Fiddleman

Well I suppose my comments ended that thread. Lol. That's what I get for posting at an intersection while waiting for green. He he. Doubly my bad for posting in the powder room. I swear I thought this topic was man room material. I will pay more attention next time and not under red light pressures. Lol.

It really does depend on your stamina after surgery. Everyone is different and most doctors say to wait 6 weeks before returning to hard core lifting. Hiking is not really hard core in the same way. I did talk to my doctor about it at 3 week check up and it was basically " good for you. Glad you are feeling OK to hike." So, do check with the doctor and also check with yourself. If you are weary and still feel like you are recovering, waiting a little longer might be worth it.

Laura we all know your deep dark secret now. Lol! Cowgirljane, my original comment is related to a certain thread that explores said sex position. Sorry if you took any offense. None meant.

I am a hiker both pre and post op. Even before food considerations, make sure you have more then enough Water. Probably 2x the amount you take now. I went on a difficult hike at week 3 (mistake in hindsight) and ran out of water at the top. It was a tough hike going down too and I had zero water. This hike was 5 miles round trip, but 1 mile was flat and 1.5 mile was 3000 foot climb to lake. Hard for even "good" hikers. Just to let you know, I took 64 oz, was still only enough for going up. I got really really dehydrated in the last mile back to the car and did not think I was going to make it. Seriously, I was thinking about a living will and power of attorney right there if my body shut down and if I did make it back in only dehydrated state, what the ER trip back to the hospital was going to be like. This is not hyperbole!!! Any ways, made it back to the car and downed water all the way home and was still wiped out when at ho.e. went to sleep very early so wiped out from the ordeal. Don't repeat this!! So- now you understand the importance of staying hydrated on a challenging hike ( or any hike) post op. As for food, you will want to have 3 or 4 Protein shakes with you. You do not need them pre mixed, but have the powder in baggies so you can quickly mix the up. This is if you are hiking before 1 month post op. Once you are on solids, I would make sure you take small protein packages (1-3 ounces in size). Try and west one every 1/2 mile. I do not really know as I was not hiking until 6 months out after the week 3 hike. If you are far enough out, make sure you are testing good carbs. Nuts.com makes good energy squares that will really help you up those switchbacks. Cliff bard are OK for hiking, but they have a ton of sugar so not so good for us. Most likely you would get diarrhea from the sugar overload and that is no fun on a home. Try and replace Clif bars with a low carb variety so there is no sugar rush. Again, small increments of protein are good to eat as you are hiking up the trail. Think sausage size, lunch meat or babel cheeses. Hope this helps!

You want to be a skinny b***h? Lol! How about be a skinny nice person and have a positive influence on all the other skinny b*****s?

As for food addiction that several have raised in this thread, even when you think it is conquered, it is still there. Perhaps not in the same way. Wanting to eat and eat returned for me in a big way at month 6. However, I do not turn to comforts of the past. Instead, I will eat an extra ounce of Protein here an extra 2 ounces of protein there. It helps. Unfortunately , I have recently been having an extra Protein Bar in between meals. Need to be careful because even the low carb ones pack 150-200 calories. I suppose I have justified the extra calories because it still puts me at 1300-1400 and I an very active every day. However, eating Protein Bars "just because" I have an issue with eating the right number of calories is not helping me. It brings back the worry in me that I might repeat the past. The eating to replacd dealing with issues. I do not think I have that issue any longer, but I must not let it occur because I put my life on the line for this last ditch effort at keeping food bondage at bay. I try and throw in an extra HIIT workout to counter it, but know this is not addressing the core issue. It is merely putting some distance between myself and a food issue. I have been to therapy, but not specifically to psychoanalyze my eating and why it is different from a natural thin person. Do I need to? Not sure. I would not be here if I was like a naturally thin person. However, I eat fairly healthy now and try to only east Paleo if possible. It is the protein bars that I am concerned about. Yes, I do struggle with eating, but I see no reason for this to be associated with regret for WLS. It is still a game changer for me.

Not sure you can or want to answer this, but why or what caused your marriage to be at risk? I see others with marriage issues after WLS. Is it as simple as jealously or insecurities, or is there more. Maybe better as sesperate thread, but do answer if you think it is a leading indicator for your regret. I do remember signing a consent form that said WLS Center is not liable for divorce, etc post op. I think WLS has been really good for marriage and nothing has ever come up to indicate a risk.

21 days as that is what the doctor said. And for you fast attempters no reverse cowgirl sex on the first time (sorry, this might be an inside joke if you have not seen the discussions on it). Lol.

Cool thing about these is you can literally do them anywhere.

They were hard for a while, but now getting good at them. They really stretch the inner thigh area and release the endorphins (natural morphine). I am in my chair all day for me job, so try to get up every hour and do air squats. It makes the ability to continue sitting so much easier. So if you are feeling dumpy, get up and do some squats or do something else that challenges and eliminates the chair fatigue.

Oh man. Major Ouchie! I thought you were talking about dime size or even penny size. Forget the mole skin idea for a blister that is 1/2 your foot. Bandage that sucker with neosporin. Do let it recover.

