Fiddleman

Laura- what is confusing? Increasing calories to TDEE? The extreme caloric deficits we are on after surgery has a place and it helps almost everyone drop weight. However, it puts your body into extreme catabolic state also even if you are trying to eat the required protein. The body will lose its ability to effectively burn calories if deprived of calories for too long. As I stated on another thread today, I think it is wise for people to consider increasing their calories towards TDEE after a while as a post op to prevent a BMR death march. I waited until after losing all weight and hitting goal weight during month 7. However, it may occur before or after that for others. Just make sure you are making healthy food choices with the occasional splurge, paying attention to a proper ratio of the macro nutrients for each meal. It is not as hard as it may sound. Normal eating is another way to state it. No crazy dieting (starvation, low carb or low fat) either.

Hi Leanne - you might start by eating every 2-3 hours and increasing good carbs and fats over a number of weeks. You do not want to ramp up your calories too fast because your body will not be prepared for it and greedily store them instead. I do not know exactly how to do this, but perhaps target an extra 100-200 calories a week until you are 200-300 below your TDEE. Again, this will take you some time so do not try and rush the process. Both Mike Ross and *Susan* have given some excellent advice in past threads so perhaps they will chime in here. You might try eating advocados or banana with a nut butter. Perhaps think about other fruit that is lower on the glycemic scale like apples. Do consider the use of supplements to help you increase calories. Eating a casein shake at night is a long acting Protein and will keep your BMR churning all night long.

You are welcome Danyelle! I am honored and humbled you decided to join the challenge. It will not only yield awesome results and help us make desired lifestyle changes, but will also be a lot of fun. I hope this thread can keep everyone motivated and challenged during the 12 weeks.

Thanks! Crossing my fingers it heals soon. Regardless, still killed my WOD today listed on transformation thread.

Mike - agree whole heartily with your points. I wish the average WLS Center program did a better job at emphasizing this. Mine did not mention this at all, but I eventually figured it out after reading posts like yours and many months ago from Susan (Admin). There is a time and place for extreme caloric deficits that help many succeed (including myself) on the post op diet. However, do try and advance out of the extreme caloric deficits after month 5 or 6 in order to not kill your metabolism. It is a gradual ascent and may take a few months of tweaking to get your eating and workout plan to a happy equilibrium. It is *so* much easier to achieve the weight and physique goals if eating enough calories from a set of well balanced meals, focusing on the macro nutrient ratios. Without the calories, you are constantly fighting your body for measurable progress. My calories are currently at 1600-1800 and I hope to raise them even more based upon TDEE to achieve some specific body transformation goals over the summer months. Unfortunately I did not learn and embrace this until after weight loss finished a!nd lost a lot of muscle as a result. My progress crashed and burned for a couple months as metabolism was in a state of decline. Fortunately, I have turned things around in the last few months and am continuing to going forward. I enjoy not having to stress at all about eating or really having to pay attention to "dieting" in order to achieve weight lifting progress. It feels so natural. Learn from my mistakes people!!!

Love the Fiber One original cereal and ate it for years every day before surgery. Always helped me stay regular with the 57% daily fiber. I do not eat it anymore as a post op for reasons already mentioned in this thread, but I will probably return to eating it again sometime in the future. I would wait for a huge sale at Target (about once or twice a year) and then stock up and buy like 20-30 boxes to last 6-8 months. Plus target gave the 5 dollar give cards if you purchased 4 or 5. Then we would use the gift cards for bday or Christmas presents. I should have owned stock in the company. ha!

You may find it will help with your particular ailment. Not sure. I am not big into reflexology, but have noticed it to be really helpful in regulating the digestive system when ever there are issues with BM (before and after surgery). It really helps with circulation to the feet as well in much shorter time then, say, running. My left foot had numbness for a different reason than you. I had reconstructive foot surgery after a bad car accident in 2010 (also the start of gaining 100 pounds) and it left my big toe and part of the top of my foot in a numb state. This peanut has all but eliminated this numbness. Running has helped (some) also over the months, but the peanut really completed the job. My philosophy is to keep an open mind about different approaches and techniques. if something works, then accept and use it. If it does not work, then put it aside and better luck next time. I do think reflexology can yield very real measurable results. And it also just makes your body feel better. The more you know, the more wise you become in making decisions.

You are doing and look great! That hot yoga really helped you.

I lost about 45 pounds in the first month.

For sure Nicole. Your Jillian workouts sound like just the right program for you. Great things are going to come out of these 12 weeks. I am positive about that!

