aroundhky

Playa! Just kidding. If you've been up front and honest with them without any "exclusive" agreements, you're not really a player the way I see it. But if one is writing love poems.....well......letting her down could get messy. Not sure there's an easy way out with the one that wrote the poem. Maybe that was her way of saying that she wants you and doesn't want to share you? If so, you probably need to make sure you're both on the same page and that she knows you're not interested in anything real serious. If your goal is to have fun, just need to find some woman that wants to do the same I guess.

What all is in that stuff? Does it say how much caffeine is in it? If you take it that early, I wouldn't think the caffeine would be keeping you up later at night. Wonder if it's some other ingredient that's in it..........

I read about this last week....pissed me off. Thanks for posting this.....made my day!!!

Amen Matthew! CCBarrick....I think it's great that you plan on lifting after your sleeve! Just make sure to be patient and when you are allowed to lift, just ease into and gradually build up. You have the rest of your life to lift, so don't do anything too crazy right after surgery. Good luck!

I hardly have tight abs, but you make some good points about how women are different. I'm glad I don't have to give birth!

Congrats!!

I can't speak for the rest on this board, but I didn't take any precautionary measures before surgery on the skin issue. But I do think you have a good approach with plans of lifting weights. It may not be the only factor, but I think it's probably the biggest factor in not having any loose skin issues for myself. If you haven't lifted before, be patient, learn good form/technique and gradually build up.....I think you'll be glad you did. Good luck and I wish you the best!

Hang in there Curvy!! Wish you the best and hope you continue down the road you've started and not give up!!

I still consider it a learning process. That and I remember vets helping me when I first started out with the sleeve, so I am also here to return the favor....even if it is just to new sleevers or people thinking about being sleeved. I want to be as helpful to them as the vets were to me. Thanks for hanging around M2G!

I agree, those really long cardio sessions are not good for muscle retention. Other than this once a year 5k mud run (Warrior Dash) coming up that will probably be a good 40-45 minutes for me, I limit my cardio to 30 minutes or less and just twice a week. Like "MikeRoss" stated, to add mass (fat or muscle), you need to be at a caloric surplus and you'll need to have a good idea of how many cals you need to maintain your current weight, then add. Our bodies have no problem adding on massive amounts of fat quickly and we all can testify that we can add fat to our frames at an alarming pace. But our bodies don't have the same ability to pack on muscle as quickly (short of illegal supplementation) as it can fat. So if you jack your calories way above what you need for maintenance while lifting several times a week, sure you'll put on SOME muscle, but most of the mass you'll be adding will be fat. I've been there.......done that. So I think the key is to go slightly over one's daily maintenance calories. Mine are somewhere in the range of about 200-300 calories over maintenance on days that I lift, which are at least 5 days a week. On these days, I try to make sure to get a higher percentage of those calories from lean proteins and complex carbs and less fats. The days I don't lift, I'll go about 100-200 cals below maintenance or stay at maintenance while reducing complex carbs and raising fats. Of course that's what works for me and people's bodies do tend to react differently, so I think there's some trial and error involved as well.

I'm a "social eater" trying to complete my crossover addiction process to being a social drinker. Just kidding, well only kidding on the drinking part. You gotta watch out diving into the drinking thing after surgery, it can flat out knock you down quickly. I never really drank more than probably once a month before surgery (and about the same now), so I didn't have much tolerance. When I had my first drink (probably two months after surgery).....wow.....it really hit me hard and fast!! Before I finished one glass of wine I could hardly stand without swaying back and forth. So be careful with that stuff and maybe not drink as soon after surgery as I did.

Welcome! This is a public post, but no worries. I'm about a year and a half post-op and I have my moments of being really tired as well. I do cardio about twice a week and lift 5-6 times a week, so I'm guessing that may have something to do with my fatigue. My bloodwork has all come back normal as well. Have you spoken with your Dr or nutritionist about your exact symptoms?

I don't know that I would recommend you do anything different than guys in general. Females don't have the same hormones that guys have, so you can do pretty much the same lifts and it will "tone" you. With a guy who has a normal testosterone range with more calories/complex carbs, those will tend to add bulk. Two days lifting is definitely sufficient for toning and getting in enough resistance training/lifting. Just stick to the compound lifts such as squats, bench press, military press, dips, pullups and maybe even deadlifts (about every other week), and you, for the most part, wouldn't need to do any other type of lifts. Probably 2-3 sets of each of these would be all you need in a week, except for deadlifts, they tend to take longer to recover from and maybe do them more like once every 10 days or so. Also depends on your goals. If the upper body is more your concern, can't go wrong with bench press (especially with dumbbells), military press and pullups.