How true! We do tend to forget about the 1st week of hell. I had some respiratory complication and had to be in ICU for a couple days after surgery. O2 levels were between 75 and 85% for a few days. I could not eat or drink anything for about 4 days (still was in hospital). My heart rate was constantly around 40 during the day and 30 at night until 5th day in hospital. The little alarm was constantly going off so I had the nurse disable it so I could get some sleep. I did not really realize the severity of it all until retroactively thinking about it months later. I was feeling well enough on day 5 to go home, but still took it pretty easy for 3 weeks, always working on my respiratory system with spirometer (sp?) and walking every day multiple times. They did not let me leave until I proved I could drink and pee on my own as well as keep my O2 90% or higher. Sounds pretty rough, huh? I think it had to do with the anesthesia. My wife claims they had trouble waking me in the recovery room, but that is hard to think about. Took 4 hours for me to come to. What if I had not woken up? However, it is a distant memory today and I would still say VSG is worth it 100%. Even when it was rough, I still did not regret VSG at anytime. Regret did not ever enter my mind. You see, VSG was my last hope. I wanted to have a more fulfilling life, did not want to be in chains as a food slave any longer and wanted to be there for my family.

My "3 week stall" actually occurred at week 5. It was 13 days long. My weight loss pattern between month 1 and month six was basically lose for 2 weeks, stall for 2 weeks, repeat. It was frustrating at first, but got used to it after a while. Let me start with a little personal history. A lot of my weight dropped month 1 and 2, with mostly walking. Month 3-5 dropped about 1/2 rate with mostly ellyptical. Month 5-7 dropped a little faster with mostly running. Now trying to improve fitness and gain back some lean muscle with cross fit, incline running and yoga as well as supplements. One suggestion to limit stalls is to eat more good carbs, lots of Protein (120+ and plenty of Water (100+ oz) during weight loss period. I did eat a lot of quality protein and drank a lot of water, but did not eat good carbs until recently and really leaned out in upper body, mostly due to hard running. There are some supplements I have learned about recently that might help preserve lean muscle such as BCAA (amino acids) and catalyst so your exercise does not eat all your lean muscle during loss.

Canned wild salmon from Traded Joe.

You gym vets are gold. Thanks for taking the time to lay it out there. Supplementation knowledge is definitely one of my weaker areas. However, I have been reading Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle by Tom Venuto (again). I bought his eBook 1/2 a dozen years ago, but did not really let the material set in. I like his approach because it is natural and straight forward. No steroids for him. This time I am going to pay attention. Lol.

Not sure if my diet would be considered typical, but here goes (from a non vet): Breakfast: matrix Protein shake with chia seeds and Water Pre exercise snack: 2 energy squares Post exercise snack: Amplified Wheybolic 60 shake with water Lunch: 3-4 ounces of chicken patty, 1-2 ounces of green veggie or red pepper Snack: nu go slim Protein Bar Dinner: 3-4 ounces of protein (chicken or beef), 1-2 ounces of green veggie Snack: matrix shake with water I try and eat Paleo as much as possible with supplementation to achieve higher daily protein amounts. If I exercise in the afternoon, I switch my morning Snacks with afternoon snack. Morning exercise is running and afternoon exercise is cross fit on alternating days. I try and run between 5 k and 10 k as fast as I can, ramping up the incline for more intensity and for burning of more calories (800-1000). I do not know the calories I burn in cross fit, but it is difficult, intense and about an hour long. On weekend, I usually eat out for one lunch and dinner, but still pay close attention to diet to support fitness. I found it helpful to eat as low carb as possible up to month 5 and eat high protein. I could not eat raw veggies so well so did green drinks. This kept insulin levels normalized and prevented much hunger. As my exercise ramped up at month 5, I began to eat more good carbs. I have found it a little difficult to control hunger if I eat too many grams of sugar in the protein bar. I am currently switching from a protein bar with 2 grams refined sugar to a Paleo protein bar with raw honey and more carbs. So far so good, but time will tell how this changes my hunger. I hope it reduces as I will not be eating those 2 grams of refined sugar any longer. I tracked like a fiend for first 3 months and then stopped. I keep it simple, repetitive so no need to track once it became second nature to live the daily life of post op without much random food planning. I really do not like tracking if it requires more than 10-15 minutes in the morning so made a decision to eat in a way that does not require tracking. Eating the same thing every day is not as bad as it seems. I do not need a lot of variety of I finds food that fits the form and taste I require. Hope this helps!

You will not really encounter a "full" sensation until you are on solids at week 4-6. We all start solids at a different post op date depending on the advice of the doctor and NUT. For example, I started at week 5. However, once you do start solids, follow the basic eating rules better then I did!! 1. Do take 20-30 minutes to eat a meal. Best I could do was 10 minutes. This was my primary cause of sliming, burping, sneezing, farting and hiccuping. Imagine doing all of these at the same time and you will not be surprised when your wife/husband has 911 on speed dial. Lol. 2. Put your fork down in between bites; it is not going to walk away. Never could do this very well and it might have contributed to 1. 3. Do not drink with food (wait 15 min after last drink and wait 45 minutes for another drink). Did not violate this one. 4. Eat high quality Protein first. Start out 1-3 ounces and work your way up to 3-5 ounces as the months go by. I had no issue with this one. 5. Measure your food to be no more then 1/3 a cup or 3 ounces on the scale. I could do this well. Document your food quantities for as long as you need to. Again, heed my pain comments above a couple posts. Not fun. Gets old after x times. If you follow rule the rules above, you should be able to stop before full and not go into pain zone. Good luck!!

I was being a little tongue in cheek on my ferret comment above because I think we can be like that from time to time in a marriage!! Just found it funny.

Just bought one and going to start using it, as soon as I determine how.