Update!!

Well its been a long month for me but i'm still battling away with my weightloss. Let's see where to start, ok so i went and saw my dietican a few weeks ago and got weighted again on her scales and to my surprise i lost 1 kgs in about a week or so. So i'm now down to 176 kgs but i feel like i have lost more. Scales are so different but i'm not letting them rule me cause i feel like i have lost more. Its still a loss so i'm happy about that.

Shorty and i went to Townsville this week for her doctor,s appointment and they went well :) so we went shopping on Tuesday and i needed a jumper cause we are going to Melbourne in a week or so and its going to be cold down there lol so we looked for a Lowes menstore and we found one. So we walked in and were looking for jumpers and i found a 7xl black jumper so i thought i would try it on and guess what? It fit perfectly and i was so happy about that :) so then we brought some track pants as well and another long sleeve shirt which was aslo 7xl and it was a little big on me lol. Now this is the first time in 7 years that i have brought sometime form Lowes and i couldn't be happier :)

I had a doctors appointment yesterday and i got my blood test results back i had done a week or so ago. Now i had my blood sugar levels tested as well cause i'm diabetic. We walked into the room and sat down while the doctor went over the results with me. Now my blood sugar levels for the last 3 months have dropped dramically and my blood pressure has also dropped from 144/95 to 126/85 in two weeks. Now i quiet surprised at this considering my blood preesure was over the 160's. The doctor thinks i will need to reduce my medication from 8 tablets a day to 1 maybe 2 a day.

I am very happy that i'm proceeding along nice and slow but i do still have personal goals in mind. I really want t0 be low 160's or high 150's by middle of August this year so thats a drop of another 16-20 kgs in 2 and a bit months.

So stay tuned and i'll keep you updated on my progress :)

A Month On.....

Well its been awhile since i have updated this blog. So this will be a long post lol, where to start....

I guess i'll start in early april, well everything had been going good apart from always never being at home and organising mine and shorty's engagement party. I started to drink again but now it only takes me 2 or 3 drinks and i'm already drunk...can you say cadbury ha ha ha from being able to out drink anyone and now i'm usually gone after my third drink. At least its a cheap nite now ha ha ha.

So my eating habits were all over the place but i tried to eat the healthy choice when ever i could. We were never home more than 3 days at a time which was hard to do a grocery shop for but managed and then came along easter and all that chocolate. Now i didn't have that much chocolate but still had a bit more than i needed too as well. Plus we had a new addition to our little family as well, Little Miss Jaffa

She is a chocolate labrador, has a lot of personality which is great and she was the runt of the litter which usually turn out to be the best dogs of the pack. Now she can sit, stay, walk up and down the stairs and when she needs to go toilet she walks to the fornt door and waits...She is so adorable and i love her to bits :) We picked her up at six weeks old and now she is ten weeks old this week.

Well Shorty and my engagement party was finally here and we had a great nite. I wore a shirt that i couldn't fit into before i started this journey and i was quiet happy about that. I had a few drinks too many as well and also a few shots. I also drank rum for the first time in a while as well and that hit me pretty hard but mostly i drank vodka, lime and soda water. I'm like drinking that now that i'm used to it. I was very sick the next morning but it was worth it lol The food was great, we had a pig on a spit, chicken vermicalli, spagetti bolanagise, beef stogenoff and a few salad dishes. I didn't eat that much that nite but i did have a lot of cake the next few days lol

Well after our engagement party i had my birthday and for that nite i cooked a roast pork adn veges for dinner and it was so beautiful lol

On wednesday 22 April i had my second fill done and i added another 3mm of fluid to the lap band so now my band is 8mm. I really needed this fill cause i had started to eat bigger meals because i had gotten comfortable with the first fill. Now since the lastest fill my meal sizes have dropped again and now if i eat to quick, its straight back up and a quick run to the toilet. In a way its good cuase my meals are smaller and i have to eat much much slower than i have been.

I also went and saw Dr Copp a few days after my fill and i got weighted again and to tell you the truth i wasn't looking forward to it. I felt like i had put on weight because of coming in and out of town so much lately that i hadn't been doing that much exercise or eating right.

So i hopped on the scales and i looked down and i saw 177.4kgs. Now i was fucken over the moon with that weightloss and that was another 4 kgs lost in about a month. Now this was done with very little exercise but i'm happy so that is all that matters. I guess running after a puppy has its advantages lol. This is the first time i've been under 180kgs in like 10 years so i am extremely happy about that and a have reached another goal. I've already had reached 2 goals before this one and i have another 6 to go. My next goal is to get to the 160's.

