kemo46

Here!

I think I coninue my workouts because of results. It is human nature to want to continue something if it is working and we can see tangible results. If I were to workout and not see the weight loss or the toning definition, I would have probably given up by now. I workout at least 5 times a week. I continue going because my results get better every week. I have been doing this since I was cleared after surgery, my surgery was 10 months ago. I have reached my weight loss goal, toned up and have very little loose skin. That is my motivation.

Hey Noel, that is exactly my goal now. I reached my weight loss goal but now I am going to lose a few more pounds to allow room for pure muscle. I have talked to my trainer and NUT and you are correct, it can be done. The Protein and weight training will do it. There are studies that agree and disagree with the way to approach it but my personal research and talking with guys at the gym has helped me with creating my plan.

During my weight losing phase, I worked a lot on cardio and mixed in weight training. I concentrated on slowly increasing my weight and doing more reps. This helped with the toning. I am now going to concentrate on lifting more weight and doing less reps to build more defining muscle. Like I said, there are studies that agree and disagree with this plan but that is what I have found to work.

I have increased my Protein intake before and definetly after my workouts. You build muscle when your muscles are at rest so the down time is very important. Keep me posted and good luck.

Your Birth certificate and driver's license is fine. You will not have any issues.

Fantastic, now your new healthy life can start. Congrats.

It is a decision only you can make. It changed my life and I can actually say it saved my life. I wish I had done the surgery years ago.

Good luck on your decision.

Beyond the prospect of adding some calories, it may make a difference to you what those calories are. I found that as my exercise routine ramped up, I needed to add some complex carb to my pre-workout snack/meal - a common bit of fitness nutrition advice is to precede a workout with a something that is relatively high in complex carb, medium Protein and low to medium in fat; I used a small sandwich of whole grain bread, meat and cheese and hour or two before working out and that made quite a difference when I was swimming beyond a mile, though not much of a difference when doing primarily weights. At your current intake, you don't have a lot of room to play with since protien is still the most important component, but there should be some room to play with the remaining calories, or increasing them a little: 600-800 cal is a very common level used in VSG plans, and while some will specify higher limits (I ran 1000-1100 thru my loss phase), I haven't seen many plans recommending below that level.

Good luck on getting to the new you!

Rick M is 100% correct, you need to add the complex carbs to your diet to give you energy for your workout. I experienced the same thing as you did and talked to my NUT about it. I increased my carbs and had a substantial amount of extra energy that helped me through my workouts. While it is true that the weight loss is math, everyone burns calories differently. Now that I am at my goal weight, I am going to increase my strength training and slow ( not eliminate) my cardio. I will probably lose 5 to 10 lbs more just so I can build more muscle and stay comfortably under 200 lbs. I am working on the math now as far as how many calories and carbs to get where I want and maintain my weight and routine. I have been getting about 1200 calories a day during my last 2 months of weight loss. I think that number will be increasing to about 1800 to start and I will adjust from there.

Good luck, you will find what works best for you.

I just reached my goal a few days ago. It took me 9.5 months and I lost 116 lbs. I was very close 7 months out but those last few pounds took some time to get off. I probably could have lost more faster but I was concentrating on toning up and building muscle while I was losing weight. I think it was a success because I have very little loose skin. I do however still have some lower belly fat and lovehandles but they are a lot smaller now. I have gone from a 52 pant to a size 36 and a 4x shirt to large and medium size now.

Since I reached my goal, I am going to reassess the situation. I think I am going to get to somewhere between 190 and 195, I want to leave some room to build more muscle and not fluxuate more than 5 lbs. I will NEVER weigh 200 lbs. again.

I was starting to wonder if this day would ever come. I have reached my goal of 199 lbs. after 9.5 months. I did not think in a million years I would be in onederland once again. I have lost a total of 116 lbs and I am in better health now than when I was in my early twenties. My blood sugar has been normal since my surgery and all my blood numbers are in the normal range including my cholesterol which is 160. My blood pressure is normal and I take no medication of any kind. This is a NSV and a scale victory all wrapped up in one. My sleeve has definately been a life changer for me.

I would check with your insurance and see how many days they pay for. It sounds like that is the situation. The insurance companies dictate your care, it is not right but they do. It is my opinion but I think you need at least one probably two nights in the hospital. I also believe in leak tests. As much as we would like to believe it is not, this IS major surgery on a MAJOR organ. Have you found out how many of sleeves ( not just WLS) your surgeon has performed? What is his complication rate? How many end up in the ER the next few days following surgery since there is no hospital stay or leak test? A leak will cause an infection, an infection will cause your tempature to rise. I monitored mine for a month after surgery.

This post is not to scare you but to make you aware of some questions to ask. All surgeons are different, some do not think you need a hospital stay. I would insist on being monitored for at least one night.

You will not have any issues as long as you have a certified copy of your birth certificate and driver's license.

It is not a come back but I always say " follow me to the gym every morning at 5:00am and then tell me it is an easy way out". The sleeve is a tool that provides a restriction that aids in the weight loss and keeping it off. You have to dedicate to a lifestyle change as far as eating properly and exercising. I do not let anything anyone says bother me, I did this for my health and I am healthier now than I have been since my teen years. It looks like you are well on your way, let your results speak for themselves.

