesterday but tomorrow will be interesting.......

Spending a bit of time on the net before dinner, my wife is not home yet and is bring some nice low carb chicken home so that will really hit the spot. I love my chicken :)

My daughter and I will be heading out for our walk and I will look at increasing the duration 5 minutes and plan to keep this going, as my fitness rises. Sammy (my daughter) is not happy today she must have had a bad day at school........ I'm sure I will find out more on our walk after Dinner.

I watched Underbelly Two last night and loved it! I got into the first Underbelly series for the most part but so far series two is even better.

http://channelnine.ninemsn.com.au/underbellyataleoftwocities/

Check out the link and also the sneak preview of episode 4.

Anyway that's it for now, will do another entry with tomorrow mornings weight loss (hopefully)

Reg

Day 2

Stuck to the game plan yesterday which is great and as I am a person who likes to see results daily weighed in this morning coming in at 129.7 which is 2kg gone in one day!

That's 2kg of fluid I know but I'll take anything that represents a weightloss and is a psychological step in the right direction. I decided to start the exercise program yesterday as well and went for a 35 minute walk with my daughter which I actually enjoyed. The walk delivered the following positives:

1) Time with my 15 year old daughter
2) Exercise.....
3) Time for me to clear my head
4) Walks my Dinner off
5) Allows me to miss Home and Away :)

The walk will be on again tonight ..........I am actually looking forward to it ! and will be trying real hard to go every night after dinner and extend it 5 minutes each night until my fitness level improves.

All in all a good solid start stay tuned for more on my weight loss "journey". And if anyone is actually reading this say hello!

Now it's off to work for another set of completely different challenges........

The Diet Begins

Well I have hit my heaviest adult weight and need to do something about it otherwise I mightn't be around to enjoy my future. This morning I weighed in at 131.7kg which is about 40kg's too heavy for my height of 187cms or about 6 foot 3.

I have been putting on the beef for about 3 years and not worry what I eat or drink..... I love a beer or 20 :)

This blog will be a personal record for me as I get down to under 100kg before Christmas this year - I have heaps of time and going on Atkins to get things headed in the right direction in a hurry. From past experience I can loose 3 to 4 kgs for the first two weeks then it slows to 1.5 to 2kgs......... I just need to drop some bulk quick, I will then introduce exercise and a more convenental low calorie approach.