aroundhky

Carbs can be a friend or foe and everyone has their own sensitivity to them and the type and timing seem to play key roles. With me, they are a friend to help me with my weight lifting. I have lots of lean Protein and a good number of complex carbs for my 2-3 meals after a workout on days I lift. I really limit my fats those days. The few days that I don't lift, I have more fat (good fats, not saturated if I can help it), and less carbs. For me, the only good carbs for me on my lifting days (4-5 a week) are broccoli, quinoa, oats (no sugar), green Beans and maybe a little brown rice or sweet potato. On those lifting days I probably easily get 100+ grams of those complex carbs along with 100-120 grams of lean protein. The 2 days a week that I don't lift, I'm pretty much low carbing it to around 30-50 grams, but if I go a little over with veggie carbs, I don't really worry about them. My cardio days (1-2 a week), I'm mostly low carbing it.....for now. If my body fat % ever gets low enough, I'm sure I'll have to add a few more carbs on those days to help with energy and recovery. That would be a good problem to have..... With all of that said, the simple carbs......... I try to totally eliminate. With the key word TRY.........but on a rare occasion, I'll fall off the wagon with the sugary or white carbs. Since we are all different, the best way to find out is by trial and error I suppose. Just try to be informed with your nutrition (like with your MFP) and in tune with your body's sensitivity to them and that will probably help a lot. Not sure, but hope this helped.........

Still trying to make my goal..........

My most "strenuous" workouts seem to be my Muay Thai classes. At the end of them, I'm sucking major wind, my arms and legs are like Jell-o and I can barely walk to my truck afterwards to leave. I'm fairly efficient in the gym since I lift 5 days a week, so I don't spend more than an hour at the gym and if I'm not doing the rare circuit training session, I take a little time between my sets. Although I'm pretty tired and sweaty after my lifting sessions, I'm nowhere nearly exhausted as I am from Muay Thai.

Body fat analysis can be a little tricky, but I think it has improved the past couple of years. I went to the local university back around my 1 year surgiversary. They used a combination of a few calipers, the semi-grueling water submersion test and the hand held digital device. They were all within about 1% of each other, which in my opinion, is fairly consistant. Regardless of the exact accuracy, doing this maybe every 2-6 months the exact same way can still give you a good indication of how your body composition is chaning, if any. So I'm going to pay that small fee and go again in June or maybe July, and any change in the percentage will give me a good indication of my progress......or lack of progress. : P

Thanks! The only time I change is when I have to....like when I plateau on my lifts or my body adjusts, then I have to change my lifts a little to keep the muscle on their toes and wake them up. Strong man?........I wish! But thanks! Maybe if there was some local competition for 40 and over guys with gastric surgery..........perhaps I could qualify for that.

Yeah, I'm still weighing pretty high on the BMI charts, but I lift A LOT. I'm sure I could stop lifting, do lots of cardio, eat the same cals but reduce my complex carbs and I would probably drop 20+ pounds in a month or two. That 20 pounds would be most entirely muscle loss (and a little water), so it's not worth it to me just to get a number on the scale. It's just all a matter of personal preference I suppose.

I was just messin' with ya. I guess I'm a sleeve veteran now and I've seen (read) the muscle vs fat topic a lot. It's very interesting and people comment on it quite a bit........including me.

I agree.....don't let a stall, or even a slight gain from muscle added deter you. Women, you don't have to worry about getting muscle bound or "bulky"....it's not in your hormones, so you're not going to build massive amounts of muscle, especially since you are on a calorie restriction. The fact that you are female, add to that the fact that your calories and macros are significantly reduced = no huge massive amounts of muscle to be produced. So the small, incremental amounts of muscle you do build or "tone" in the gym, will only help you. I know everyone is different, and this may not apply to those with lots of sagging skin and there are other factors involved, but I feel the muscle I've gained/maintained has really helped me fill in the spots (to some extent) where the fat used to be. I lift often and with fairly high intensity, and I have zero sagging skin. "Kat"..............just giving you a heads up, some people may comment/correct ya on the weight of muscle vs fat thing. I think the way I usually read their comments goes something like this........"a pound of muscle weighs the exact same as a pound of fat", which of course is right. But the point you are making is spot on......a pound of muscle takes up less space than a pound of fat. I think some get to the gym, lift for a few weeks and get worried when the scale slows down, stalls, or even goes up a pound or two. But usually the overall body composition is better......they have a little less fat and a little more muscle, which to me, is a good thing.

I guess it's how one defines "dirty laundry". Assuming that dirty laundry is something negative, yes, probably need to get that out of the way fairly early on. But I don't see the fact that I got the sleeve procedure as "dirty laundry". I don't think it's negative, immoral or unethical. Actually, perhaps my overeating and gluttonous behavior BEFORE the sleeve was perhaps a negative, but almost all of us (sleeve AND non-sleeved) are guilty of that behavior at some point. I just indulged myself more often and at a higher intensity than the average person. Personally, I've told the people I'm closest to (probably a dozen people or so). Basically loved ones (family, really close friends). I'm guessing at some point during the dating process (since it involves eating most of the time), I would probably bring it up. Like....."Why don't you drink anything while you eat?" question that's likely to come up. Then I would just try to get a feel for the moment and decide if it's a good time to mention it. There's a time and place for everything as far as I'm concerned. But that's just me. It's everyone's own right to mention it or not and when they mention it, especially during the dating process. Interesting topic.............

