Beachy keen:
Traveling 150 pounds lighter in 10 months made for a memorable summer

By ROBERT MORGAN

As my wife and I boarded the airplane for our trip to Laguna Beach, I quietly asked the attendant who greeted us to bring a seat belt extension to seat 14F.

She looked at me with a confused look and said, "We have several onboard, who is in need of one?" She looked around searching for a larger person.

I smiled back at the middle-aged woman and told her it was for me. She replied, "Sir, you don't need one, but if you do, feel free to push the overhead button and let me know and I will get one right to you."

Those words are the kindest, sweetest most amazing words I have ever heard. She was correct in her assessment. It was the first time since 1994 that I did not need the device to buckle up on a plane.

It was just a year ago that I had to board the plane before all other passengers so I could squeeze down the isle and get my double seat belt extension.

I will never know that woman's name, and she will never realize how much of an effect that five-second conversation had on my life, but I will never forget her.

It was also the highlight of a summer filled with fun, laughter, travel and physical activity.

Our summer vacations are planned around my second love - coaching basketball. My first love, obviously, is my wife Marissa who puts up with me and our 30 "daughters" each basketball season.

We take our girls to San Antonio one weekend every June for a particular tournament. The Morgan family leaves town on Monday to spend the week in Corpus Christi so that the beaches are not as crowded, there is no waiting line at our favorite restaurant and to see my brother-in-law David who is stationed at the Ingleside base.

The seven-hour drive to the Gulf Coast was long and somewhat painful this time. My knees hurt because I wasn't used to sitting for long periods of time anymore, and I could not eat snacks to occupy my time, both of which were good problems to have.

I have always loved the trip to Corpus Christi - it was a getaway from the hustle and bustle of North Texas. In the past, I hadn't enjoyed the beach town as I should have because I could not get around. When our boys went swimming, I sat at a distance or in the car because my large frame would never get out of the sand.

It's amazing what a difference my weight loss in 10 months made on our trip this year. At a happy 343 pounds (down 166 pounds from 509), I was in for every bit of the fun.

We even took a boat ride to St. Jo Island. I played in the water with my boys, walked several miles along the shore collecting souveniers and even laid on my beach towel near the crashing waves and worked on my farmer's tan.

I had forgotten that vacations were supposed to be fun. After all, I had not enjoyed one in more than 10 years. Instead of hiding from the attention, I was every bit part of it and actually liked it.

Eating Lap-Band friendly food was fairly simple. I did miss out on eating my two burritos, soft taco, rice and beans at my favorite stop El Raparo Taqeria.

I never missed putting down that 1,000-calorie meal until this trip. We could not bypass it all together, so we made our annual stop but I only ate half of the meat inside one of the burritos and left the rest.

Marissa and I shared the rest of our meals that week. After deciding on the meal, I took about four ounces of meat and half of her vegetables and she enjoyed the rest. My small portion is what she would had left on her plate anyway, so we saved money and everyone was happy.

I have not had bread or pasta products or any drinks with calories or sugar since last September. I believe that is the reason for the success of my surgery.

I did, however, cheat at my favorite ocean-front eatery Doc's. I had my annual pina colada in a freshly-cut pineapple. Though it was too sweet for my liking since I no longer consume sugar, it was a refreshing way to end end our South Texas trip.

We made our way to San Antonio at the end of the week where we met the team. In sticking with tradition, we took the group to Schlitterbahn for some fun, sun and lots of walking.

I was looking forward to that journey because I had not worked out all week since leaving home, and I needed to walk. I was perched under a pavilion for the duration of the trip the last time we took the boys because I simply could not get around that massive park.

The day was priceless and there was nowhere on earth I wanted to be that day but right there with my family. Not only did we walk through all three of the parks, but I also got onto several of the water rides. It was the first father-son bonding ever for me and my 5-year-old son, Brad.

The rest of the trip was just as fun. We walked the Riverwalk twice, played lots of basketball and even hit the big shopping mall for the first time. I was always in the lead and rarely wanted to stop for sit-down breaks.

The success of our first trip made the wait for our big California trip seem like forever. I lost 12 pounds during our Texas vacation and now I had Laguna Beach on my mind for the next six weeks.

