My family: Me, Christie (My Wife), Ayden (8), Ava (4), Austin (2)

From as far back as I can remember:

      When I was about 2 years old, my father decided he no longer wanted to be a father, and left my wonderful mother with 4 kids. We had a very happy childhood, despite the fact we did not have most of the material things that alot of other families had. Because my mom, Sharon, worked so hard and held down multiple jobs at a time, just to make ends meet, we were left in the care of my Grandparents a lot of the time. My Grandma, Evelyn, who has since passed away now, was an amazing cook and could bake the pants off anyone! We grew up on Grandma's sweets & bread cooked with love and her amazing Danish food, coupled with Grandpas down home cooking that consisted of alot of meat and potatoes! Man, we ate good.

     Because my mom was always so busy, we stayed busy with many activities of our own such as acting classes, dance classes, football, soccer, golf, baseball, community sponsored summer camps, etc... My oldest brother Todd was the high school football allstar quarterback, my older sister Shawnah, was the academic giant of the family and was in the Drill Team, my brother Jeff played football and Golf with me in high school, and we were also in the marching band where he played drums, and I played the tuba. In high school, I also played soccer, and sang in the "Ensemble" where we toured around the country singing. Needless to say we stayed pretty busy. 

     Once I graduated high school, a lot changed. Christie and I had been together since our junior year, and we were so in love. However, When Grandma, Grandpa's, and mom's incredible cooking continued, but the level of excercise and sports did not, I began gaining weight. Back then I was 6'2" tall and weighed 215 pounds with not too much body fat. Sitting here writting this today, I am again exactly 215 pounds, but these two weights are like bookends between which volumes have been written. One other thing I feel impressed to mention is the fact that I began going bald when I was 16. I believe that this truly played a part in my lowered self-esteem.

     I found myself wearing a hat everywhere I went, and I began working at a pizza restaurant where I ate like a horse. It was at the restaurant when I really started putting on the weight. I had endless refills of root beer soda and pizza...If anyone is looking to gain weight, the combo of pizza and root beer will do it! Over the next 13 years, I would steadily put on anywhere from 10-15 pounds of fat onto my body, which eventually landed me at the whopping weight of 400 pounds! My level of self-esteem had plummeted, a lot of times I felt worthless, and as though I was an outcast. It's funny looking back now, I never saw myself as big as I really was in the mirror, my wife never

realized how big I was until we started looking back at old pictures. There were so many instances that I can remember so vividly that continually added to lowered self esteem.

     I remember walking into one of my colleagues office seeking advice on a matter. I sat down in his guest chair and literally snapped it in two because of my weight. I remember getting kicked off of roller coaster rides in front of 40 of my friends because I did not fit. I remember traveling frequently for work, and as the flight attendant would welcome me aboard, I would ask in a lowered voice if I could have an extender for my lap belt. I remember going shopping for my newest car and having to spend way more on a car than we wanted or could afford, just because I could not fit in a smaller, less expensive car. I passed up going to lunch with my friends and colleagues because I knew the location they were going to would not have big enough booths for me to fit in. I remember going to drive throughs and ordering two meals, and when they would ask what kind of drink I wanted I ordered an extra one that I didn't want, just to make it appear that one of the meals was for someone else. Also, asking for an extra fork or spoon with the meals was another way I would try to mask the reality that I was eating way too much. I remember my last trip to The Men's Warehouse to buy a suit. They always had my size, but when THEY told me they didn't carry any bigger sizes, and that I no longer fit into a size 22 dress shirt, I began to take a real hard look at where I was headed.

     Aside from these incidents, there was something even bigger weighing on my mind. I have two beautiful kids, Ava and Ayden, with a third on the way now. I woke up one day and realized that if I was going to eat myself into a grave, I was going to be no better than my father who left without a word so long ago. I needed to change, and I needed to do it NOW! I had tried dieting over all these years, but that just led to weight lost for a short period followed by an even bigger gain in an even faster period. I needed a permanent solution. I weighed out all of my options, and after doing some investigation and attending seminars, I decided that Gastric Bypass Surgery was the way to go.

