aroundhky

St. Louis Sarah.... have your clothes gotten any looser the past 2 months during your stall? I'm a little similar as far as the weight loss being slow the past few months and I had my surgery around the same time as you. I've really hit the weights with some heavy lifting the past three months, my pounds are very slow to drop, yet my clothes keep getting looser. The reason I asked is that I see that you've been doing CrossFit which mostly uses your body weight for lifting, which will add a good deal of muscle. I do CrossFit type of training about 2 days a week in addition to my weightlifting. So if you are still losing inches, I wouldn't worry too much about it due to you adding muscle, at some point, muscle and strength will plateau a little, and you will probably lose some more weight. As for the carbs, just keep an eye on them and not go too crazy with them. Consuming them around your workout is fine and will actually help you pre and post workout. Other than that, you might want to keep them to a minimum. Also consider what the others on here mentioned like logging your food intake and not drinking with meals. If you are feeling better, that's great and try to focus on the good things while sticking with what you're supposed to do. Hang in there, it's more mental than anything.

That's a very interesting question and makes me wonder too. I think when my testosterone is low more than anything it makes me feel sluggish and maybe a little down. I can tell that a hard lifting session at the gym makes it increase and I do feel a little more aggressive, but in a good way. Like there's a little more pep in my step. I think that's one of the reasons I'm addicted to lifting heavy, it really makes me feel a lot better. I sure could use less fat on my body, but I'm getting there slowly. If it causes my testosterone to increase, that's an added bonus as far as I'm concerned.

I heard that it increases appetite too. I'm not sure about that and can't tell that it increases mine. Sometimes when it's time for me to go to the gym, if I am really sleepy or sluggish, I'll have a 5 hour energy shot of it an hour before the gym. I maybe do that twice a week. The main reason I limit caffeine is for my blood pressure. I am now off my meds and I'd like to stay that way.

"3lilrams" I hope your dr has cleared you for weights since you are doing squats, personally, I love doing them, especially front squats! Here's (see link) what I've been doing the past 3 weeks for fat burning. I've not really been doing it long enough to see any really noticeable results, but I have seen a couple of veins showing up in my forearms. : P Just make sure you ease into it, especially since you're only a month post op. http://www.simplyshredded.com/fit-with-hiit-science-is-dropping-the-hammer-on-endless-bouts-of-steady-state-cardio.html

My "full" doesn't feel like it used to either. Just a feeling of discomfort, which I can feel coming on earlier now and stop before I feel that discomfort. I also often get the nose sniffles as well. With that said, it seems that sometimes the type of food I eat gives me a different "full" feeling. It's weird, not sure if anyone else on here has experienced this. Ex: If I eat some chicken, then brocolli, then a little brown rice, it feels a lot different than say when I eat chicken, green Beans and top it off with Peanut Butter (I know, gross to some of you). : P Not sure what that's all about, but feels like a slight difference in being full/satisfied.

Congrats Lilee, you look great!!!

Golden............. you look great! Was very inspiring to read that!

Welcome and congrats!

Good point "ouroborous"! I weighed at the gym today and I was right at 250, about 4 pounds heavier than a week ago. But the past 2 weeks I have been lifting especially heavy and also remembered that I started a creatine cycle (which adds water weight to muscles). But now my pants are more loose than they were a week or two ago when I weighed less. It seems the measuring tape is a better indicator of progress. I know when I come off the creatine, that I will drop 6-8 pounds, but I only weigh myself about once every 1-2 weeks. That water weight is quite significant.

If you can't do free weight squats, the leg press is probably the next best thing, just be careful and watch out for spinal compression. Also, like "Blackberryjuice" stated, those front squats are really nice, and you can probably do those with a smith machine as well, though I haven't tried them that way. Unfortunetly, muscles will only grow (add mass) and get stronger when we push them to failure. Which especially with legs, are not all that fun. Here's a good article that hits a bit on this and motivates me to TRY and push out that last rep. http://www.musclehack.com/targeted-hypertrophy-training-tht/

I sometimes have the same leg problem. I have to constantly work lower body to add/keep muscles on my legs. I do front squats, then regular squats and dumbell or barbell lunges. If I do 3-4 sets of each to failure, I find that I'm able to get that good burn/jello leg feeling and they do gain muscle, albeit slowly. Just make sure when you do these that you can grab a spotter that can get you out of a tough situation when you take that set to failure.

You look fantastic Kaitlynn! I bet you feel wonderful as well! Congrats!

