MMVI

January 1st, 2006

Here it is. The New Year !! What will be in our future ? What will we do different ? What will we change ? What will change us ? What will remain the same ?

A New Year always prompts resolutions and hopes. There seems to be a sense of starting-over, to a degree, and making up for the way things have been done in the past. Oddly enough, so many attempt to drown out the past with alcohol and drugs on that last night of each year. However, in a large sense, that is what I was doing for 51 years with food. Covering up the past, the unknown, the unwanted, the untried, the un-me. During "brief" times during those 51 years, I also used alcohol and to a much lesser degree, drugs, to do that which it seemed food was not covering up.

My instincts eventually told me the alcohol was not gaining anything. The Prozac, etc., was not doing anything except masking the things I refused to deal with. The real me was under all the excess pounds, actually screaming to get out, but itself muffled by more food, etc. I learned to take control, the moment I made that choice to have the stomach bypass surgery. That was a decision of control. In doing so, I gave up much of my own control after the surgery, in that I now can eat only limited portions, and many foods are off limits in a different way than ever before.

Tonight at dinner (actually last night, and therefore last year) reinforced my new mindset of not needing, and barely (if at all) wanting many of the old foods that I used to crave and consume in mass quantities, most of the time without really enjoying them, but rather just having to have them. I really feel better now about what I no longer eat. The many goodies that used to clog my system and my brain, no longer have control over me, and I truly can just say "no". True, I say "no" to some items as they would actually at this point make me physically ill, but the overall truth is, that the thought of just putting some food items in my system no longer appeals to me, even when I can do so, albeit in small nibbles. I don't crave them, don't want them, and don't need them to exist. so why succumb to their addiction again ? I don't, and won't.

2005 was a year of major change for me. 2006 will further that process, as well as allow me to spread my wings and flourish in ways previously unknown to me.

What will you do with your 2006 ???

Wally

The Days Of Christmas Passed

12/26/2005

OK --

I made it through Christmas with few problems. Sure, there were a few food items I wanted, but knew I could not have, so I just stayed away from them. Sure there were relatives and friends that unthinkingly offered me cookies, or a drink, or whatever. Were they trying to set me up for failure at that point ? I hope not, and I think not. I just do not think they were thinking about the situation. After all, why, after all the weight loss I've had (though mostly due to the stomach bypass surgery, still had involved some self-thought modification and will-power), why oh why would I want to put a cookie in my mouth and start right back down the road of eating incorrectly and over-eating junk food ??

OK, the ranting is over. For now.

I did get a wonderful surprise. After sending out a Christmas letter to friends and family, and in it stating that I was helping to organize a ReUnion of my college fraternity in 2007, I found out that my next door neighbor was in the same fraternity many years later ! It is indeed, a small, small world.

2005 is about over, and I'm about 155 pounds lighter than at the beginning of the year. Wow. That leaves me with about 80 - 100 to go probably, depending on where I level out at. Of course, there will probably be some cosmetic surgery on the stomach area, and / or more. Even that takes weight off, as they remove some of the fat in that area when they do it. By next Christmas, I will no longer be mistaken for Santa Claus, without lots of padding underneath. I started 2005 wearing 5XL, and recently moved down into wearing 3XL. I assume I will end up in 2XL, or so, due to a larger bone structure and frame, etc. So at this point, all my 5XL has been vanquished from the home, with 4XL next on the list !

I did get in trouble for not mentioning my cats in my Christmas letter, so here goes. They are fine. Still spoiled rotten, and still trying to rule the home. All are in the ages of 12 and 13 range, and in good health. Allie had a bout with a urinary tract infection, as well as her glucose level being too high ("off the charts") before I took my Colorado trip a few weeks back, but the Vet had her "good as new" when I returned. Tamara is my other diabetic cat, but has had no complications from it thus far, and has not been as difficult to regulate so far, as Allie has been.
Travis is still a mess, and often tries to help me type on the computer, or at least get in the way where I can not read the screen. Tootsie is still my cross-eyed psycho 6-toed furball, and the move to this house seems to have improved her disposition, even just towards me. Aggie is, and always will be, Daddy's girl. She thinks my bedroom is her room, and that she just lets me sleep on the bed nightly. If I am up late, she will even come and let me know it's midnight. I swear, she will come in just about midnight to the home office or the den, and meow at me incessantly, to come in to bed. Who says cats don't know the time ??