      About 18 months prior to my surgery, my brother Jeff had Gastric Bypass as well and lost 140+ pounds. I had my surgery on January 14th , 2008. After investigating and considering many different surgeons, I found Dr. David Kim who was practicing out of North Hills Hospital in North Richland Hills, TX. I attended one of his Symposium's regarding weight loss surgery, and found his approach to be enlightening, and found the testimonials of his previous patients to be inspiring. Dr Kim was absolutely incredible prior to, during, and post surgery. I recieved individualized attention, and the follow-up protocal that he adhere's to is far beyond what I have heard is the standard in the world of Bariatric Surgery. You can find more about Dr. Kim at http://www.drdkim.net/index.html

     I have heard from many folks that they believe that Gastric Bypass Surgery was the "Easy" way out. To those folks I submit the following. Try going on a liquid diet, with no food, for two weeks prior to surgery. Try having your stomach reduced from the size of a football to the size of a golf ball where eating 2 ice cubes makes you feel like you are going to burst because you feel so full. Try eating all of your meals for 3-4 weeks after surgery blended to a puree. Ever thrown a piece of lasagna in a blender and add some water to it? Sound easy yet? Try having to learn what your new stomach pouch likes and doesn't like, and be prepared to throw up....A lot! Some people don't have this problem, but I seemed to. Prepare to be constipated on a regularly irregular basis. Also, when you have Gastric Bypass, a portion of your intestines are bypassed creating an intended malabsorption. Your body no longer absorbs all of the vitamins from your food, so you will have to suppliment and take viatmins for life. On top of that, because your body cannot process sugar the same way, say goodbye to all foods that have refined sugar in them, for life! I donated blood on a regular basis because 0+ is always in high demand and in low stores. After Gastric Bypass, forget about donating blood because it completely depletes your iron stores. I could go on and on, but, having lived through this and having lived through a regular "Diet" like Weight Watchers, this has NOT been easy by any means. Having to do things over though, I would do it all over in a heart beat!

     Now, about 2 years post-op, I have lost about 200 pounds. 4 weeks after surgery, I went to the gym for the first time in I don't know how long, and could barely walk a mile at a 2.5 MPH pace. The balls of my feet used to hurt all the time because of my weight. I had lots of discomfort and pain in my lower back all the time because of my weight. I used to wear a size 56" waist, and my shirt size was 5XL and size 22 in dress shirts. As of today, I no longer have foot pain, no longer have back pain, and am in a size L shirt, 16 1/2 dress shirt and have a 36" waist. .

     In July 2008  I decided I wanted to do a triathlon. I trained hard for it, completed it in 2nd place in my division, and became hooked, which took place exactly 9 months from the day I had surgery. I competed in another triathlon in October and took 7th in a much bigger event. I completed a full 26.2 mile marathon on December 14th 2008, another marathon in Feb 09, and since then have completed another marathon, 4 x Ironman 70.3 Triathlons, and a Full 140.6 mile Ironman Triathlon, multiple ULTRA Distance Marathons, and many other various races.

     All-in-all, my life is so good, and I am so richly blessed. I have a wonderful family. I love my wife so much, she has been such a source of strength an encouragement to me. I love my son Ayden, and I love coaching his soccer and Tball team. (Something I never would have done 10 months ago) I love playing with my little daughter Ava. Her smile could lift the spirit of any person on their worst day! I am so blessed to have our newest arrival, Austin in our family, and there are very few moments he is not smiling and enjoying life. Oh to be an infant again!!! I love being a father, I love being a husband, I love life and I am so thankful to all of my family and friends who have stood by me and supported me throughout this journey and throughout my life. In closing, an image that I will leave with you is one that I came running across the finish line at my last triathlon... It was to my awesome son Ayden holding a sign that said "Go Daddy Go". So I am doing what my son said to do, and I will keep pushing myself to go, because I want to be the father, the man, and the athlete that I know I am, and blow a farewell parting kiss to obesity for as long as I live.

My beautiful wife Christie, who has been my sweetheart since we were 16 years old