Fiddleman

Started at 360# and was down 120# by 4 months in. I think it was a combination of a lot of walking and being very strict about food choices, drinking as much water as I could and sleeping as much as I could. Lost 60# after that over next 3 months, but also included much more exercise in the form up running and eating more calories. Between month 4 and 6, I think calories went from average of 800 a day to 1200 a day. Update: height: 5'11"

Might I recommend Dr Ross McMahan and his team at Swedish weight loss center (on capital hill). Excellent work and after care.

I am not so sure we save on food costs. We definitely spend more on protein stuff (food items from Costco and protein tubs , hot cocoa protein off Amazon)' but less on fruit and non sleeve stuff (junk). Our milk consumption is also way down. The saving grace is that we try and split an entree when eating out (requires a little give and take).

feta cheese is really good, especially when used as garnish on top of rotisserie chicken with sliced peaches and dill. Also really good with scrambled eggs and dill.

Yeah, bariactric vitamins suck big time (sorry for crude expression, but it is the truth). I gagged, dry heaved and vomited them until I said enough is enough (said like Samuel Jackson in snakes on a plane). Try switching to adult flinstones or trader joe chewable tablets. Any regular brand will work, but make sure it meets the recommended RDA amount by your surgical center. In my case, that was 200%.

Maybe try a casein protein shake before bed. You get protein, can satisfy night hunger and it might be easier on your digestive process at night. I've been a nightly casein shake consumer for about a year now. Love it.

Started at 360 # in July 2012. Reached 175# in February 2013. Maintaining at 180-185# (increased muscle mass) for about 1 year. I have found a way of eating and working out that is easy to maintain scale weight and athletic body composition.

I am glad people are finding this thread useful. Hopefully it will continue to be useful far into the future.

I am 19 months out and deal with hunger by, well, eating often. If I am ever hungry, I go eat some protein which might even be a baby bell lite, but usually a little solid lean protein. Meals are every 3 hours and have 3-4 oz of dense protein and 1-2 oz of veggie. I eat carbs in the form of fiber one for 1st meal (with a premier shake) and steel oats/fiber one/protein powder before working out. I know, it is a strange combo, but it really helps with energy during short, but intense, CF workouts (10-30 min of metabolic conditioning and 10-20 min of lifting). Last meal is a filling casein shake. So there you have it. I start eating at 6 am and finish at 9 pm trying to eat as much protein as possible in 3-4 oz portions. This keeps my insulin response fairly constant and there are no uncontrollable urges to scarf something. However,there are times when I am hungry 1 hour later. I just go eat something in the form of lean protein.

Premier shakes, baby bell lite cheese, steel oats, fiber one, casein shakes, recovery shakes, chicken meatballs, chicken breast, chicken strips, brocolli, AMRAP recovery bars.

These are very good.

It seems everyone says weigh every day, which I find strange. I would hope we have other means to gauge progress than the scale. For example, observing body profile in mirror without clothes on or checking how clothes are fitting. And then check scale maybe once every 2 weeks or once a month. If we are eating the right portion sizes, the right foods at the right time, it would seem body weight would take care of itself. Maybe I am naïve as a relatively new vet (18 months). It seems that once we have a plan that works, the scale can be slid under the bed or put in the closet. Anyways, not meaning to discount weighing. It is just that is how a lot of people got into trouble mentally pre sleeve or drive themselves nuts during first 6 months.

Thank you for your wonderful comments and book recommendation. Static stretching still has a place and for me and I am going to make that as part of post workout. We shall see what kind of differences this realization makes.

Walking was my primary exercise until week 5. Elliptical from week 5 until month 5. Running 5k/10k month 5 until month 7. Cross fit started mid month 7 and continues today at month 19. Stopped running long distances every week by about month 10 (conflicted with building strength from cross fit), but run a long run (14-20 miles) about once every 2-3 months. Most of my running is in the form of sprinting for time. My best mile time is 4:15 min. I run 1/4 mile - 1/8 sprints fairly regularly as part of rounds in a cross fit workout. Hope this helps.

Cross fit is my new addiction!

