Fiddleman

That sounds awesome!! I will have to try it sometime. It is kind of pricey as new on Amazon so will look on Craig's list or ebay for a better deal. What kind of weights are you guys using with it and how heavy? How does this workout compare to a hard Jillian Michaels (ripped) or Bob Harper (inside out) DVD? An hour of Bob Harpers Inside Out with 10 lb had weights is a really good challenge for me!!!

While not an "expert" in the science of green drinks and the bio mechanical impact they have on the human anatomy, I will attempt to provide my anecdotal experiences. There are people much smarter then I on VST that understand the biomechanics of the body. My knowledge comes from what I pick up through reading and I never did take any college classes on biology, chemistry, human anatomy, human biomechanics and so on. Now that the preamble is out of the way, onto the answers. Do look through the list of product reviews above provided by Curvy. It is a very good read and I learned a few things after reading through it. I have tried 4 green drinks so far: tonic alchemy, green vibrance, Amazing grass and Trader Joes green pills. The pills are definitely easier to take in terms of palette over the powder form, but not as efficient. I think it is because the bioavailability is lower when consumed in pill form then in liquid form. Also with pills you have to consume the encasing. Do make sure it is organic and made out of some vegetable based material. My experience has been that taking a high quality green drink is efficient at one a day. Morning is a good time to take it in order to provide a good start to the day, but you may also consider one dose in the afternoon if you find energy waning at the usual circadian cycle minima at around 1-2 pm. Sometimes I drink one in the afternoon, but be aware that you probably do not need the extra servings of fruits and vegetables nor do you need the calories ( if that is a concern). If you decide to drink this before or after a workout instead of beginning or middle of the day, I would consider consuming it before the work out rather then after. The reason is that the green drink is going to be loaded with energy that comes from good carbs ( fruit and vegetables). I do not know if there is a significant amount of bioavailability with this form of fruits and vegetables such that the conversion to stored glycogen is gong to be efficient for the workout. It might also be accumulative over time where drinking green drinks will eventually be considered an effective pre workout drink over time, once the desired levels build up in the blood stream, Perhaps someone else has the answer to that. Rather then trying to depend on the successful conversion of green drink to stored glycogen for muscles, I typically just eat a banana with Peanut Butter or 2 nuts.com energy squares 1 hour before a workout. After a workout, I will drink a recovery shake and then eat lunch within 2 hours. I find a dose of green drink is a good "neutralizer" of various insulin, acidic and other levels in case you consume something high sugar, high fat or otherwise toxic by accident or by choice. Think of it as insurance in case you decide to have some movie popcorn (did this once) or perhaps some fries (not me). These high fat foods will leave your body feeling disgusting. At least it did for me. Drinking an energy drink helped neutralize the high fat or carb foods that were eaten. It has something to do with lowering the acidity and inflammation caused by eating the toxic foods. Drinking on an empty stomach is fine an probable best considering we are supposed to give ourselves that no-drink window around eating. As I usually drink the green drink first thing in the morning, I consume it on an empty stomach. You may or may not take it with dairy. It is your choice. I usually just mix it up with Water and add a little pineapple / coconut Water Enhancer flavoring to give it just the right flavor (for me). I personally think mixing the green drink with milk or with a Protein shake would create something hard to drink, but that is just me. You are certainly welcome to try it and see how it tastes. Do report back your results for the benefits of others who read this thread.

I really like this lit. Thanks for sharing! I have been using some green vibrance from local Vitamin Shoppe and note it is actually down he list a few (has worked really well though). Will plan on trying out the top one next time I am ready to order a green drink powder from Amazon.

I would say yes, but do work up to any changes you want to make. It has taken me months to go from 1100 calories to an average of 1600 calories. Likewise I have also worked my way up from 125 grams protein to 170 grams. This is 684 calories for 170 grams of protein. The rest of the calories come from good carbs and good fats along with vegetables. As you know I am also fairly active. You need to include your fitness levels when determining caloric intake. I basically eat every 2-3 hours about 200 (sometimes more sometimes less) calories giving me about 1600 calories.

It had a lot to do with your BMR suffering as a result of eating low calorie for so long. The body is trying to hold onto as many calories as possible because it is literally starving. Eating low calorie like a new post op is not sustainable for very long (not really sure of duration, but probably not longer then, say, 5 months). Eating low calorie (eg 600-900) is really helpful in that initial phase as a post op, but will harm your BMR long term if not careful. You may find having such a low BMR causes weight loss to plateau indefinitely and there becomes a point where there is nothing you can do to resolve it. Not cutting calories, not working out more, not anything. A suggestion, if you are interested, is to get your caloric intake up to a reasonable spot to support your lifestyle and fitness. Focus on building your eating plan around the macro nutrient ratios. You can do this by slowly increasing good carbs and fats over many meals during the day ( eat every 2-3 hours). Because of the sleeve you will always be limited by quantity, so it is important to eat frequently throughout the day. Once you achieve equilibrium of calories in versus out in your body according to 200-300 below TDEE, you will begin to experience that 5-7 lb a week loss that you have enjoyed with WW or with a vegan lifestyle. This is a happy place for the body to be and it gives you the freedom to let go of dieting rituals like tracking or being denied real food (as long as it is healthy). Let me know what you think.

