Fiddleman

Yes, I bruise more often post op then I ever did pretty op. I do not think it has anything to do with vitamins because labs always come back a-ok. It is especially easy to bruise my shins. In fact I still have some small bruises I caused to shins from doing cleans and dead lifts, among other lifts from the ground. Not sure why they have not gone away, but no worries. Other then appearance, they have no physical artifacts. Maybe a little tender, but so low on the tenderness scale, I do not even register it as anything.

you can buy theanine from liftmode either directly or off Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/L-Theanine-Grams-1-76-Pure-FBA/dp/B0093UHQPA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1390748954&sr=8-4&keywords=Theanine Cheap stuff and lasts a long time. A good dose for nootropic support is 200 mg. This is essentially one scoop. The best way to take it is to add to your Water. It does not have much taste. I usually combine it with 50 mg of caffeine to leverage the synergy from combining the two. The caffeine with activate the receptors in the brain so that the theanine can be better absorbed once it passes through the BBB (blood brain barrier). However, depending on your doctors instructions about caffeine (mine had no restrictions), you may or may not want to add the caffeine. Caffeine plus theanine is considered the most basic of nootropic stacks and will help almost anyone with concentration and focus when starting out with this class of supplementation.

Theanine is a fairly mild nootropic that helps you meet certain cognitive and psychosomatic processing demands. It is not only beneficial in the academics or professional circles, but also in the athletic circles. A little caffeine with theanine will have a good synergetic effect of quiet and clean energy. One popular dose recommendation is 200 mg of theanine to 50 mg of caffeine 1/2 strength of the average 10 oz cup of coffee). Other nootropics that also help with motivation, focus, energy and mental clarity are nooept and phenyleperacetam (banned from most professional sports, so do not take if competing). Both are excellent for enhancing cognitive capabilities. They bring the best out in you, especially if you are not blessed with the gift intrinsically. All are available on Amazon. Food for thought.

Most posts I read on post op TT say it is a harder surgery to recover from then VSG. So not the answer you are looking for, but it gives you a ballpark on pain. I cannot speak from experience but am hoping to do a TT some day when finances become available, probably after my wife has her own TT. Her happiness comes first. My guess my TT will be 5 years off or so.

Be kind to yourself. Your body is still recovering from major surgery and there will be differing levels of energy. Your diet, while perfectly normal as a post op, is another primary cause of low energy as it is lacking in calories and a balanced set of macronutrients. Again, this is by design until you are further out post op. Lack of carbohydrates will cause both a decline in brain activity and physical response, especially if you are in daily ketosis. Once you are able to eat solid food the increased calories and nutrients should help you with energy. Make sure you are drinking as much water as possible (above 64 oz minimum if you can) and consuming at least 80 G protein daily. Take breaks and relax if you need some recover time.

Wow - such a dynamic transformation! Great job.

You continue to impress. Thanks for showing everyone what is possible. Keep up the great work!

That sounds really tasty. How about adding some coconut and macadamia nuts!

Before After

Thanks Kristie! You inspire me as well. I cannot begin to count all the others of VST that are inspiring! Everyone, keep posting and coming back!

Here is what dropping 180 from 360 looks like from a couple months ago: I am 5'11". I have increased my lean muscle percentage since the after picture while maintaining about the same weight of 180 lb. Good luck pre ops! All is possible.

Thank you!!

Thank you both!!

Here are mine. Down 180 lb. I was sleeve 7-2-2012 and reached goal 2-28-2013.

I had a similar issue back around 3 weeks post-op. I showed and told the PA that was doing the 3 week follow up and she said it was from internal scar tissue in the muscle around the incision. The incision looked great, but there was a pain on the right side near it. This is not medical advice for you; rather it it meant to be anecdotal so that you have something to discuss with your doctor. Hope you feel better.

I like crystal light peach and mango or strawberry mio. The unsweetened ice tea from McDonald's is also good. Since small or large is $1 right now, I get large with 8 splenda and it lasts for a couple hours. Be careful about drinking too much crystal light or mio. If you drink it day after day for your liquid, the acid starts to build up and your throat feels like acid reflux (moderation should be ok). At least that is what happens to me. Therefore, I try and have a good variety of low cal or zero cal liquids when looking for 100+ oz of liquid a day.

Hello fellow sleevers! These forums have really been helpful for me to find answers in addition to a lot of reading on WLS (pre-op and post-op) from Amazon and the local library. Now I would like to start posting a few questions. Perhaps others will gain something out of my post of others that respond. In the past couple of weeks, I have been getting a sharp jabbing pain on my right side below the rib cage. It feels pretty deep and kind of pulses. It is usually temporarily and goes away within 20 minutes. However, the intensity as well as the frequency has been frequency so it is starting to concern me. My wife keeps saying that it is incision pain (and it is close to an incision), but it feels different from other incision pain, deeper. Incision pain is usually on the surface and feels like, well, a incision pain. Sorry, I don't know how else to explain it. I haven't been taking any prescriptions for the gallbladder as some have suggested, but I take just about every other type of post-op Vitamin under the sun as well as prilosec for the acid. I haven't had acid yet so am glad about that. I do throw up perhaps once a day, but it mostly my own fault because I have a bad habit of eating too fast and sometimes too much. Even a bite or two over my 3 oz of Protein will give me a stuffed up feeling in the throat where it definately feels like it will come up in the form of slimes or just food. I know this is my fault and am working on it. Diet is very conservative and has served me well since the surgery. I have lost 80 lbs in 2 months. I eat most protein at around 100 grams and also over 100 oz of some kind of liquid which is usually flavored. I used to drown myself in tap Water every day before the surgery because it tasted fine. Now I can't stand it because of heavy mineral taste. Also water like Desani does this to me also- what gives? Some bottled water is fine. I can't do milk due to lactose intolerance introduced after surgery so am on soy now. I don't eat carbs unless it is part of the protein I am eating and am hardly eating any vegatables because full after protein (sometimes each with dinner meal). Instead I eat a scoop of a veggy shake product that is low carlory and low carb. I tell me wife it tastes like hay! I don't really care as long as it is going to keep me healthy over the long run. If anyone has advice on the jabbing pain, that would be great. It is not really a huge issue yet, but don't want to end up on the surgery bed due to an emergency gall bladder surgery. I am thinking about visiting my Primary Care Physician as I have not done this since my surgery two months ago from yesterday (July 2nd). Thanks for advice everyone! I appreciate it.