I got this little spiky massage peanut a couple weeks ago for triggering pressure points on my feet, to increase mobility in my upper body and to massage my shoulders and neck. It is a great tool and so cheap (about 9 dollars on Amazon). http://www.amazon.com/Power-Systems-75040-Massage-Peanut/dp/B0002U1U0M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368986907&sr=8-1&keywords=Massage+peanut As a reflexology tool, a few minutes of rolling your feet over it increases circulation to your feet, ankles and legs. It also stimulates various internal anatomical systems like the lymphatic system, the renal system, the endocrine system and so on. It can be used on the hands too for the same purpose. It might take you a bit to get used to the spikes. It was ok for me on the first application of the exercises. Here is some more information about how reflexology applies to weight loss: http://m.wikihow.com/Lose-Weight-With-Reflexology To increase mobility in my upper body, I place the bean in between my shoulder blades while laying on the floor. I then stretch my arms to my belly button and raise them in an arc above and behind my head. The goal is to be able to easily lower your fingers to the floor in a Fluid motion without any feeling of tightness in your back. This mobility exercise can be repeated by moving the bean up your back a few times until it is under your neck. This simple exercise has helped my mobility a lot in term of being able to do Olympic lifts. Still a work in progress though.

Week one is done on the transformation challenge and it has been awesome! In the gym every morning while on vacation in Kauai. Here is what I did @ about 9 am every morning: Monday: travel Tuesday: 2 mile run @ 6 mph Cross fit warm up of sit-ups, push ups, lunges, pull ups, etc 15 minute AMRAP of 1 minute plank, 10 v-ups, 15 sit-ups, 20 weighted sit-ups ( 15 lb) 2 mile run @ 6 mph Wednesday: 2 mile run @ 6 mph Cross fit warm up of sit-ups, push ups, lunges, pull ups, etc Push dumbbell exercises with 12-10-8-8+ sets, really focusing for peak intensity. Started with 20, 25, 30 and 35 lb for each set progression. 2 mile run @ 6 mph Thursday: 2 mile run @ 6 mph Cross fit warm up of sit-ups, push ups, lunges, pull ups, etc 15 minute AMRAP of 1 minute plank, 10 v-ups, 15 sit-ups, 20 weighted sit-ups ( 15 lb) 2 mile run @ 7.5 mph Friday: 2 mile run @ 6 mph Cross fit warm up of sit-ups, push ups, lunges, pull ups, etc leg dumbbell exercises with 12-10-8-8+ sets, really focusing for peak intensity. Started with 30, 35, 40, and 45 lb for each set progression. 2 mile run @ 6 mph Saturday: 2 mile run @ 6 mph Cross fit warm up of sit-ups, push ups, lunges, pull ups, etc 10 k run @ 7.0 mph ( used a program that statistically simulated actual course - cool!) Push dumbbell exercises with 12-10-8-8+ sets, really focusing for peak intensity. Started with 20, 25, 30 and 35 lb for each set progression. Sunday (today - this is my plan): 2 mile run @ 6 mph Cross fit warm up of sit-ups, push ups, lunges, pull ups, etc 52 card exercises of jumping jacks, burpees, push ups and air squats (will take about 20 m). My wife will push me to completion. 2 mile run @ 7.5 mph Monday: will travel I followed the clean eating plan for the week (eating a meal every 2-3 hours paying attention to a good balance of the macro nutrients) and drank about 1.5-2 g of Water a day. banana with Peanut Butter is now my favorite pre workout snack! so yummy and good for you. Stayed away from alcohol for the most part except for last night. It was also my wife's bday dinner. Last night dinner was my cheat meal for the week and I had 2 glasses of nice Frank Chardonnay imported from Italy before eating ( one would have been ok, but hey, vacation??). Appetizer was a yummy beet salad. Main entree was some nut encrusted Ono fish. Dessert ( my cheat) was 1/2 of a gooey chocolate macadamia cookie. OMG - I died and went to heaven with that ( have not eaten a dessert is many many months). However, I do have to say it was not all good. The alcohol and sugar knocked me out on the car ride back to the hotel and my body was giving me hell until I went to bed. Felt fine in the morning, but a little bloated. Overall, I made some incredible changes in my physique just from this one week of transformation program. Wow. It is very doable. I am looking forward to what the rest of the transformation brings. The program, as you can see from my exercise log, is not that hard. I am only spending about 1 hour in the gym, maybe a little less. Good luck everyone!! Do share your progress so far if you like.

Please let me know what you would like in a care package and where it should be sent to. Some ideas: Low carb Protein bars (pure protein, nu go slim, or whatever you prefer) Fish oil (good quality) Snack food like beef Jerky or ostrich jerky ( a personal favorite as high protein) A freezer pak ( not sure you have the ability to freeze things, but this pak keeps your daily meats safe to eat in hot weather) Protein powder (what do you like? - would arrive as sealed bag, not tub) A good quality multi Vitamin for athletes This is just a brain dump of suggestions. Do let me know what would help you the most. I am sure others would also feel that they could send something too.