We were headed to the West Coast for some family fun, a little visiting and a lot of basketball as my girls' varsity team qualified for nationals once again.

Except for our third-place finish, last year's trip was anything but memorable for me as I was at my all-time highest weight. I often stayed in the hotel room or in the car while my wife did all her sight-seeing alone in Las Vegas.

History was definitely not going to repeat itself. My weight had dropped to 331 pounds since the trip to Corpus Christi, but there was no change in the first three weeks of July and my appetite slowly returned. My one-cup meals were only lasting two hours so it was time for a Lap-Band adjustment.

Unlike my other checkups, my fifth one was the fastest. Dr. Curtis Mosier located my port in less than five minutes and increased my fill to 10cc - it was the tightest adjustment since my surgery 10 months ago. He had a little concern about the aggressive fill since I was leaving the state in four days, so I was to call him if I had vomiting problems over the weekend.

I went back to liquids for one day and then was back to my normal diet of soft foods.

The day to fly the friendly skies finally arrived. Thanks to the kind stewardess that greeted us at the door, Marissa and I knew we were departing for our best vacation together.

We got settled into the plane, seat belts buckled and even had our MP3 players in hand. That's when we ran into the only problem of the trip, and my weight had nothing to do with it. Both tires on the plane were flat as we were preparing for take off.

Humorous, yet it was kind of scary that it was discovered so close to leaving. How would we have landed if it was discovered later? We remained seated, the tires were replaced and we were gone in two hours.

Our nine days in Southern California were the best days of my marriage. Sure, we sprinkled in some basketball games along the way, but the bulk of our time sans kids is what was paradise compared to the confines of Wise County.

We spent the first five days in Laguna Beach where we walked the beach daily. We enjoyed strolls on Laguna Avenue, the Pacific Coast Highway and Main Beach. We shopped the dozens of stores that line the beach, and each time was like the first as we enjoyed the 78-degree afternoons that were accompanied by cool breezes.

The streets along the ocean were typical for California - non-stop rolling hills and curves. I realized after the first mile of wandering that all the cardio work I had been doing at the gym was paying off because I would not had lasted 100 steps in the past.

Eating was somewhat difficult for me as most of the offerings were seafood and Italian, both of which have items that wouldn't make it down my food pipe. I did, however, find the world's greatest Mexican food at Javier's, a hopping place that faces the ocean. I had three pieces of Marissa's fajita meat and some of her beans on the first stop, and I had a small bowl of queso for my encore meal the day before leaving.

The final four days of our trip were spent in San Diego, a town that had beautiful weather but awful drivers. The best of all were the workouts I got at the beaches as the long walks in the thick, white sand were good for the legs.

We spent three hours strolling Imperial Beach watching the National Sandcastle competition. I knew I was in for a treat when I saw ESPN filming the action and sculptures taller than me. It was the coolest five-mile walk in the sand ever.

The rest of the trip went well as we also visited indoor and outdoor malls. There were only a couple of times that I felt the need to sit down before I started to run out of energy. My feet never tired nor swelled like last year, I was just exhausted at the end of some days as my 800-calorie diet was not quiet enough to keep me going in the sun for 12 hours.

We had a team pool party on the last full day of our trip where I cooked dinner for our 12 girls and their parents. Not only was I happy to be able to do something for others, but I also think they all appreciated the new "Coach Robert."

It was worth it. There were a few times that I would get one of those Uh-oh-fat-man-on-the-beach looks.

Those looks forced me indoors in the past. Now, I just looked the other way because I knew around the next corner would be someone who smiled or asked me how I was doing. It was like I had a place in society again.

I'm still overweight - and still considered obese by most standards - but I'm genuinely happy for the first time in nearly a decade.

Though I left my heart in Laguna Beach, we made it back to Texas. There was no time to reminisce about the trip as I had yet another interesting event coming up: the start of two-a-day football practices were four days away.

I hoped for the first time since arriving in Decatur that I could make it to all six of our schools on the first day. Two was the limit in previous years.

The 70-degree days and cool breezes were replaced by Wise County's hot, steamy and humid weather. I wanted to prove to myself I didn't need a cool breeze or an ocean-front view to stay on my feet for a long time.

The day finally arrived and the comments I heard caught me be surprise. I was shocked at the way I was treated after all the work I had put in over the last 10 months.