We had a wonderful company Christmas Lunch down at the Perryman Ranch. Wes and Coco, along with son Luke, do such a wonderful job at decorating the place, as well as food preparation.
We also had the beautiful music of Grady Nichols and his backup playing Christmas Music, and his trademark version of "Amazing Grace". It just helped make the day even more special, and the event more exciting for the employees. It's a trip to a country Christmas each year we have our company Christmas lunch there, and when we do the company Spring Picnic there as well.

This year, we even did the family Christmas Day at the ranch, which was great for the kids especially, with plenty of room to roam outside on a beautiful 50F day. I took the ham, some spinach souffle (from KAL's, of course), and some wine. We had about 40 for the day, and it appears all had a great time, and ate more than enough. I had paced myself well that day (I don't always) and had a protein drink and banana earlier in the day to get me through until Lunch without the starvation feeling, etc. Common sense can work well. I just avoided the dessert table completely, as well as mashed potatoes, bread, and some other items. I did have to sneak in a few of the homemade noodles though, and a bit of stuffing, among other items. I kept it all in moderation though, so no problems.

Here's hoping that 2006 is indeed, the Happiest New Year for us all !!!

Wally Trepp

Bicardi 151

12/12/2005

OK....... I can not have Bicardi 151, but the number fit with what I wanted to post about.
My total weight loss, as of today, is 151 pounds since February. Breaking it down, that is 35 before surgery, and 116 in the 6 months since surgery. It just keeps falling off ! I have no specific goal, but will probably lose another 90 - 100 pounds to get to where I will level out and remain.

I made it through Thanksgiving, and all the food that goes with that day, with no real problems. I therefore know I can do the same with Christmas, even with all the vendors and friends that have food around, or send gifts of food to the company. I just say "no thanks". It's really not as difficult as I thought it would be. I now "eat to live" and no longer "live to eat". That's progress.

I spent last week on vacation, starting with a weekend in Kansas City. I toured some beautiful homes that were all decked out for Christmas with some friends up there, and then had a nice dinner on a lake that evening with them. I then crossed all of Kansas to spend a night in Denver, and then on to Crested Butte, Colorado for 4 nights. I wish it had been longer, even though I've never seen it so cold as it was that trip. Thursday December 8th morning it was a
-35F. Yes, a minus 35 degrees Farenheit ! Fortunately there was no wind to speak of, and it is
after all, a "dryer cold", so it was not unbearable.

I have finished my Christmas shopping, and next on my list are my Christmas cards, which I did not get out last year. I did just finish up my Christmas Letter to go in the cards as well. In there, as well as here, I am soliciting anyone I know from back at the John Knox Presbyterian Church Youth Group in the 1970's to send me addresses of anyone they are still in contact with, as I am hoping to organize a reunion of our group at Christmas time 2006. Also, anyone that was in the same fraternity I was in, Phi Kappa Theta, at Oklahoma State University, I am helping to organize a reunion of all the years members, sometime in the summer or fall of 2007. Send me names and addresses on Phi Kap's also !! My high school reunion (Nathan Hale High School) will also be in the summer of 2007. So I have a lot of activity approaching quickly !!

2006 will see me travel again on my almost annual trek to South Lake Tahoe. I will also return to Crested Butte a few times, and in late October, will take a Mexican Riviera Cruise for a week.
I still am hoping to get to Hawaii, and back to Europe, both in 2007 most likely.

Life is more fun when one is active, and I have re-activated my life to start doing more.

Wally