Fiddleman

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.

Found this information on full body dynamic stretching yesterday and want to share it with the fitness group: lunch. For a computer worker like myself, I think these dynamic stretches will make a noticeable difference in gaining more mobility and flexibility in hip and shoulder regions as well as being able to perform better during the daily workout and prevent injury. Let me know what you think!

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!

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).

I would like to start a thread that encourages long term vets to share their success patterns. It is an open discussion of strategies, NSVs and day to day habits that define your success in being able to maintain or even improve in terms of weight, health, activity or anything else connected to this journey. Life as a vet is where the real work happens so let's share in a way that motivates both new post ops for the future and current vets for the here and now. We have a whole new chapter in our lives to engage in positively as movers and shakers. Let this thread be a beacon of encouragement for all. We have a chance to make real positive differences in the lives of others we interact with.

Started on my February challenge yesterday: 10 hand stand push ups . These are against the wall. I have been doing box hand stand push-ups until now. I got 2 wall hspu, but decided to try an intermediate step of wearing a band upside down like a backpack under a pullup bar until I can support my 180# body weight better ( a lot has to do with strengthening my shoulders). So this next week I will try the banded hspu and see if I can string 10 reps together. Doing these hspus will also help my shoulder to overhead push press strength (my biggest lifting weakness).

Clearly you are not short of dedication, drive and willingness to succeed. Your exercise program is impressive. I am no expert when it comes to the fine anatomical details that contribute to a highly functional metabolism. However, I can succinctly enumerate some ideas that might help you as they have worked for me in achieving and maintaining an athletic build at my ideal weight. 1. Nutrition and diet: They say 80% or more success of weight loss comes from the kitchen, outside of the gym. Eating at the right time, the right types of food in the right quantities to match your body type are going to make a difference. Let us break those items down: 1. The right time: The body needs a constant source of the macros every 2-3 hours to keep the insulin response consistent in the blood stream. Ideally, one should eat a small meal of 200-300 calories when waking up, every 3 hours, until going to bed. This is especially important if you are very active to prevent the body from going into starvation mode due to a net negative of calories from working out the amount you do. The first meal at rise will " wake up your metabolism" and the last meal at bedtime will keep the metabolism burning throughout the night. However, it is important that these two meals be of the right food. I do not fast. Period. I have read a lot of good things about IF and 5:2, but it is just something I have no practical experience with for maintaining a healthy body weight with an athletic body fat percentage. For this reason, I cannot offer any advice on it. 2. The right food: the first meal should.be a fast digesting Protein such as whey because your body has gone all night without food. The last meal should be a slow digesting protein such as casein (shake, pudding, etc). The casein molecule are larger than whey molecules and take longer to absorb. This will keep your metabolism burning during the night. The meals during the day should be protein first. Try and target about 30 g of protein every meal. All meals should be low carbohydrate except for before and after working out. Before working out, your meal should target a 2:1 ratio of carbohydrate to protein. Keep the carbohydrate one that is low on the glycemic index so it does not burn up too quickly. The carbohydrates consumed after a workout should be the faster burning variety in order to assist in transporting nutrients to your muscles faster. 3. The right quantities: each meal should be about 200-300 calories. It is enough to satisfy hunger and fill you up, but not too much. We want to prevent insulin spikes that result in storage of fat. 4. Body type: Each body type is going to respond differently to food types. This is true if you are a pear, an apple or a box body type. Look up what foods are best for your body type. Now that we have stressed the importance of nutrition, let us look at exercise. 2: Exercise: you have quite a comprehensive exercise program, but I cannot help but wonder if your body has become too efficient at it. Your body needs a constantly changing set of intensity in order to respond. For me, cross fit workouts fit the bill because every workout is different and very intense. They are short too. Most workouts fall between 10-20 minutes with some on the shorter side and some on the longer side. However, I am not in a workout for longer than 30 minutes. All the lifts are compound (both power and Olympic lifts) and all the cardio falls under what is called metabolic conditioning. Metabolic conditioning is designed to push you every single time. Here are some example workouts I did this last week: 95/65 lb Thrusters x 20 reps 5 Muscle-Ups Thrusters x 15 reps 4 Muscle-Ups Thrusters x 10 reps 3 Muscle-Ups Thrusters x 5 reps 2 Muscle-Ups Thursday February 6th, 2014: (Compare Results to January 3rd WOD) EMOM for 12 Minutes: Full Squat Snatch x 1 with 3 second hold at bottom of OH squat then Seven sets of (total of 28 minutes): 30 seconds of Rowing (for max meters) Rest 30 seconds 30 seconds of Handstand Push-Ups Rest 30 seconds 30 seconds of 24″/20″ Box Jump Rest 30 seconds 30 seconds of Push-ups Rest 30 seconds Wednesday February 5th, 2014: EMOM for 8 minutes: 3 Front Squats @ 75-80% then For Time: 1000m Row 50 Wall Balls 20#/14# 30 Thrusters 95#/65# Tuesday February 3rd, 2014: "Open WOD 11.1" 10 min AMRAP: 30 Double Unders 15 Power Snatches 75#/55# The Power snatch loads are as follows: Men and Masters Men 45-49, 50-54: 75lbs/35kg Women and Masters Women 45-54: 55lbs/25kg Masters Men 55-59, 60+: 65lbs/30kg Masters Women 55-59, 60+: 45lbs/20kg Rest Exactly 5 Minutes then... "Open WOD 12.1" 7 min AMRAP of: Burpees This workout begins from the standing position. The Athlete will move from flat on the ground to touching an object with both hands that is 6 inches above their max reach. Score is total reps completed in 7 minutes. Monday February 2nd, 2014: 15 minutes to find heavy Push Press then 7 Minute AMRAP: 10 Chest to Bar Pull-Ups 10 Alternating Pistols 10 Handstand Push-Ups Rest exactly 2 minutes, and then… 7 Minute AMRAP: 10 Burpee Box Jumps 24"/20" 10 Shoulder to Overhead 115#/75# The lifting portions of the workouts are done at a weight that makes sense for me. Consider moving away from the machines for your weight lifting and into free weights where more emphasis uis placed on correct for and correct muscle activation. Free weights also require a bigger emphasis on balance and agility then machines. I know this is a big step and may not be right for you at this time, but I offer it for your consideration.