Thanks for the response. Sorry about posting this question in the wrong section (should be in fitness rather than post-op, but oh well). I went to Amazon.com and searched for "New Rules of Lifting." Surprisingly, there were a few different books with that name for men. Should I get the one titled "The New Rules of Lifting: Six basic Moves for Maximum Muscle", "The new Rules of Lifting for Life: An all-new muscle-building, fat blasting plan for men and women who want to ace their midlife exams", "The New Rules of lifting for Abs: A myth-busting Fitness Plan for Men and Women who wat a Strong Core and a Paint-Free Back" or "The New Rules of Lifting Supercharged: Ten All-new Muscle-Building Programs for Men and Women." Looking for some advise on which book because I have quite a number of very good weight lifting books and don't want to buy many more. The ones I got are too advanced for a newbie. Every time I start weight lifting on my own in the past (e.g. lifting dumbells), I usually get lazy and go back to Cardio (no problem challenging myself on the ellyptical or treadmill). I think it is a matter of enjoying the training and staying focused. All that said, I am looking for the best book / video on helping me achieve real results in 2-3 times a week without hurting myself. Also, money is tight so I am unable to join a gym. I have a bench, some dumbells (5 - 30 lb) and a giant ball at home.

This forum has been really helpful to read about the success of others and also the challenges that are discussed. I started out at 335 lb and had weight loss surgery on July 2nd. I am in my second stall at 2 months ( 3 days now). My weight is currently at 255 lb and I know the stall will eventually end. 80 lb sown so far. Yay! However, I am looking for some advice for breaking this stall. First, I would like to give some background on eating, exercising and vitamins. I have been exercising daily either walking my dog for between 2 and 4 miles, sometimes with hills. I have done some hiking a few weeks ago, but it just about sent me into the ER because of dehydration and the hike was rated hard even for athletes. I felt like almost passing out at the end ( 8 miles round trip). Part of the trail is 2000 feet in 1.2 miles and was brutal stair climbing, literally. I used to be such an avid hiker previously when I was in better shape ( also hiked most of my younger years), before gaining quite a bit of weight ( 100 lb) after losing 100 lb 5 years earlier (atkins eating and lots of cardio). I gained mostly due to life and work stresses, but before that kept it off for 5 years. I gave up on dieting because of yo-yoing and the downward effect it was having on my ability to have a stable and happy life. That is why it has been such a good decision to have the sleeve surgery. It was a little difficult the 1st week post op, but then got better. Incisions still hurt a little on occasion, but manageable. Coming back to the stall, I am looking for advice of starting weight training program. I have never enjoyed weight lifting and have always preferred cardio like elliptical and treadmill. I have never been able to "get into" lifting or even basic training because i am not sure how to get started, even though i have a ton of books. Lol! My post op food intake has been fairly rigorous. I usually eat a matrix/soy shake for breakfast ( have been mixing in a low calorie veggie powder recently - a little weird but i got used to it after a few times), a greek yogurt for 9am snack, 3 oz chicken/ salmon for lunch, matrix/ water for 3 pm snack, some protein based dinner(3oz) and 3 oz matrix/water shake for 8 pm. I do not always have the 8 pm snack. I always get in the 80+ oz protein and usually have 100+ oz water/mio/crystal light a day. On weekends, i have been trying one or two meals at my favorite places to eat such as indian, red robin or olive garden. I mainly go to spend time with my family andy everyone is supportive and even help me find suitable choices. I am also very careful to eat 3-4 oz of something very high in protein. And yes, I really do like the matrix and nectar shakes, especially cookies and creme or oreo. I do not have and trouble with eating wrong foods, being over hungry, or drinking alcohol. I just do not have the urge nor want to sabotage the successes so far. Besides i think any high sugar or high fat would just make me sick and uncomfortable. I just want to keep eating simple as i have enough other things going on in life with family and work. I have not missed a day of taking vitamins. I take multi, calc chew, c, b50, b12, omega3, d and a few others. Taking all these vitamins is starting to feel like work, but i have always taken vitamins over the last 10 years so more of the same. Finally, i do journal every day with regards to weight, energy level, sleep hours, vitamins, prescriptions, food intake, liquid intake, exercise and general notes. It is helpful to have the notes and does put me in the right mindset for the day. My biggest concern is having a gall bladder issue as i read about it so often on the posts. No issue yet, but i do feel minor acute jabs from time to time under right rib. Again no issue yet but am concerned. Sorry this is so long winded, but i am looking for some long term advice to break stalls ( hopefully with regards to weightlifting) and get some comments on my approaches so far.

Sometimes headaches after a couple days is from caffeine withdrawal. At least that is what happened to me when recovering in the hospital. A couple tylonol took care of it.

Highest (6-15-2012): 335 Surgery date (7-2-2012): 325 Today: 265 70 lb gone! 80 lb to go.