aroundhky

Yuck! You must go to a Planet Fitness! They ARE judgmental if you don't lift weights like they do and look like they do. That's a bunch of marketing BS on their part if you ask me. I got a temporary (one month) membership there close to home over the Christmas/New Years break last year. I usually workout on my lunch break and it's out of town given that I work out of town. Since I was off a few weeks for the holidays, I figured I'll just get the one month membership at Planet Fitness and pay a little extra just because I was just starting back after my surgery and it would be important to get off on the right foot out of the gate post-op. Mistake on my part! Not for exercising, just exercising at PlanFit. My second trip there (and my last), I barely made a tad bit of noise setting the weights down.....off goes the Lunk Alarm and everyone stops what they are doing and looks at me! What a load of crap! When lifting, people should give "effort". When giving "effort", I pretty much go to failure, that's the only way I get benefits from lifting. So when I put some weights down after giving "effort", it may be difficult to place it on the rack ever so gently.....shame on me! I get it that people don't like the guys that yell and clank weights with every rep....and I don't like it either. But they have gone way overboard with their Lunk rule. Also, way too many people at my local PlanFit that are orange and fake looking. So I left and told them this just isn't the place for me. I just stick with my great gym close to work now and may just take a couple of weeks off this holiday season. Sorry, I had to chime in once I read that part of your post and I may be a little bitter towards Planet Fitness and their absurdity. Carol, keep up the good work and do whatever you need to do to motivate yourself at the gym, and you will be just fine!

I do and like it. I usually use it on days I workout, gives me that complex carb that my muscles need and also helps with my overall protein. I'll put it in spaghetti and meatloaf (both with lean turkey).

A cubic foot of muscle DOES weigh more than a cubic foot of fat. It just needs to be worded correctly and refer to equal volume when comparing the two types of tissue. That's the main reason people want to assure others that just because the scale is not moving, check those clothes to see if they are more loose. If so, and the scale is the same, you have less fat and more muscle and the body fat % is less. I think that's the main reason that phrase came about. And then there's the whole water weight and glycogen issue too.

I wasn't a wine drinker either until after surgery. I don't mind it now and actually kind of like it on the rare occasion I want a drink. I've tried a beer twice (my pre-surgery drink of choice) and the carbonation is too rough on me. I can't even drink half of one now due to it causing issues with my sleeve and feeling extremely uncomfortable. Oh well wine and whiskey for me from now on if I want a drink. These posters are right about it affecting you quickly....you may want to ease into it if you decide to have that drink. Good luck!

If it's just because of this extra attention, that may be something you need to seek some counseling about. Did your husband give you attention regardless of your weight (before and currently)? If so, he deserves some credit for doing so while these other guys never took a second look at you.....if that's what happened.... I don't know. Maybe there's some underlying problems or something other than the new attention you are getting. Just hate to see someone throw away a marriage (assuming it's satisfying for both) just because one is getting some added attention. Hopefully you've at least talked to him about this. I hope you take this attention with a grain of salt and able to get to the point where you are not questioning your marriage just because of the extra attention from other guys. Regardless, I wish you and your husband the best of luck and I hope things work out for you both. Here's to hoping you hang in there.....

1 - I have more caffeine than I should, probably at least every other day. I really have trouble getting going in the a.m. 2 - The sight of a soft drink still turns me on. But, I've stopped trying to indulge myself because just one sip of that carbonated stuff causes my stomach to feel awful and make me want to see how far I can throw that can! I've not tried a sip of one in over 2 months and don't think I will again. 3 - I have wine or a little clear liquor about once a month. 4 - I still probably push it too much when eating and dont chew thoroughly or slow down enough, and I later pay the price for doing so. 5 - Well, I can't come up with a 5th one, so I'll call that progress for myself. : )

Close......North Carolina here. Congrats and I'm glad it went well for you!

I did around a week and a half out..........soooooo goooood!!!! I probably eat way too much now.

Congrats! You probably need a cigarette!

If you are wanting to build up the muscle and size of your arms to help with loose skin, triceps are probably a good place to start. Aside from deltoids, which is really shoulder muscle, and forearms, the triceps make up 2/3 of the muscle in your arms, and the bicep the other 1/3. You don't want to ignore the biceps, but the triceps is where you'll make the best gains as far is muscle buildup in your arms. There are many exercises for your triceps like Lissa said, the kickbacks and skull crushers are really good for the triceps and I've also found that dips and close grip bench press work really well for mine. As for the biceps, I agree with the curls and maybe vary the grips as both close grip and wide grip if using a bar, but dumbells are good too.

