Fiddleman

You are doing wonderful so far in your exercise activities. A suggestion that has worked for me is to mix in some HIIT days where you are focused on applying high levels of exertion (>80% perceived effort) for short bursts of time. For example, I will alternate between 2 min sprinting (.5 % incline 7.7 mph), 1 min hill running (5-6% incline @ 6.0 mph) and then 30 sec recovery @ 5.6 mph. Usually i will do this cycle for about 30 minutes and then spend the remaining 30 minutes on a 5 k @ 1-2% incline. on HIIT days, it is not about a race speed or even about calories burned. it is about maximizing intensity so you are seriously spent at the end of each active part of the HIIT cycle where you NEED the 30 second recovery time to continue. I like exercise equipment like a treadmill because it lets me dynamically adjust intensity for HIIT on a moments notice. HIIT has also helped me become a faster runner (and hiker). You can certainly practice HIIT for cycling or for any other exercise where you can alternate between > 80 % exertion and lower exertion levels. Running really does help with weight loss and toning up. For me, running has helped me lose about 40-45 lb from beginning of Dec 2012 to the beginning of Feb 2013. Pretty strong in the legs, but have average size arms and not very muscular. running will do this so it is best to get into strength training also if you want to maintain arm strength. Still being very active, but scale has not moved for last month or so. That is ok with me as I am +- a couple lbs around goal since then. I am now solely focused on improving my fitness levels through faster and longer running as well as cross fit training. Will also start some Yoga this week to round things out a bit and become more flexible. Looking forward to some Hot Yoga in the future!! I am hoping Yoga will eliminate some of the bodily stress caused by intense exercise. Finally, make sure you are drinking lots of Water and eating lots of Protein. Try and drink 120+ oz a day and eating 150+ g protein a day. sleep enough. Your body recovers and repairs best when sleeping. I am still figuring out better ways to sleep with high quality. Green drinks seems to be helping. I am a long term user of sleep aids and it is good to not need to take them any longer (as of last couple weeks).

It is the gay rights symbol for solidarity. There is a major Supreme Court decision being reviewed at this time for the legal aspects of same sex marriage. There are some marches, protests, etc going on today. The central debate is on the constitutional aspects of Proposition 8 ban on same sax marriage in California. The ruling is expected to be made by the end of June 2013.

That is a good suggestion! Would a low fat cream cheese be OK for it?

I have constantly been getting little hunger attacks to eat over the last couple months in between planned meals (6x a day to total 1200 calories), when I am not supposed to be eating. Gets worse every day. So today I thought perhaps cottage cheese would make a good satiety food for these moments when I am being pulled *hard* by hunger. It worked!! The reason why I wanted to try is because I was remembering about a cottage cheese test to determine size of stomach from a VST book I read pre op (yes, I read a lot of books about post op but nothing trumps post op experience). I thought if cottage cheese is being used to determine size, it cannot slide through. This is great! I just hope a random couple spoonfuls are not going to blow maintenance. High in Protein, low in fat and low in carbs. I never did eat cottage cheese more then once post op, so it is good to be eating again. What are some *other satiety foods* you use to bury that nagging goal weight hunger? Two rules: 1. It must be smaller serving size then a normal full meal of 1 cup of protein / veggies. In other words, eating a meal does noes not count as a solution to my question. 2. It must not be a slider food. I am looking to satisfy the hunger, not delay it for more battles in 20 minutes. Besides, I do not want to eat sliders during maintenance of weight. I want to eat as healthy as possible to support physical activity.

I'll be here all week. Be sure to throw a couple bucks into the hat to show your comedic appreciation. It will slowly fund my upcoming TT.

Loose weight is the extra jiggly stuff that flaps in the wind.

Where are your favorite places? I may get over there on business in a couple months.

Wine is pretty good after a few months. Not something to abuse, but good to relax with. Make sure you know the time table for when to introduce according to your doctor. Mine said post 3 months if I recall correctly. Laura probably remembers my live post from the Italian restaurant in Jan 2013 where I was throwing it all in the wind with a 35 glass of fine Chardonnay at a very fine Italian restaurant. I was tipsy and having a good time with my wife after my first 1/2 glass and had trouble walking after one glass. It was a very full wine, so I think that matters when you choose one. Need less to say, I started in on a second glass and only made it one or two sips before getting an upset stomach. Waste of a glass. I think I probably drank it too fast @ 10 minutes. The effects wore off after 20 minutes. I had wine a second time @olive garden See, I do not discriminate as long as they offer the good stuff. Lol. One glass this time. Same drunken walk experience. This was in February 2013. Post 7 months. The effects wore off after 10 minutes. For the final alcohol test..ERM... experience, I tried drinking a Dangerous Dave from Dave's BBQ ( national franchise). It was basically a Long Island with a few other spirits thrown in. I was able to drink 2 of these which was very surprising. Needless to say, I was woozie for a good 3 hours after that and it did not hit all at once. Came in waves. Probably won't do that again, but it was a tasty mix. This was in march 2013. Post 8 months. I think wine is good to have, but for me, I will stick with 1/2 glass or less if it is full so I can still speak intelligently with others at the table and not fall over on the way to the mens. Lol. If it is lightweight like Moscato, then maybe I could do two glasses. Anyone care to share experiences with Moscato? Last time I had Moscato was at 2 am in a little cafe in Roma tucked back in an alley way. Per surgery at that time.