Second day was a toughie for me, still in ICU. Did not try to eat or drink anything by mouth until day 3. Sipping on Water was ok, but only up to 8 ounces a day. I still could not sip my Protein shake without severe, and I mean very severe, pain from my stomach up to my tonsils. And my left shoulder really hurt every times drank from the gas. Things got better by day 5 where I could finish 8 ounces of water without pain and they let me go home. Increasing to 64 ounces of water a day comes with time, not during the first week. If you can hit 64 ounces a day by week 3 you are doing pretty decent. Hang in there and know every day things improve just a little bit more until before long you will be making leaps and bounds in your post op recovery. Soon you will be looking back at he tribulations of being a new post op as a distant memory. The benefits and accomplishments will far outweigh the speed bumps along the way. Do try your best at drinking every day. Dehydration can catch up to you and before you know it, you have a real problem on your hand that requires medical attention. One strategy that may help you is to split up the drinking into increments like 2 ounces per hour when you are not drinking shake. Try and drink 1 ounce shake per hour. Doing little 1 ounce and 2 ounce goals keeps your progress moving forward, puts you on a schedule and you can make good protein and water numbers this way.

Soy milk is easy to drink. I had trouble with NF milk after surgery from some lactose issue so switched to light vanilla soy. It is low calorie and has a lot of Protein. Plus it is yummy. I mixed it with Protein shakes for many months as a post op, but do not drink it any longer by choice. Nor do I drink milk. My wife still drinks it and prefers it over milk when eating Cereal. I think you can start drinking it immediately after surgery. Now soy vegetables like edamame you may want to wait a few months on. These are a little difficult to manage until your sleeve can handle raw vegetables.

Look for a low carb / low sugar protein bar like think thin, nu go, pure protein and Atkins. There should be 2g or 3g of sugar or less as well as 20 G protein or more. The calories should be around 200, give or take 10 or 20. Do treat these as an exception rather then the rule because they are not the best survey of nutrients. No more then 1 a day. Maybe less if you are not physically active yet. They are good if you find yourself in a bind for a snack with no real alternatives. The problem with protein bars is they trigger you to eat more and their bioavailability is higher in the body, causing you to not be full for very long. That is why a dense protein is usually always a better choice if you have it available.

I take 3-6 g molecularly distilled Omega 3 daily. It is made from sardines and avocados. The only downfall is it is very pricy. The kind I take is super omega 3 from super, faster, healthier: http://www.sfh.com/products/omega_3-oil I have experienced the benefits of decreased inflammation in the body over the last 2 months: Smaller waist ( targets that Abdominal fat) Minimal soreness from training Good performance during training Increased cognitive processes Clear and radiant skin It is not too hard to swallow, but they make it in several flavors if that helps you. You can also mix the liquid in with something else like a shake or food. Highly recommend everyone take a high quality omega 3, not just the standard fish oil capsule from the grocery store or costco. Make sure you are getting at least 1 g of EPA and DHA daily whether it be this product or something like it. I still eat salmon when it is available or add some avocado slices to salad.

Do you feel comfortable with sharing what lead to total regain for the benefit of others?

I started my first cross fit session in February 2013, after I had finished my weight loss phase of 180 lb. I wanted to get into strength building because my upper body severely atrophied (lost muscle) from low carb, low fat and low calorie dieting for the past 7 months. Running almost daily for the last 2 months (jan, feb 2013) of it also leaned me out substantially pushing me from 230 lb to 178 lb. The results so far from about 3 months of cross fit 2 x a week have really been impressive. I have also cut down my running to 2-3 miles a day (1 before training and 2 after training) to eliminate the catabolic effect that constant running had on my muscles. My mile times have increased to about 5:50 since first starting to run in December 2012, given the proper warm up and stretching. I cannot sustain this very well for a 10 k, but can almost sustain it for a 5 k. It is not too difficult to bust out a single mile or even 2 miles at this speed. I think cross fit has helped me achieve these faster times. As stated above, cross fit scales very easily to people of different fitness levels and different goals. My PT said she takes people who are still very over weight because anyone can do it. And anyone can succeed with progressive results. With consistency, you will get better and better over time and be able to do more reps, heavier weights, faster. I am still fairly new at it and am very much a beginner. Do not feel afraid to hook up with a PT to help you get proficient at the exercise technical movements if you feel more comfortable doing it this way. I like using a PT for the one-on-one experience and she will not let me ease up. We do a WOD that is just for me. In due time, I will be doing open gym with the others. I say do it!!! One thing I have learned as a post op is to embrace change and dynamics of life. Say yes rather then no to new opportunities and see where it takes you. It makes for a much more compelling and interesting lifestyle. Each day is exciting and worthwhile.

Do you think the DR Floras products would be helpful for post ops? http://www.drfloras.com/ I have heard stories of some impressive results using these products. However, one would wonder if they are more hype then effectiveness. Regardless, take a look at the detox and bowel regulator products. They are kind of pricey.