Really? I thought no explode had caffeine in it. http://foodfastfit.com/130/how-much-caffeine-is-in-advanced-strength-n-o-xplode-2-0/ Regardless, would you not agree no explode is more for training than cardio? I took that stuff before a workout that had fast 800 m sprints in it and my legs felt super heavy and would not respond like they were supposed to when running.

Great question. You might look into the scivation xtend product: http://www.amazon.com/Scivation-Intra-Workout-Catalyst-Watermelon-Servings/dp/B005CH0DT4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391793703&sr=8-1&keywords=xtend Overall good pre and intra workout drink to give you the extra energy without the caffeine. It is also good for recovery because it contains good portions of leucine and glutamine. Another amino product I like without caffeine is called catalyst: http://www.amazon.com/AdvoCare-Catalyst-Dietary-Supplement-Capsules/dp/B007SUWQXY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391793922&sr=8-1&keywords=catalyst It is not a drink per say and has quite a few more aminos when compared with the xtend product. Personally I like caffeine before working out because it helps with energy, focus and delays muscle fatigue during a hard workout, but everyone to their own. If you want a good product with aminos and caffeine, you can try amino energy: http://www.amazon.com/Optimum-Nutrition-Essential-Energy-Watermelon/dp/B00COQUN9Q/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1391794148&sr=8-2&keywords=Amino+energy

Salad is one of those "free" foods given it is a healthy salad (your salad sounds healthy). There really should be no guilt towards eating larger quantities of salad. Eat away.