So Much to Not Miss After Weight Loss

Howard E. Martin Jr. knows what it’s like to weigh almost 400 pounds. And he knows he never wants to reach that weight again. “I don’t miss being out-of-breath and always sweating. I don’t miss being refused a seat on an airplane because I’m too big. I don’t miss the rub marks left on my trousers by the steering wheel of my car. And I don’t miss the constant search for fat-friendly chairs when I go out.”

He doesn’t miss having diabetes and high blood pressure either.

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Howard’s lifestyle took a drastic turn for the better when a sleeve gastrectomy reduced the size of his stomach. Eight months later he’s 100 pounds lighter, and he’s happy – make that thrilled – to be free of the many obstacles that accompanied his obesity. He laughs just thinking about his new ability to sit comfortably with his legs crossed. “And I don’t worry any more when I see a roomful of chairs with armrests!”

To keep the scale headed downward, Martin does water resistance exercises at the YMCA pool near his home. To keep from getting disappointed, he doesn’t weigh himself at home, only at the doctor’s office. “I don’t want to get frustrated if I keeping weighing myself at home and I’m not losing as much as I’d like.”

Shortly after the surgery, some pain caused Howard to second-guess his decision. “I started wondering if I could have lost the weight on my own without the procedure,” he says. “But now I know I made the right decision. I know I would have slipped back, given up, then tried again and again. This surgery has made a permanent change in my life. I’m so happy I did it."