Congratulations Laura on being the featured member in the VST newsletter! You are a big inspiration for all and are always supportive of others that need both kind words and wisdom.

I will post some before and after as soon as I find a good before photo. Currently am on vacation this week, but will do it when I return home next week.

Fiddleman' date=' when will your glamour shots be out?? will you post here?[/quote'] I believe the shots will be available in June sometime. At this time, I do not know if they can be reposted here and will ask about that. If not, I will definitely provide the online link.

I get weak / dizzy every time I get up fast. It is a little "trip" if you know what I mean. It may be mineral related, but I think it is blood pressure (100 / 60) or pulse (41) related. Does not bother me too much.

My response may be unorthodox. I say take a 5 hour energy if you need it. After all, it is just a high dose of b12 and niacin. Drink coffee if you find you like the taste and can tolerate the caffeine after surgery. I enjoy about 1 cup of coffee a day. In fact, i am sipping on 100% Kona brew ( the best - so smooth and bold!) right now while listening to birds chirp and waves crash in Hawaii. That being said, give your stomach time to heal before taking any extra energy drink, at least 6 weeks. Maybe longer. It depends on how well *you* respond to it. I do not drink energy drinks any longer as a post op, but that is just me. I used to really enjoy the diet monster and rockstar 16 oz cans prior in life. Now I would have to say I do not need them nor want he chemicals that are contained in them.

I do not have much to add to this thread, but I think it is important to try and achieve a state of equilibrium in the body. You already know that eating at such low calorie deficits like 800 calories a day kills the BMR over time. You are able to fix this as others have pointed out on a different thread. Find your TDEE and work on increasing your caloric intake o be 200-300 calories below that with respect to the training/cardio you do. It will take some time to get your BMR back into an equilibrium state, but I think that is what you are really after. BMR Equilibrium within the macronutrient ratios of eating will allow you to eat, for example, 1800 calories of good quality lean Proteins, leafy vegetables, good starches (think: brown rice or oats) and the occasional splurge. Your body will become a finely tuned engine for efficiently processing food 24 hours a day. I do not count much of anything now days, but stick to a very solid and clean set of food choices that regulates my fat burning process around the clock. I eat enough to sustain my daily training sessions (always an hour or less). I try and make every training session high quality and effective. 6 am is usually a Protein shake and an energy square. An hour Before training (8am) I eat a banana with Peanut Butter. After training I eat a recovery Protein Shake (whey with bcaa chain). As my training is usually at 9am (M, W, F and Sat), I eat about 2 hours after training for lunch and then again at 3pm and so on all the way until 9 pm. Repeat. On T, Thur, I train at 4 pm so flip the morning eating strategy to afternoon in order to nourish my body before, during and after training. It works out pretty nicely and my body likes the food it gets. For me, drinking high quality Protein shakes when I rise (extended release) and when I go to bed (casein - long acting) is important to start the day off right and to keep my BMR working for me all night long. I am rarely hungry as I eat every 2-3 hours. If I do get hungry in between my 2-3 hour eating times, I have some extra lean protein. Each meal is between 200-500 calories. I am eating between 1400-2100 calories a day and am able to still cut the fat and build the lean muscle. My body fat percentage is currently at 17%. Shooting for 10% in 4 months from now, down 15 lbs of fat and up 5-10 lb of lean muscle. Not sure if 10% is achievable in 12 months, but will certainly give it my focus. Once you reach a state of equilibrium, you will no longer need to be a slave to low carb or low calorie diets. Your body will stop trying to store whatever energy it can find. You can eat to live and stop the insanity of starvation dieting. As others have stated, get your Water in! And lots of it. Water is the primary means for us to hydrate and also to flush toxins out of our bodies. Toxins cause the breakdown of cells (oxidation process) which mutates otherwise good cells into Inefficient and mutant cells. Inefficient cells are terrible at supporting the transport of nutrients to muscles, the brain and other parts of the body. Eating to meet the macronutrient needs of the body requires a clean body to properly keep it running at optimal efficiency. Toxicity in the body leads to inflammation. Inflammation leads to storage of more fat and more fat leads to the retention of water to support stored fat. More importantly, stored fat from inflammation is usually visceral fat around the organs. this is the worse kind to have as visceral fat is known to shorten life expectations. By drinking or eating your daily antioxidants in the form of fruit, vegetables or supplementation, you can slow down and correct the cellular breakdown and create a healthy environment for the processing of nutrients in your body. Secondly, the waste and toxins formed by training hard or by eating processed foods and junk is a precursor to the inflammation process so you need to constantly be drinking water to flush it out. I drink about 1.5 gallon throughout the day. We all want to minimize of eliminate excess inflammation in the body to create a state of health. This may seem like a full time job. At first it is, but it gets easier over time until eventually it is a lifestyle. I also do work a full time desk job that usually ends up being 12-15 hours in actuality a day ( luckily it is at home currently). I am a software developer by trade so can work some pretty long hours, but still I find one hour a day to get in exercise and also am able to manage the healthy lifestyle of eating and supplementation. I also still have a couple hours of down time at night and the weekends with family. It is very possible to have this lifestyle and also carry on with life's responsibilities. I do not really watch tv much, but do get out to some movies occasionally over the weekend. I do not have children, but do spend a lot of time with my pets. Love my dog to death!! Sorry that my comments are quite general, but I think you can do this.