Sorry I missed this post by a few days. It flew by for some reason. You look pretty hot with the weight loss, so different from when you first started out. I told you that success would come your way! Slow and steady has you ready for Dancing With The Stars! You will be smoking up that dance floor here on out. Great job. I bet you are on cloud 9.

In the beginning, every morning, crack of dawn, no clothes and after a session with the toilet. Did this until month 5 and entered everything about weight change and why ( if only a hypothesis). This helped me to see the trend and figure out what works. Then I started to weigh every Monday, same time. For last 2 months, I weigh once a month or so, just to see what the scale thinks of me after I dumped her for the mirror. I like how the mirror looks back at me now. All sexy. Today, I have a pretty "cool" relationship with my scale now; it is pretty stale and she is more of a burden then the hot flame she used to be. She gets terribly lonely and clingy, desperately wanting love and attention. When the crying gets too loud I will get on it for a little affair, but no more. It is more for her then I. And I feel so dirty afterwards, especially after considering all the nights I spend with the mirror before sleeping.

We were all wondering where you went Dean. Glad to have you back!

I will let you know when lab results come back. Thanks for your concern.

You guys have to admit these are awesome to watch, even when we were not so strong or not so healthy. Who would not give to haul a semi 100 feet or to carry 250lb/500lb stones and place them on pedestals. Awesome! These shows bring out the he-man in us ( or she-ra for the women, if they like watching this kind of thing). Don't forget to watch American Ninja Warrior (or the Japanese original). Not nearly as raw, but is still uber motivating to see what you can do when you are at the top of your health and fitness.

Man, I would not want to piss any of you guys off in a dark alley at night. Lol! Seriously, you guys have my respect. This thread is awesome. I will stand up for someone and do the right thing but you guys take the man card to a new level with fighting techniques. Badass to the bone. I am an average type and would not have it in me to Jackie chan some shop lifter onto their ass. Maybe someday. For now I write software for the government and play fiddle in my free time. Hardly badass.

Once you experience "the zone" for the first time, you will be hooked. It will be like Frodo putting the ring on his finger. You will be like "my precious...." lol! Such a fantastic feeling and sense of accomplishment comes out of running.

Has any one had issues with acute urination pain or a feeling of ongoing constipation in the front? How about having to get up 5-7 x at night to use the bathroom. I do make an effort to dry out before going to bed, but 5-7 x?? To me these sound like worse case prostate cancer and best case UTI when looking up symptoms online, but I am only 36. I have never experienced either of these before. The symptoms have gotten worse in the last few months. The pain during urination does not happen every time, but when it does, it can be felt in the tract and radiating up towards the bladder. Sorry if TMI. Trying to be as informative as possible to trigger a recognition from someone. For sure, I will set up an appointment with my PCP. Wanted to know if this could be something else or has anyone else experience with it. I have taken chia seeds daily for 4 months to help with the daily BM now plus my krill oil supplement. I have read somewhere there is a link between long term use of omegas (chia seeds are high) to p-cancer, but don't want to get excited about anything until a doctor diagnoses something. I tend to be symptomatic about a few thing since surgery which did not turn into anything (at least not yet) so trying to take this one slow. Let me know what you think. Other then this issue, I am in very good health.

Not sure I can add onto the wonderful advice above. I absolutely encourage the use of a food diary that you track everything in including, but not limited to, food consumption, liquid consumption, Vitamins, weight loss, justifications, amount of exercise and also notes about how you are feeling since the last journey entry. A lot of people use MFP, but I ended up tracking in a notebook for about 2 months. I think MFP was not for me at the time because it kept telling me about how dead I was on the amount of calories I ate. Lol. Also, I tended to stick to whole foods and the same thing day after day. Keep tracking as long as it is helping you. After 2 months, I got pretty good at knowing what I was eating, how much I was drinking and how much I was exercising without writing it down. Again, because my routine tends to be the same every day. Monotony, not in the bored sense of the word, helped me be successful because it was so dang easy to follow after I got into the routine. By all means, journal as long as you like if it helps you be successful at 6 months, 1 year and longer. Try and stick to your plan day in and day out. Know that the goal is a much stronger motivator then that temptation. Also know that you have that hidden cache of strength locked inside of you, even if it seems so hard to follow the plan right now. The longer you stick to plan, the stronger you will become and the less desirable temptations will be for you. Hang in there! The end result is worth the hard work.

That is a really good fit!