Well i have started exercising again today as i went for a walk and i was surprise by how far i went today. I usually walk to the first gate and then come back to my house but today we walked to the gully crossing and back and i wasn't even puffed or short of breath. I guess once the weight keeps dropping i will walk further. By the time we leave nebo i want to be able to walk to the highway and back without being short of breath and i know i can do it!

Weigh Time

Well i went to the dietican again on Monday for regular weigh in. Well i was a little worried cause i went uptown saturday nite and had about 5 vodka, lime and soda water before we went up town and then i had another 8 fire engines whilst uptown.

So i jumped on the scales and i looked down and i stayed the same weight! What the Fuck!!! but then my dietican told me that i had actually lost 10kgs of fat off my body. My fat weight was 105kgs and now i was down to 94.8kgs. She then asked me if i had been exercising and i said yes so she said that was good and keep it up.

I was a little disappointed that i haven't actually lost any weight as i wanted too but after talking it with my dietican she explained that i actually put on musle so i don't mind that.

Now my next goal is to keep exercising and get down into the 170's before my next weigh in which is in a months time.

New Clothes

Well i ordered some clothes last week considering i've dropped a bit of weight. So usually i order clothes at 64 inches (160cm) so i decided to order 60 inches (150cm). Well i recieved my clothes yesterday and to my surprise they are still too big. So now thats more than 4inches(10cm) off my waist and i'm happy about that. I'll keep these clothes as they are new and now when i order some more next time i'll have to get 50 inches (125cm) which will be great. Before i know it i'll be able to buy clothes from mackay and not worry about getting online and buying clothes.

First Fill

Well the other day i had my first band fill. The band i have in me is a 14mm band and now the band is 11mm, so i had a 3mm fill. A fill is an adjustment of the band diameter so it can help me eat less and loose more weight.

The procedure is as follows, i made an appointment at Qld x-ray at our mater hospital. When i got there i went through the usual routine of going through all my details with the reception. After that i waited about 10mins and then my name got called and i followed one of the staff to a x ray room. I was told to lie on my back below the machine and they did an xray of my band, then they wiped my stomach down with benedine. Next the doctor gave me an local aneasthic on my stomach and proceeded to insert a huge needle into my stomach and put the 3mm fill in my band. They fluid in the band is water.

All done and it was a 10 min procedure. I wasn't allowed to eat anything for 24 hrs so it was back on fluids for that period. Now i'm back on solids until my next fill in another month or so.

Dietican Appointment

Well yesterday i went back to the dietican for another appointment. I am now off puree food and onto solids. I was excited about yesterday's appointment cause i knew i was going to be weighed again and i was gettting a new diet plan for a few more weeks.

So i got there and first thing we did was weigh me, i jumped on the scales and i looked down and i was 181.1 so i lost another 5.8kgs over the last 2 weeks. So now my total loss is 28.8kgs in 6 weeks. I was a little dissappointed because i wanted to get into the 170's but i happy still cause i have haven't been this weight in about 7 or 8 years. Also my BMI has dropped from 56 down to 48, only another 18 to go and i'll be happy which means my goal weight is now 108kgs.

After getting weighted we sat down and went through my new diet and what i can and can't have. My new diet is as follows.

Breakfast
1/2 cup of dry just right/lite n tasty/healthwise for the heart/porridge
or 1 peice of multigrain toast with spread or a banana

Smoko
3/4 cup of low fat yoghurt/1 piece of fruit/1 crackers with spread or low fat cheese/ 3/4 cup of low fat custard

Lunch
100grams of Tuna and salad/soup or leftovers from night before

Smoko
3/4 cup of low fat yoghurt/1 piece of fruit/1 crackers with spread or low fat cheese/ 3/4 cup of low fat custard

Dinner
50-100grams cooked of meat/chicken/fish
1/2 cup of veges
1/2 cup of starch (noodles,rice or potatoes)

Supper
Low fat ice cream or a cup of a homemade milkshake

Also gotta take centruim vitamin tablets every day as well. I have to drink some V8 fruit and vege drink to help keep up my vegetable intake. I have also started an exercise plan for the next week which i'll put up tomorrow sometime.

I also get my first band fill tomorow afternoon so i think this new diet will fill me up quiet good.

Puree Phase

Well its been a big couple of days for me, first i went to see the dietican and got my new puree diet for the next two weeks. The diet will consist of whatever food i have it will have to be blended into a liquid consistancy and be a half of cup and build up to 3/4 cup. I'm allowed to have up to 6 meals a day.