As excited as you are to get back in the gym and bust out some good training sessions, may I go so far as to say that it may be wise to get other areas of the house in order first. Develop a really good nutrition plan, get used to eating 5-6 small meals a day, be able to eat and drink enough to sustain the caloric and Water requirements of training. This takes time to develop these strategies both mentally and physically as a post op. You are time bounded by the physical healing process and cannot make it go faster or slower. Your stomach is still adjusting even up to 1 year later, but generally most can eat and drink what they need to at month 6. At 6 weeks, you will just be starting on solids and most can hope to eat 2-3 ounces of dense Protein. Eating vegetables are a real challenge for many all the way out to 5 months. Everyone is different, but I have seen that these general patterns emerge across most VSG post ops, including myself. Best of luck!

Pretty happy myself as a post op. I would say a 8/9 out of 10. This is such a dramatic change from even 1 year ago and attribute it to lifestyle changes. Eating well and daily fitness really does turn around someone previously diagnosed with mental health issues.

Motivation is another muscle you can flex. The more you are engaged, the bigger this muscle will become. There are a few phases that we will move through to flex this motivation muscle: 1. Obligation based motivation - " I should do this": external motivation is based on an " I should" mentality. With each effort, you feel it is your obligation to push the stone up the mountain. Everyone enters this phase when starting into fitness. It is enough to get you to the gym and perhaps to hire a trainer. However, it is not sustainable and you will fail if you do not move into "desire" based motivation. 2. Desire based motivation - "I want to do this": we want to do this 12 week transformation because we desire the body, the self-image, the strength, the confidence or the fitness that this 12 week training period promises. The motivation is external, but at least we are moving towards it instead of away from it. We are probably all in the desire based motivation phase. 3. Enjoyment based motivation - "I love to do this": here is where we want to get to soon. It is in this phase that we have a deep passion and interest to do the program. This is how I feel about running, but do not yet have this type of motivation for training. 4. Mastery motivation - "I am inspired! Just try and stop me!": this is where training become not just an activity, but a way of life. It may not come at the end of 12 weeks, but it is something to strive towards. Mastery motivation makes training feel effortless and you are a flame of inspiration burning bright for others. It motivates others. Training becomes as natural as breathing. This is how I feel about nutrition as a post op. I am not far away from this type of motivation for running. Keep these phases of motivation in mind and understand that it takes time to achieve the right state of motivation. We will all struggle with it in the next 12 week, but the results will be completely worth it and lay the foundation for a strength-based life.

Check in as often as you like whether it is to share some goodness or seek some extra motivation. This transformation challenge of 12 weeks is not going to be easy so feel free to reach out to others at any time if you desire. There are really 4 phases to the 12 week plan: Phase 1( day 1-21): this phase is all about momentum. Imagine a rocket taking off. It is going to spend the most amount of fuel and need the largest percentage of boost to break free of the atmosphere. Use this time to find your rhythms and rituals of training. You may not be "feeling it" yet. This is going to feel like a lot of work. Keep at it and realize every day is a new day. Phase 2 (day 22-42): you may express some concern and / or frustration because you may not be seeing the results yet. Don't worry and hang in there. It is likely during this phase you will hit your first breakthrough. If you have established a good rhythm, it is during this phase that your body will stop resisting change and start working with you. This will be motivational and help you finish the phase strong. Phase 3 (day 43-63): here you might enter a slight plateau. Results may slow a little. It is at this time you want to double check your practices, your nutrition, make sure you are reaching peaks during each set, focus on really good nutrition for the last phase, Phase 4 (day 64-84): expect to question if your goals are high enough. When during the first few weeks you were filled with doubt, suddenly it is as if the force is with you. The last 21 days are when you will achieve the most rewarding measurable results. I plan on posting back at the end of each phase with measurement results.