Good point! The weight lifting is more about intensity instead of quantity and hours in the gym. I go to the gym 4 days a week to lift, no more than about 45 minutes per session. I don't fly around from lift to lift, I take a minute or two between each set, but when I lift, I lift heavy (with good technique as priority). If we don't lift to failure, muscles cannot grow. It's not really about tons of sets and tons of reps. For each body part, I do about 3 sets (4-8 reps each) with that last rep sometimes not being finished due to failure. But before doing these heavy, gradually build up and learn technique and always try to find a spotter to help. I do this for about 4-5 weeks, then I take at least a week off to help heal and recover, not counting the 2-3 days recovery between lifts. I also think that the body and muscles respond better when they are shocked or awaken a little. So that week or so off without any lifting helps with this too. As soon as your muscles think that they don't need to grow anymore, you wake them up and get back to lifting. However, I have found that the recovery period is now longer for me than it was 10-12 years ago. : P

I've been off my BP meds since surgery. My BP before surgery ran around 160ish over 90/95 while ON meds. Before my release the day after my surgery, my BP was already down to 120/70 and it has pretty much stayed around that since. I was amazed by how quickly it was affected by pre-surgery weight loss and post op. That was my main goal to EVENTUALLY come off the meds. I may not hit my weight goal, but I did hit my main health goal to get off BP med. Cholesterol is a little slower reacting, but its a little lower than before. Dr said that may be mostly genetics. I dont know if everyone that takes something for high BP get off meds, but I sure did and I'm happy about that. Good luck "Cobra"!

Carbs, carbs and more carbs. : P Also, I noticed where you are still very young. I know you want to stop the loss and gain weight immediately, but I'm guessing with age, like most of us, that metabolism will slow down and it will be easier to put on weight. Mine really started slowing down in my late 20s.

"Iwish".... I replied to the other post and then saw this. This was my main concern as well since I played football for years and kept lifting after my football days. Lifting is very theraputic for me and I love doing it. But I also liked my strength, I was a bit reluctant to let it go, even though dropping weight (especially fat) was something that was more important to me. I know when I did the 2 week liquid diet in addition to the first 3 weeks post op, I saw my muscles just disappear almost overnight. All of that hard work in the weightroom was gone. It really freaked me out. I didn't have an emotional attachment to food and I don't miss sugary stuff or soft drinks at all now. But I really really missed my strength. Just keep in mind, our muscles have memory and they will eventually come back, slowly. Maybe not the slow progress of someone starting from scratch having never lifted due to our muscle memory, but it will be slow, thought progresses in the right direction. For example: I know deadlifts are a really good measure of overall body strength. I know about a month before my surgery (early Oct), I was deadlifting about 420 or so. In early December (month after surgery and 30 pounds lost) starting back in the weight room, I could barely deadlift 265, that's a major strength loss in 2 months due to liquids/mushies. I thought the 265 would be a good warmup and a good way to ease back into lifting, but I struggled to get one rep. I was in a bit of a panic state about that fact. But I kept up with my protein intake (80 grams a day for me) and continued lifting and increasing the intensity. In mid January, I was up to doing triples (3 reps) of 295. And last week I pulled a 365 on my deadlift. So I know the strength has come back for me and with your young age, it will probably come back even sooner. Just make sure to ease back into lifting when your Dr gives you the go ahead. You'll be fine, just work hard and be patient with the small but steady gains. Also, olympic lifts (power cleans) are good for increasing that vertical jump for your basketball dunking goal.

Iwishfit...... my diet is fairly typical for most on this board. I make sure I get my Protein in first during meals. However, I've been going through "bulking phases" and "cutting phases" the past 2 months, each being around 2-3 weeks at a time. Well, modified versions of those phases anyway, I'm far from a body builder. This so called cutting phase, I really reduce my carbs a lot, and do more cardio and HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). From what I hear, this is supposed to burn fat, but helps you retain muscle better than doing long hour sessions of cardio like running for miles. However, I've found that sometimes this carb reduction leaves me really tired by the end of the day. If so, I will sometimes eat a slower digesting carb or complex carb like oatmeal for dinner with protein added. During the bulking phase, I may take in 200-300 more calories a day than during the cutting phase, with more carbs. This helps to at least maintain muscle, if not build it slowly. Just keep in mind, we can no longer do like those big body builder guys who take in 4,000-5,000 cals a day to help build muscle. So our muscle gain is going to be very slow. But I think over time, or I'm at least hoping so, that a year or two down the road I will still be muscular and strong like I was before, but without the added fat. Also, after some intense heavy lifting, I often have some simple surgars with my protein right after the workout. So many times, I will add my protein to a sugary sports drink like Gatorade to replace the glycogen in my muscles. This is the only time I have ANY simple carbs. Your muscles are tired and need it and those simple carbs (sugars) tend to not be stored as fat. But only after an intense workout. That's just the way I've tweaked my diet, but my other meals are a lot like everyone else, get in that protein first. Especially for the weight lifters wanting to build some muscle. As for my workouts, I will do the "cutting" for a couple of weeks. During this time, my cardio consists of HIIT. I started out doing this on the stationary bike. I would sprint on the bike for 20-30 secs and then go slow for a minute and a half or so, then repeat the sprint and rest, back and forth for 25-30 mins. My goal is to keep my heart rate around 125-140 during the whole process. I do this 4-5 times a week. I now do this on the treadmill running, and hopefully when it's nicer outside, I'll do this on the track. During this phase, I just do maintenence lifting once or twice a week. Then when I hit the bulking phase, I do very little cardo, but very intence lifting during this time. I lift 4 days a week, but some of that will depend on your goals, age and recovery time. So this is my approach so far. I've not lost tons on weight during the 3+ months since surgery, but I have lost fat steadily and I'm still pretty strong and maitained most muscle and have built a good bit the past month. Let me know how you are doing so far.........