Breakfast.
Half a weetbix and milk, soggy or half a cup of porridge (no lumps)

Morning Smoko
Half a cup pureed fruit/yoghrt/trim custard

Lunch
Half a cup of thick pureed soup with meat and veges

Afternoon Smoko
Half a cup pureed fruit/yoghrt/trim custard

Dinner
Half a cup of blended meat and veges

Supper
Half a cup pureed fruit/yoghrt/trim custard

I'm also allowed some pasta and breads as well now but i won't be having any bread until i start back on real food. There will be NO steak pureed as well cause i don't want to ruin my taste for steak lol..... I aslo got weighed again on Friday and i lost another 7.6kgs and this takes my total to 23kgs in a month, i was over the moon when i looked day and i was 187.2kgs. I haven't been this light for about 7 years. I was a little disappointed casue i wanted to lose 10kgs but i'm not complaining cause a loss is a loss. My next goal is getting to 170's in the next two weeks.

On Sunday the 22 Feb i asked Shorty's parents for there blessing to marry their daughter, they said yes they do. It was the most nervous i have ever been and thank god they said yes lol. So shorty and i went for a drive to our new house we are building and we walked in casue the roof is on and had a look around. We we about to leave and then i asked her to marry me and she said YES!!! so now i'm engaged lol.

We went back to her parents place to tell her family the good news and we had celebrations drinks so i had a vodka and juice for mine and the rest had wine. That nite we had roast pork for dinner and we tried puree roast for me. I had half a cup of roast veges, 2 beans, pork and gravy pureed. It filled me up which i couldn't beleive so all i can say now is bring on puree!!!!!

The 1-14 Day Diet

Well i wouldn't call it a diet lol... Its more a liquid diet.

Breakfast
200mls of supradyn or protien shake

Smoko
250mls of Apple Juice

Lunch
200mls of Protien shake

Afternoon Smoko
250mls of Apple Jiuce

Dinner
200mls of Protien shake.

I am usuall drinking some more water during the day as well to take my intake up to 1500mls a day. I can have clear soup as well which i see as a treat for myself. I can also have skim milk once a day as well and thats only 200mls.

The worst thing about it all is i have to sip through a straw to drink all my fluid, can only have a 100ml/30 mins.

This diet will continue till next wednesday 25 Feb and then i start another 14 day diet which i'll find out today what it is. I'll also get weighed again today :)

Recovery Time

Well i wake up groggy as all shit and see Shorty sitting there smiling at me. Now i'm still pretty much out of it and i think the time was after 6pm. I keep falling in and out of sleep and Shorty then leaves at 8pm i think.

I didn't have much sleep that night cause i was in pain and the nurses were checking my blood pressure and sugar every 2 hours. I was finally awake again about 8am the next morning and Shorty was coming to see me again. When she got there i was able to get up and have a shower which was a painful one.

After my shower Dr Copp came to visit me and then told me he hit a blood vessel while stitching me up. Other than that the surgery was a success. At about 9am the nurse came in and took the staples out and i was free to leave the hospital.

Once leaving the hospital we went back to the apartments we were staying at to rest up for a couple of days. One the friday i was able to move around a bit more and thats when the bleeding started. We went back and seen Dr Copp and he changed the bandage, then shorty and i went to the chemist to get some more bandages by this time the bandage filled with blood and it was back to see Dr Copp.

These to pics are of the wound and blood loss.

So this bleeding went on till at least Sunday night and by monday morning it had stopped. I have 5 scars from the operation and i'll show you then if you ask to see them lol.

Surgery Time

So after my few weeks on the pre-op diet and i went back to the deitican to get my 1-14 day after op diet i was weighted again on the 6 Febuary. i was kinda scared about jumping on the scales and still being over 200kg. Well i jumped on and what do you know, i was 198.8kg!!! I was so surprised and happy i couldn't beleive it!!!

I got my 1-14 day after op diet and just continued on with my pre-op diet. Shorty and I flew done to Brisbane on the 10 Feb a day before my operatoin and decided todays lunch and dinner was gonna be a good one considering this was my last meal for at least a month. For lunch we had kfc and for dinner Shorty and I went to Lonestar Steakhouse for dinner and we ordered garlic bread for starters, mains were rump steak, chips and salad for her and ribs on the bone with chips and salad for me. And dessert was chocolate and macadania nut cake with whipped cream and ice cream. It was the best feed i had in ages and i really enjoyed it.