Another awesome benefit of building strength with lean muscle during this 12 week transformation program is that it gives you round the clock fat burning. It is like insurance so you do not need to diet or track exactly what you are eating (never tracked anyways myself). You will never be hungry again and can eat 6x a day or more, every 2-3 hours. Cardio is great fitness tool, but without strength training your BMR is destroyed and every thing you eat has the potential to just get stored as fat (unless you are one of the lucky genetically gifted ones - not me). Even the not so bad food choices. With lean muscle you have a bit of flexibility to have those not-so-good food choices or extra calories and still maintain your weight and look good. The lean muscle is like The plant in Little shop of horrors: feed me. Feed Me. FEED ME!!! Lol!

Hi Hoosier - thanks for joining! You will not regret it. It will be challenging, but you will come out transformed. You should be able to do all the strength training with dumbbells and a bench ( or something like it) in the comfort of your own home. I choose to do it this way because I do not have a traditional gym membership nor do I attend my cross fit gym more then 2 x a week. That is how I am presently set up. That does not mean you need to do it this way. If you have a gym membership ( eg. 24 hour, golds, la fitness, etc), by all means use their weights and/ or machines. I am also going to use dumbbells because it gives me more flexibility over movements and I want to focus on balance, mobility, flexibility and good form. Machines take away this need to control the movements and will not yield as good results. I will still be running weekly during this time, but only 1-2 miles before a workout and 1-3 miles after a workout along with 1 longer 5k or 10 k a week. No more 20-25 miles a week in the form of 10 k and longer runs. it is too catabolic for my needs to build a boxer physique. My muscles are constantly getting eaten with long cardio even though my Protein numbers were way up. Hence, Focus is now going to be more on strength building and less on long distance running, at least for the next 12 weeks. Just to give you an idea, today I performed a 'push day,' focusing on push movements of the upper body with 4 sets of each exercise progressing from 15 lb up to 35 lb. I ran 1 mile warm up, stretched and then did a cross fit warmup of push-ups, sits ups, planks and pull ups. I ran 2 miles afterwards, running 7 minute miles. A good day in the transformation program. Tomorrow HIIT I will do the card game where a different body weight exercise is assigned to each card and you perform as many reps as the number says on the card. The exercises will be burpees, push ups, air squats and sit ups (touch toes). Will do the same type of before and after running, stretching and cross fit warm up as I completed today. Remember also to follow the eating guidelines. It is very similar to how we eat when we start on solids as a post op and it is important to eat 5-6 x a day. Lean Protein first followed by vegetables. Balance with carbs like brown rice or oats if you have room and can manage eating them. I manage to get my good carbs in other ways like eating energy squares, but maybe someday will think about good starches again. I have no idea yet because of what WLS has indoctrinated me with, but am open to the possibility. Do others have experience with eating good starches like brown rice or oats? Good luck!

Hey Nicole- HIIT means high intensity interval training. Essentially, cycle between 60 seconds of intense cardio (80% max heart rate) and 60 seconds of moderate cardio (catch your breath) for 18 minutes with your cardio of choice. I am going to use cross fit because that is what I like to do for intensity, but you could also do running, biking, jump rope, Jillian ripped, whatever. They key is to cycle to get the best results. No boring long cardio sessions with this approach. Your cardio will be over in 20 minutes and will be fast and furious!! PT means personal trainer. I have a personal trainer that helps me with getting better and better at cross fit and makes sure my form is good and not letting me give up. A 20 minute cross fit WOD leaves you on the mat catching your breath, but feels great and leads to very measurable physical results.

We are twins so he is the same age as me: 37.

Funny you should ask this. It so happens that it is sold out everywhere. JDK called Dragon Herbs and apparently they are having trouble sourcing the ingredients. My typical online store of choice is amazon.com. Love' date=' love, love amazon for all my impulse buying needs. Lol! Fast delivery too! I need to buy a new green drink to hold me over until the Tonic Alchemy is available again. There is a green drink thread I started that contains a ton of suggestions from different folks. Go check that out and see if there is one that is suitable for you. http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/71674-best-green-superfood-powder/ I think I will be going with one from Vitamin Shoppe that has been really good called Green Essence. It is their best selling green drink powder or so says the lady sales woman. I generally trust Vitamin Shoppe with my purchasing needs as they are always super knowledgable where GNC is sometimes lacking in that area.