Way to go!! Sounds like your body fat is starting to get low and lean! Last year I noticed the veins in my arms for the first time since I was in college I guess. They are always there some when relaxed, but when I lift....whoa!!! They really pop out when I'm in an intense lifting session. Not to be too crass......but they look like huge, veiny "c*ck arms" when I lift! Actually grosses me out if I look at them too long then.

Not really. But again, I don't think I gave it enough time before my small tub of casein ran out and I failed to buy more. I've been meaning to circle back around to it and use it some more. I think I will try it again soon.

Congrats on having the surgery! I hear ya on the working out and the sense of control it brings! I started lifting a little earlier than I was supposed to. My Dr told me about 4-6 weeks weeks post op, but I started about 2-3 weeks post op. The reason he wanted me to wait was only due to the fact that my abdomen had been cut on and cut through all layers, requiring a slow recovery process and he didn't want me to strain a lot in fear of ripping through the newly repaired (sutured) muscle tissue. So with that in mind, I went to the gym just a couple of weeks after surgery and really doing nothing but going through my lifting motions with no weight for a week or two. By no weight I mean, instead of loading up a barbell with big plates and doing military presses like before surgery, I just used the barbell which I really couldn't even feel. But it helped my muscles know that they were still needed. I did this for a couple of weeks and gradually added a little weight at a time until about 2 months post op it started becoming a real effort to lift. Then about 5-6 months post op after lifting pretty heavy in months 2-5, I was just about back to my original pre-op strength. Just keep in mind, the first few months after surgery are really aimed at maintaining muscle, which is really all you can hope for during rapid weight loss. One the weight loss slows, you can actually add strength/muscle if done correctly and nutrition is optimal. With that said, I would really take into account what your dietician says and TRY to adhere to that. Or at least maybe find out why he/she wants you to wait and then decide based on all of the information that you have. Perhaps they want you to burn as much fat as quickly as you can, because once you start consistent resistance training, the weight loss (not fat loss) slows. Just a few ideas.....good luck!

"It's All New"....from what I've read, whey is a faster digesting Protein, which makes it more ideal for your post-workout shake. Casein is said to be slower digesting.... for whatever that's worth. I've taken casein in the past and usually right before bed since it digests slower. Whether there is any real difference in them, I don't know, just what I've read and heard. You're eating fish several days a week???? Wow! Have enough for me? It sounds like you're probably getting enough fish. Joint popping.....not sure. Maybe Calcium deposits or some arthritis? Does it just feel/sound weird or actually diminish your workouts because there's pain involved? If it doesn't bother your workouts, perhaps it's the calcium deposits. If it hurts, I would get it checked out.

I go for this 1-2 times a week. Usually one can a week works for me. I'll drink half one morning when I just can't get going and finish the other half sometime later in the week or several days later. No carbonation, B vitamins and the whole can has around 30 calories or so. I split it up because I don't want all of that caffeine at once, just half of it usually wakes me up. I'm not really a coffee drinker. They also makes these in lemonade and grape.

Yep, less portions equals saving $$$. I'm all for that! You got that right Globetrotter! Almost impossible to avoid excessive sodium.

Well put! Other than the required mutlivitamin, calcium/with D, and B12, the only other supplements I take are creatine (on and off), whey and fish oil. I would rather get Omega 3's from eating lots of actual fish, but can't really afford that.

I use probably 90% free weights or my own body weight. But a lot of it depends on your goals. If you are into other athletic activities that require functional strength (crossfit, sprinting or track & field events, or other sports), I feel that the free weights are usually your best choice. The better compound lifts use free weights and make you use supporting muscles for balance. But for just pure bodybuilding/physique, yeah, you could build up and add mass to many of your muscles on machines, but probably not all of your muscles. "Vsginnj" makes a good point about the safety that many machines provide as well.

Saw this video and I thought it seemed very interesting. Don't think I agree with 100% of it, but it does have a lot of truth in it. I wasn't sure whether to post it in "Nutrition" or in "Fitness/Exercise" since it relates to both, but the real topic is nutrition, so I went with posting it here. Like I've heard told before, "typically the longer a food lasts, the worse it is for you". I'm not sure what that says about our Protein powder that has quite a shelf life on it, but makes a lot of sense. Being able to afford all fresh and organic food is another matter........

I get that from time to time as well. Not sure, but curious about any ideas someone may have. If it's from a very intense long workout....could it be due to depleted glycogen?

I've noticed the same thing. If I eat anything before noon, it's low carb or a Protein shake. I've noticed if I do that, I don't crave carbs (bad carbs) as much the rest of the day.

"Phoenix"...are you sure that wasn't his "middle leg" you were touching? Way to go "fiddleman".....keep up the good work!!