I can drink a little more now than I was able to a few months post-op, but I cannot chug anywhere near the amount I did pre-op. I miss my chuggin'........................

Job well done.......major pat on the back for you!! You look great!!

Yeah, what's the question? If it's asking about what guys do the stupid things we do, we don't really have an answer........

Sorry for the double post. Saw that it's actually been closer to 8-10 months since my last waist size drop.....my how time flies!

I don't know what the moving down stuff means. Since your waist has measured smaller in the past couple of months, have you lost weight in those months? Also, are you doing any kind of resistance training lie squats, deadlifts or even ab work such as crunches, burpees? If so, you could be adding some core muscle which adds muscle thickness to waist while not losing inches there. I've not dropped a waist size in 6-8 months, but I've lost 10-12 pounds since my last waist size drop. I know I've lost some fat on my waist during that time, but I also have new muscle there since I've been training my core pretty hard, which equals no smaller waist, but a fitter waist, so I'm cool with that. There also may be other factors like sagging skin, water retention, etc. Do any of these apply in your situation?

That sounds like a pretty nutritional post-workout meal! I need to try it! Thanks!

Been there man.....I hear ya. I try to get my fill on mostly lean protein when I'm feeling like that. And since mine usually comes after intense lifting sessions, I'll add in just a few complex carbs as well. But if you're getting in mostly protein when you're feeling really hungry, you should be fine. Also, the drinking water approach when hungry can work too, but if you know it's really hunger, I wouldn't sit there and just starve and be miserable. Eat good lean protein and veggies and you'll be fine. Gotta watch those granolas and/or protein bars, some of them have a good bit of sugar in them, which is really just a slightly more nutritious candy bar.

I'm 17 months post op

I second those recommendations as well. Would just like to add that when I go deep on my squats, I can really feel it my butt for a day or two....so I know it really hit those muscles. On squats, the deeper you go, the more it incorporates your hamstrings and glutes to get you back up. Just start light or with a bar the first few times to get the right technique.

Cardio-wise, I can easily run 2-3 miles now where before surgery it would take a lot of effort on my part just to walk 2-3 miles. Strength-wise, I'm as strong, if not stronger than I was before surgery. Keep in mind, I've been a lifter for years, but even after having dropped 66 pounds, my max lifts are back to where they were when I was 300+ pounds. What I really like are the body weight lifts such as dips and pullups. With my lighter body weight now (along with the same strength I had before surgery), I can do many more reps on these. Example: before surgery I could get 2, maybe 3 pullups (chinups) at a time. Just the other day I repped out 16 easily.... it was awesome and I nearly got a woodie! Sorry for my crassness there. Speaking of a woodie......sex......also improved. And from what I've read on this message board, that seems to be the case for MOST people on here as well. I can also do yard and house activities with a lot more ease and energy, which is a plus too. It's a lot easier to be active and do all of these things when I know it won't kill me and have me down for a day or two just from push mowing grass or something like that.

Good advice, and usually a good idea to ease into anything new, especially anything that's high on the intensity scale. Kettlebells are great for you! Just get the technique down before going crazy with them and not do like I did the first time I tried them a few years ago. That bump on my head lasted close to two weeks.

I'm about the same as you as far as months post-op......17 here. I'm a slow loser, but I try to focus on how much better my life is, how good I feel and how much healthier I am now. This keeps me in a great frame of mind and is very motivating for me and helps keep me stay on track to living, feeling good and getting to the gym. I'm no doctor, so there could be some hormone issues at work or something. I know there are times when I fall off the wagon too and eat something bad, but it's best to know those times will happen, try to reduce the number of times they happen and when they do, pull yourself back out of it as quick as you can and not feel so bad about it or let it start a downward spiral. Have you sought out counseling or therapy? Don't give up and I wish you the best!

So much sleeve relationship drama around here. Things are good on my end. Wish you the best "Capt".

Holy.......wow!! Hum a na, hum a na!! Way to go and congrats!!

Not a tall lady here, but a tall guy, well at least the last time I checked anyway. I'm 6-3 and I know what it means to be confused by all of the "numbers" out there. The scale AND BMI can be misleading. When I started thinking about the whole surgery process, I was 300 pounds and was 292 when starting pre-op, 272 the day of surgery and now 226. I'm still a long way from my goal of 215 and I am now 17 mos post-op. So I know there's a pretty good chance that I'll never make goal. The reason the scale and BMI can be misleading is that neither takes into account the composition of one's body meaning how much of that weight is muscle and how much is fat, Water, etc. Also what the scales and BMI charts don't really tell us is if we are healthy or not. I'm a long way from being at an "acceptable" weight or BMI. However I'm off all of my cholesterol and blood pressure meds and I feel great now! I have no idea of how long I'll live now, but I have to believe that having the surgery has only helped my chances of living longer and I know that I am MUCH healthier now than I was 2 years ago or even 10-15 years ago. So even though I know I may not reach my goal of 215, I've reached all of the goals that really matter to me. And with a body fat % of around 14-15%, I'll take that, especially since I'm now 40 years old. So just remember, numbers can be deceiving if taken out of context or if one is using the wrong numbers like those listed on the scale. Not saying the scale should be ignored, it's just a tool for tracking SOME of our progress and doesn't tell us everything. Good luck and make us tall people proud!