My background
Puffin is a pet name that my wife gave me to try and irritate me. Since then, I’ve kind of grown into the name, and now I use it to give folks an idea of what I’m like as a person. Puffins aren’t like penguins. We are pudgier around the middle, and we don’t really mind. Who wants to be a singing penguin when you can be a Puffin. Puffins can fly by the way. We aren’t showy, we aren’t always dressed to impress, and we live a very minimalist lifestyle. Well, at least that is how I view Puffins. If you don’t, then how many Puffins have you met?
In all seriousness, I’m a recent college graduate from Oklahoma State University and I currently reside in Lawton, Oklahoma. In December 2009, I underwent gastric bypass surgery and have since lost 85 lbs. I currently hover between 220 and 225. After surgery, exercise was very important to tighten up the loose skin around my body, and it also provided a new source of enjoyment and stress relief. However, I got extremely tired with battling for weights and machines while at the local gym, so I simply put on my shoes and started running. However, I was plagued with shin splits and knee pain, and I didn’t enjoy my runs.
In February 2011 I bought a pair of Vibram five finger KSO and started running after seeing a video for the RunTellmanRun run across America. I thought that guy looked to be enjoying his run, and he was in KSO at the time. I quickly started running in my KSO and found that I enjoyed the feeling of running again. I took it slow, but then I decided that I didn’t want to wear the KSO to run in every time I went running. So, I did what came naturally and kicked off my shoes. Ever since then I haven’t looked back and I currently do 95% of my running barefoot…
I’m a surly mouthed, strong opinioned, and vocal writer. I write from the standpoint of, I will never tell you only what you want to hear. I will always tell you what you need to hear, and unfortunately, they aren’t always one and the same. If that sounds like something you can dig, then stick around. If it’s not…the back button is located in the upper left hand of the screen…Click it now and spare yourself.
Puff
Barefoot Puffin 
Wow! 85 pounds! Congratulations!
Personal question perhaps so ignore me if you like.
Did you know about primal/paleo before your gastric bypass? And if you didn’t, knowing what you do now, would you have had the surgery? Would you recommend bypass or primal/paleo first at this point?
Not trying to be nosy or offensive, I’m truly just curious!
🙂
No. I didn’t know and I think the distinct lack of education in this area is a major flaw of surgical/nutritional consults. I would not do it again knowing what I know now, and yes id advocate the diet first before surgery.