Same here "Iwish". Losing too fast can be a bad thing because a lot, if not most of that weight will be muscle. I've lost well over 40 pounds in 3+ months and some people would think that's failure. But I'm also really close to my strength (weight room marks) as I was before I lost the weight. So I now I've retained a lot of muscle, so most of my weight loss has been fat. Slow, steady weightloss works for me. Hang in there "Emmasmom" and don't get discouraged. You're doing well, just enjoy life and be reasonable with food and exercise.

Str8out...It's a great feeling to do pullups right?!?!?!? Love them! Or more like I love the fact that I can do them. I was a little concerned when I first lost a good bit of weight the first 2 months after my surgery, I couldn't even do 1 then, and I was able to do 2 or 3 when I was over 300 pounds and 30 pounds heavier. I just kept at it when getting back into the weight room doing some assisted pull ups and concentrating on doing really slow negatives too. Before long (a month or so) I was up to doing what I do now, which is about 4-5 pullups at a time and it feels great! Let's me know that I'm almost back to my pre-surgery strength, but able to do more since I weigh less. My goal is to be able to do 10 at a time by Memorial Day. Sorry, didn't mean to highjack your thread, just read yours and I can really relate to how good it feels. Keep up the great work Str8out! Also, have you tried doing dips yet? Also feels great and really good for building those triceps!

Compound lifts are good to do in the weight room to help maintain muscle during weight loss. Such as squats (ok to do on smith machine), deadlifts, military press, dips, incline bench press and especially pullups (assisted if needed). Don't worry about moving weight like a powerhouse or olympian. Make sure it's just difficult enough to do a few reps each set. Just do these about twice a week and 3-4 sets each exercise and do no more than 6/8 reps each set. Also, this muscle will help keep your metabolism running a little higher. Just remember to get in your protein, especially the lifting days.

Good points! PDX..... I have been low carbing a bit since I hit a stall. Maybe add in some slow digesting carbs like brocolli or oatmeal? I was fairly desperate to stay awake and not a coffee drinker, so had 2 of those energy drinks so the caffeine would wake me up some. It helped only temporarily. Hopefully some more carbs will do the trick.

Same here and wondering what the heck I need to do. My typical day starts at 6:30 am, get the kids off to school, work all day, go to the gym during lunch, help with dinner when I get home and usually take 1 or 2 kids to practice/games. Come back home and I'm soooo ready for bed by 9 pm, when I used to be able to stay up till 11 pm or so and not be so sleepy all day long. I know I'm supposed to limit my caffeine, but the last week or two Ive been so sleepy and tired during the day that sometime I grab a low cal, non-carbonated Rock Star energy drink to help me through the day. But still, by 8:30 or 9 pm, I'm nearly in a coma. My blood work came back normal and I'm taking all of the vitamins and supplements that I'm supposed to. Just have no idea how to get any energy. I had more when I weighed around 300+ pounds. I know what you mean about the lack of energy and I sure wish I had some answers. I'd like to see what others say as well.

I just tried a 20 cal Rock Star energy drink this past weekend. It says "lightly carbonated" on the can and I was soooo tired and sleepy, so I need a wake me up. I sipped on it for 10 mins and maybe drank 3-4 ounces. That was more than enough for me. Just didn't feel good in my stomach. I took a nap afterwards. : ) Not sure I'll try carbonation again. That's twice, along with a sip of chapagne that I tried on New Years and neither felt good in my tummy.

Can't hurt to check with your Dr/Nut. I take it as well (for over a month now), once in the mornings and sometimes right after my heaviest weightlifting sessions along with my protein. If your Dr gives you the go ahead, make sure you drink plenty of water, as the creatine draws water into your muscles, and if you don't drink enough water, the redirection of the water will deplete your vital organs and at the very least cause cramps. And Mike is right, you will retain a lot more water weight while on creatine. For me, I think once I was fully loaded on the creatine, I added 7-8 pounds of water weight. Since you need to take a few weeks away from the creatine every once in a while, you'll see the water weight drop in just a couple of days and will get a good idea of what your true weight is. Good luck and let me know how it goes if you take it!

I've been working out fairly heavily since mid-December. I've been taking the P90X recovery drink, with a little protein added after my workout, but I usually don't take much before my workout. I would check with your Dr or Nut before taking something like that. It may not affect our sleeve one way or the other, but you probably owe it to yourself to check it out. I do take creatine in the mornings, but it's very important to drink even more water and take a few weeks off of it every once in a while. Good luck!