So the next morning i arrive at the hospital at 8am for the op and we are waiting around for 30 mins before i get asked to come in and see the nurse. I go through all my details with the nurse and then get my blood pressure taken, sugar taken and then get weighted again. To my surprise i was 194.8kg which means i lost another 4kg between friday and wednesday. I get told to strip done and put the gown on, as well as these stockings to make sure you don't get blood clots as well as little foot gloves lol...so then i'm laying on the bed watching tv and the male nurse comes in and says i gotta shave your stomach for the op. After this is done i'm still laying in ward waiting for my op, at about 11am i am moved to the theatre waiting room. Then the wait continues till about 3.30pm by this time i am pretty pissed off for waiting around so long. I get taken to theatre 13 and then the get all the shit connected to moniter me while i'm going under and then have a 10 minute chat with the anethestisis (spelling). Next thing i know i wake up back at my private room.

Diet Time

Well its been a while since i added something....

I started my 3 week pre op diet on the 25 January after seeing the deitican two days earlier. She set out a no carb high protein diet which included protein shakes. Before seeing the deitican i had one last meal of hungry jacks lol i really enjoyed that meal lol. When i was there i was weighted again and the scales shot up to 200kgs and was just bouncing at that weight which meant i was a lot heavier than 200kgs. My guess is that i weighted about 210 kgs so i'lll use this figure as my starting weight.

This is what i usally had for a day with this new diet, i wasn't allowed any bread, pasta or potato;

Breakfast
2 eggs with onion and tomato mainly boiled or scrambled

Smoko
Protein shake and some fruit.

Lunch
200 grams of tuna with salad no dressing. Salad was usually lettuce, tomato, onion and low fat cheese.

Afternoon Smoko
Protein shake

Dinner
Usually 200g - 300g of fish, chicken or red meat with salad. Salad same as lunch and usually had some lemons as well.


Now this diet was good i didn't it at all, it done the job of helping me lose weight. One weekend in Townsville i went off the deit, had kfc and red rooster for lunch a couple of days and then dinner was steak, salad and chips with garlic bread as well lol other than i sticked pretty much to this diet.

My Appointment

Well I went and seen my doctor for an annual check up in December and asked for a referral to see the Lap Band specialist, Dr John Copp. So after my appointment I rang Dr. Copp’s office and made an appointment for the next time he was in Mackay which was 7 and 8 January 2009.

So I made my appointment for Thursday 8 January at 10.40am but before that appointment I had to go see the psychologist to see if I’m capable of doing the diet and surgery.

My girlfriend Chantal (who likes to be called Shorty) and I went and seen the psychologist first and he went through some questions with me but overall I think it went well. After this we were waiting to see Dr Copp but before we saw him, we seen the clinical nurse first, Benitna who when through how the procedure was done. She was pretty straight forward with me and I knew it was going to happen because I have diabetes, high blood pressure and was overweight big time. I was also told to give up smoking as it will help with my weight loss and if i want to be fit i gotta give them up.

So i got weighted and my weight is 200kg and i was then told that i am a prime candidate for the surgery, i already knew that. I was also given some more information about the surgery and i had to make an appoinment with the deitician before my operation.

So after we seen Benitna we saw Dr Copp and he went through the procedure with Shorty and I, but i'm going to have the operation down in Brisbane which i don't mind cause it'll give Shorty and I some time away together.

I think everything went well and i'm happy that i'm doing it, my sister is getting the same operation as me. So it's going to be good as i have the support from my family, Shorty's family and my close friends.

About Me

Well where do i start, let's begin with my name. My name is Graham Budby but to most people i'm known as grub, grubby, grubstar or bud. I'm 31 years old and at this present time i'm living at Nebo with my girlfriend.

I grew up in and around Mackay, Qld all my life and worked around the Mackay region. At this present time i am a manager of Woora Consulting, which is a registered Cultural Heritage Body which is responsible for the recording, protection and management of Cultural Heritage within the BBKY Native Title Area. I love my job as it deals with my culture on a regular basis.

I've always been a big guy, even through high school I was always the big guy and since then my size has gotten bigger and bigger. I’ve tried all the diets and they work for a while but then I would get slack and the weight would come back on that I lost.

It’s time for a change and that’s why I’m getting the Lap Band Surgery done next month. The reason why you may ask, well my health is at risk of deteriorating and I’ll probably be dead in the next year or so if I don’t do something now! Now that I have diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol it’s time to start looking after myself.

So please follow my journey as I shed most of this weight and get back to being healthy and fit again.