That is wild!

Muscle implants really exist? I've never heard of them. I'd like to have some for my calves. Fortunately, I've never had sleep apnea, so I have no insight there.

I was very fortunate and was in basically no pain from the beginning. Slight soreness for a day or two but that's it. I started walking a little at a time as soon as 2 hours out of the recovery room. I think it was on day 3 post op or so that I walked half a mile at one time. The next day I walked a mile and a half at one time.....though a bit slow. I never threw up nor had any problems with food other than getting my protein in the first two days. The worst part of the whole thing was having that catheter removed. After that, it was a breeze and I felt normal about a week or week and a half post op.

Looks like you're working hard. Some of those stalls are inevitable, just stick with what you are doing and the weight will start to drop again at some point. Not sure what your overall calories are, but some complex carbs (oats, brown rice, beans, etc) aren't bad and are good if you time them around your workouts. We all have our own sensitivity to carbs, just try and see what works for you. Not sure how often you are weighing, but I wouldn't weigh more than once a week, it will drive us crazy constantly watching the scale. Good luck and keep up the good work!

Biz...you sound like me. Never got sick, able to get in all of my protein and water in (except for the 2-3 days immediately after surgery) and nothing really bothers my stomoach. Your weight loss at your point is a little faster than mine was. I think you'll be fine, probably had a bit of initial muscle loss losing weight that quickly, but that will come back. Congrats on your progress!

Had my first drink probably 2 or 3 months after surgery and absolutely hit me faster and harder than it did before. So much so that I mostly abstain from it except on the rare occassion. Ease into it and see how your body reacts before diving into shots.

Hickory, NC area here

Walking right away (night of surgery). Was told light to moderate exercise at 2-6 weeks post-op. Released to do whatever I wanted after 6 weeks. I probably jumped the gun a little and did somewhat rigorous exercise and lifting around 4 weeks when I should've been scaling it back a notch or two. I was probably pretty lucky and with that said, you should stick with the plan that your Dr gave you. Shame on me! I wish you the best "tina"!

I was able to eat a whole sandwich or turkey brat at 2 1/2 months. I think I'm able to hold a good bit more food than most with this surgery....frustrates me a bit.

Hopefully it's muscle you are putting on. The calories seem a little high at first, but if you are training really hard or twice a day, those calories would probably be ok. There's just too many factors to consider like your age, fat intake, supplements (creatine?) etc. I know I've had stalls or periods to where I've put on a few pounds, yet clothes feel looser or can go one notch tighter on my belt, that shows yes, I've had muscle gain and some overall fat loss since last weigh. I'm not sure where you are on the fat percentage or how your genetics are, but one thing that I saw recently with myself was that I had gained 2 pounds, yet I was more vascular (veins in my arms sticking out more) and could just barely see the faintest outline of my abs, which hasn't happened since I was 19/20. So I know my body fat percentage is lower than it was at last weigh in, yet I'm 2 pounds heavier. So maybe look at something besides your tummy, since that's the last place us guys lose fat. How about your forearms? Do they look leaner? Can you see veins etc? Does your face/neck look leaner? That may not be the only way to tell, but if you can see these, chances are you've lost fat and your body is holding on to muscle, if not building muscle. Just a few ideas. I wish you the best and hope you break that stall soon!

The hair being closer together does make sense. The way I see it is like making a bunch of little ink dots (hair follicles) on an inflated balloon (our larger bodies). Deflate the balloon (lose weight) and all of the dots (hair follicles) on the balloon are more dense and closer together making it look like more dots? Maybe that's it, but it does make sense as to what your Dr said, as well as the testosterone issue.

It's probably always a good idea to limit caffeine, but I do sometimes go with the Rock Star Orange or Grape non-carbonated, low cal. i don't like coffee, so sometimes I find one of these drinks to get me going in the morning.

I haven't noticed any more attention. Maybe I'm just not seeing the looks or hearing comments, but I'm guessing it's going to take more than me losing weight to turn heads.

Been thinking about doing it for a while now. But the one right down the road from me closed, or maybe it moved, not sure what happened to them. Love doing power cleans.....really gets the heart pumping!

I like a little more heavy/metal/grunge kind of stuff while I'm lifting. Not sure if you prefer that or not, I think it makes me a little angry or something and gets my testosterone pumping. : P Danzig, Pearl Jam, Metallica, etc If I'm doing cardio, I can take the music down a level or two.