If you have a leak, it will cause an infection and you will run a fever. I checked my tempature twice a day for over a month. I never had a leak but it was something I watched very closely.

Had my surgery 5-25-2011, down over 100 lbs and no longer take any medication. My blog is in my signature below. It details my journey from the beginning. Good luck to you, it is a life changer.

That is awesome, I know how hard it is. I am 5 lbs. away from my goal and reaching onederland and it has really become tough. I am becoming impatient since I am this close. I am very happy for you because I know how tough it is. Keep up the good work.

Rootman is right, the way of life for MOST GB patients is high maintenance. My sister had successful GB surgery 6 years ago. She lost the weight and kept it off and it did cure her diabetes. Her way of life though is horrible. She has major malabsorbtion issues, horrible dumping issues and does not look healthy. She is a nurse and does follow all the rules but the amount of Vitamins and Protein she has to have is a lot. What might agree with her food wise one day, will not the next day.

I had the sleeve in May of 2011, I have lost over 110 lbs and I take no medication. My diabetes is controlled as well, my blood sugar numbers are normal and my last A1C test was 5.5 . The question I would ask your doctor is what his numbers look like post surgery for his sleeve patients and has their diabetes become under control. As you know, sometimes diet and losing weight will not reverse the effects of Diabetes, sometimes your body just will not produce enough insulin. I would hate to see you do the bypass as your 1st choice and your diabetes still be an issue. I am not a Doctor but as listed above, I do have experience with both surgeries with Diabetes being the common denominator. Good luck on your decision, it is not an easy one.

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GoldenRasin is correct, it is all about impact. It is not that the Elliptical is easier than the treadmill, the treadmill just has more impact on your knees. I talked with my trainer about this and I was surprised at his answer. I thought that the elliptical would give a much better calorie burning workout than the treadmill but that is not so. I was told that if the impact of the treadmill bothered my knees, increase the incline, well, that did the trick. You can really feel a totally different burn by adjusting the incline even without running or jogging. The bad news that I have found to be correct as well is the ONLY way to get rid of stubburn belly fat and love handles is to jog/run whether it be on the treadmill or outside. I have been concentrating on this for the last few weeks and my trainer is right, it is working. Good luck with your workouts, I too am very cautious of my knees.

I was not cleared to do anything except walk for the first 6 weeks. After that I started riding a bike and working out at the gym. I slowly increased my workouts as I felt comfortable. As for golf, I felt I could play again after about 2 months but I did not, I wanted to make sure I was 100% healed before I started that kind of torque on my body. My first round was about 4 months after surgery and all was fine except my swing. I thought I would really play better since I lost all this weight, wrong. My swing plane changed and I could barely hit a golf ball. I am almost 9 months out from surgery and my golf game is still far from good. So much for picking up where you left off from surgery. I just did not realize just how wide my swing around my body really was and I had adapted to it for all of those years. Now I can actually have a correct swing, I just have to learn to repeat it over and over again. Good luck once you finally get back to it.

Look into a set of Tanita scales, they will run about 80.00. They are electronic and accurate. They also measure body fat % which you will want after you start working out.

I will tell you this from experience, borderline diabetes can become full blown diabetes in a heartbeat. This is not something to take lightly. I had my sleeve surgery less than 9 months ago and I have lost about 110 lbs and almost at my goal. I take no medication of any kind, it changed my life. I changed my diet, exercise every day and the sleeve has been the tool that made all of this happen. Diabetes attacks your organs and can cause amputations. This alone should make you decide to do something permanetly about your weight. Good luck on your decision.

I am very happy for you, the hard part is over. You are well on your way to a long healthy life now.

Education is the key. Most people just repeat what they hear the media say and we all know how reliable that is. The fact is there are about 17 violent crimes per 100,000 people in Tijuana. This is less, a lot less than many of our major cities here in the states. Remember, there are several million people in Tijuana. There are good and bad areas to go in, just like here in the states. I get so tired hearing about drug cartels. Guess what we call our drug cartels here in the states? We call them gangs, guess how they get their money, DRUGS! They shoot each other just like they do here. I have tried to attach the 2010 crime stats for our major U.S. cities but having issues. PM me with your email and I can send them to you. You will be just fine going to Tijuana as long as you are not doing something you should not be doing.

A copy of your birth certificate and driver's license will work just fine when coming back into the states. They checked nothing going into Mexico.

Goodwill and thrift stores will be your friend. I buy high end clothes such as Polo and Tommy Bahama clothes there. I buy them, go down another size, re-donante them back and buy a smaller size. I have gone from 4x shirts to large and 52 pants to 36. I would have gone broke even shopping at wal-mart having to buy so many clothes during my losing period. I only buy "like new" items and this process has served me well. Good luck, it is actually fun shopping this way. I do not know if I will ever be able to buy retail again after saving so much money.

Hello Dooter, the thing that might help is remember this, you are on a liquid diet but you can have as much as you want. I had days during my pre-op diet that I had to eat a little extra broth or an extra Protein Shake, this really helped me get through it. It is better to have a few extra calories of allowed items on your liquid diet than to struggle with being hungry and possibly failing and eating something you should not. Keep your eye on the big prize, this will get you through the tough stretch. Good luck, you are almost there.He