Friends of the fitness forum. I need your help to diagnose an issue and perhaps offer some approaches to fix it. I know there are several lifters who have been lifting Iron much longer than I as well as physical therapy and perhaps fitness professionals among you. With your collective knowledge and practical experience, I think you can help me. Quite frankly, I have a profound weakness in lifting overhead. Even though I have been doing all sorts of progressional lifts of different styles over the last year, I have made no progress, or worse, negative progress. For example, I can not even do a 65# shoulder press without discomfort and very little strength. Here is a representative list of overhead lifts I struggle with: Push press Push jerk Split jerk Sn@tch Power Sn@tch Overhead squat Thruster My execution at all of these are leaving me wanting to give up on overhead lifts. However, these are so core to cross fit that I look silly not even being able to push press 65# without pain and struggle. If I cannot do these, it is going to hinder any real progress for me. I have zero power overhead. Zero. it is sad. The primary issues when lifting overhead: 1. Inability to lock out arms 2. Inability to rotate shoulder even to vertical. Needs to rotate beyond vertical behind my head. 3. Pain in left shoulder 4. Pain in left bicep (side of upper arm) 5. Left bicep an delts are much underdeveloped compared to right bicep. I am not weak in terms of other lifts: 1. Front squat max: 205# 2: back squat max: 275# 3: deadlift max: 315# 4: bench press max: 250# I can make use of my shoulders in other functional ways: 1. Push ups 2. Pull ups 3 rowing 4. Wall ball tosses 5. Kettle bell swings 6. And more I do these well in terms of athletic skill, endurance, stamina and focus. These use my shoulders and arms in a way that there is power. I do spend a lot of time daily on mobility stretching using bands and PVC pipes. I also have fixed my general standing and sitting posture in the last 2 months ( it was severely messed up). I fixed my posture through the course of wearing a posture correcting shirt. It has worked wonders to align my shoulders and thoracic regions so I can do the squats and deadlifts correctly. All the other functional movements got a lot easier after fixing my posture to be one of stability and strength. I know my frontal muscles and ligaments are tight and short. That is why my arms cannot lock out overhead nor can they rotate back or even be held straight up and down naturally against the head. I went through months of PT at the end of last year, but I am still stuck with this issue. I so desperately want to get past these mobility and pain issues so I can start making real progress with the overhead lifts above. I do not think this is a nutritional or supplement issue. Both are handled well by me. I think it is a mobility issue. I have read the supple leopard book in addition to a lot of other flexibility books. I put a lot of it into practice like yoga stretches and things like stretching in a door jam or using bands to stretch out upper body. Help? All thoughts, ideas and suggestions are welcome. I really want this issue to go away.

CBT - you are very helpful.

I got the X-ray results back yesterday. No issues. I have been thinking more and more about what these pain and weakness issues are originating from and it think it is clear. My shoulders are misaligned from years of bad posturing due to a combination of obesity and ergonomics. It is so simple yet profound. To test this theory I have been wearing a posture shirt by Intelliskin and conscientiously practicing an internal backwards rotation of the shoulders in addition to a squeezing of the shoulder blades. These changes in posture line up the bones in the shoulder and thoracic regions and relax the pectoral (major and minor) and lat muscles. The first thing that happens is my mid back pain goes away. The second thing that happens is my thoracic spine pain goes away at the base of the neck. The third thing that happens is the rotator cuff pain goes away. It takes practice, but the shirt helps remind me to stay in this position of alignment. We shall see what this does for lifting overhead, but I think it will move me in the right direction since my shoulders will no longer be under such constant torque due to the tight short ligaments and muscles. I hope I am right, but am a little disappointed to have suffered such pain, endured so much physical therapy, performed so much mobility training over the last 6 months just because of a bad alignment of shoulders and back. If I am right, this will be the start of a pain free set of days and improvement in my lifting abilities. Hope this self realization helps someone. It certainly helps me.

Try some coconut water. I take that to prevent calf cramping due to working out when calves are heavily used (lots of jumping for example).

are you saying dr oz is the new jerry springer?? If so, count me in! In all seriousness, dr oz does have some good things to say about nutrition and is practical for many people based on some of the shows I have seen in the past. Maybe he has changed more recently...

Cherie - best wishes to you and hope you can rest knowing that you are surrounded by people who care for you and unconditionally support you.

Thanks everyone for your contributions so far. I think this collaborative knowledge sharing from long term vets will help everyone with perspective.

I have not determined what exactly is wrong with those BA tabs that a lot of people have trouble with, but am wondering if it is the iron. Sometimes the Bariatric nutrition companies will sell non-iron variety. As an aside, I have never supplemented directly with iron and labs still come back fine at 18 months. And I do not eat much red meat at all.

Those BA vitamins are a tough pill to swallow. I only made it a couple weeks on them post op until I got really tired of gagging or throwing up from them. You might try another brand. I finally found that trader Joe adult high potency worked until month 6. After month 6 I moved onto regular type vitamins. Today I take optimen from ON. My surgery center did not care what you were taking g as long as we hit 200% RDA.

Broccoli beef and fire cracker chicken are good options. There are so many options on the menu. Just steer clear of fried and/or breaded, no noodles or rice and keep sauce to a minimum. And stick to the portion size that makes sense for you (3-5 oz for me).