Fiddleman

I went out and got a tub of this protein today in Cookies and creme flavor (my goto shake flavor-love it!). Crossing my fingers that it will make weight training and recovery from endurance running faster and easier. The GNC manager stated it was the best Protein Shake they have to offer and that it is absorbed very well compared to 100% whey Protein shakes. It was a bit on the pricey side, but fortunately they had a 50% sale going on it. Recommendation is 3 scoops a serving for 60 grams of protein, but there is no way the body can process that much (from my understanding) and it is fairly high calorie for that much protein (280 calories). Instead, i am going to try a little more than 1 scoop per serving. The GNC manager also recommended this after bringing up the 60g per serving concern. My current running workouts consist of 5k timed (under 30 min), endurance (1+ hour) or HITT (30 min). Weight training is on alternating days with Sunday off. I have to get more serious about the weight training. Others have suggested I might be low on energy so this shake should definitely help in that area. I plan on sticking with Syntrax matrix for morning and evening shakes, but would like to hear from others if they think I should just take 3 servings of Amplified Wheybolic Extreme 60 a day and drop the Syntrax matrix shakes completely. I have been taking Syntrax matrix shakes 2x daily for about 5.5 month with good success at losing weight and keeping tight skin. Now I am focusing on strength to fill out muscle lost during weight loss ( at about 22% body fat now but do not have much muscle definition).

I topped chicken fingers with taco seasoning, chipotle sauce and mango salsa. Cooked a tray of these for about 20 minutes. Two fingers are a good serving size (about 3 oz) for sleevers in solid food phase. Serve with a 1-2 oz side of steamed veggies. I made 12 on a tray so it will be good for lunch and dinner for a few days. Enjoy!

My wife always goes to sleep at least 3-5 hours after me. I usually turn in at 9:30pm and rise at 5:30am. My wife always wants the hallway light on for when she goes to bed so this naturally would cause sleeping issues. I tried using a soft eye cover that completely blocks out the light and I no longer am troubled by the light. Try this out and see if it will work for you. On occasion I will take something like unisom, Tylenol pm or Costco sleep aid, but only if needed because it gives me a little hangover in the morning.

Before you flame me as a policer, please consider the following response with delicacy: why play with fire by eating a fry? Same goes for any old vice like ice cream, pie, cake or whatever before reaching goal ( or maybe even after goal). We got the sleeve to be reborn as individuals and to be the best we can be. we can start by following the dr's and nut's orders/guidance. That is, we try and eat clean according to phases, stay hydrated and exercise to be the healthiest we can be. Please think 2x about putting that fry in your mouth or anything that your dr/nut says you should not have. The dr gives you orders for your safety and the nut gives you guidance for your healthy well being. losing your stomach is a life changing stress, up there with losing a loved one, getting married or getting a divorce. You do not want to jeopardize the ability to form good life goals during the first 6 months and be all you can be. Now I have had a mistake with taking too much pain meds, but I have learned through an ordeal with addiction to meds not to food. I do not want to come along as a policer or enforcer, but just want to remind you of why we did this: to be shining examples for others around us and ourselves. Ultimately, we will make the world a better place by being role models of discipline and excellence. We will slowly make this world a better place, one individual at a time, one community at a time. Please consider this perspective with kindness and wanting the best for everyone. I am walking the talk by losing 130 lb in last 6 months and being able to run a fast 5 k in 28 min (going to do my first compete in a couple months). I hope to use the process as an example to new sleevers or anyone else that wants to be the best they can be. We will all be winners.

Thanks for the responses. I am going to tone down the intensity and see if I can make it through a session. I want to build a lean body with good definition when my shirt is off. I do not necessarily want to be shredded like a body builder. Perhaps something similar to Ryan Reynolds.

Hey BTB- you have motivated me to go sign up for my first 5k race. I have never ever run in a compete before outside of cross country in middle school and even back then, I was pretty close to last place. I am going to be up in Vancouver BC over St Patrick's day going to an Imagine Dragons concert ( my new favorite band from last year! Love to run with them in my ears). At the same time, I am also going to run a 5k up there and have already registered (85 US). Sounds like there will be a big Irish bash at the end with food and drink ( I will eat sleeve friendly). For seasoned 5k runners, where can I expect to place (percentage wise) if I currently am running 28 min 5k on treadmill. This is a push for me. 32 min 5k is fairly easy at this point in my training. I am going to start adding 1-2 % incline to the training in order to better simulate outside running.

Holy moly! What an inspiration for all us guys. You say that your diet is clean and you drink a lot of water. What percentage of protein intake versus lifting would you say contributes to your results?

I need to get better at weight training and stamina. After about 10 minutes into the "inside out" strength training with Bob Harper ( a very intense routine that involves just personal weight and light barbells), my focus disappears and I give up and switch back to cardio like elliptical ( not running on this day because need to take a day rest in between runs). How can I get better at strength training? I am the prodigal newbie when it comes to strength training, but have lots of good books: new rules for lifting, men's fitness, etc. I have not read them all, but they look pretty impressive on my shelf. LOL! Do I need a personal trainer to improve my stamina and endurance? I do not have a lot of extra funds to hire a trainer and same reason why I do not have a gym membership (I have my own equipment and barbells). Any guidance is appreciated.

I need to get better at weight training and stamina. After about 10 minutes into the "inside out" strength training with Bob Harper ( a very intense routine that involves just personal weight and light barbells), my focus disappears and I give up and switch back to cardio like elliptical ( not running because need to take a day rest in between runs). How can I get better at strength training? I am the prodigal newbie when it comes to strength training, but have lots of good books (e.g new rules for lifting, mens fitness, etc - have not read them all ( and some good dvds. Do I need a personal trainer to improve my stamina and endurance? I do not have a lot of extra funds to hire a trainer and same reason why I do not have a gym membership (I have my own equipment and barbells).

I have found that seaweed is a very tasty snack and very low calorie. One serving is about 25 calories and usually gives you quite a few very thin wafers. There are also many nutritional benefits from eating seaweed. The only issue is that there is a fairly high sodium content. Would a serving or two of seaweed a day be detrimental to weight loss? I do drink a large amount of water daily to flush things through.

Yeah, me too. I like the pineapple/coconut flavor from Desani. I have tried a lot of different water enhancers such as Mio, crystal light, propel and ocean spray. Behind Desani, ocean spray and propel are good. Crystal light and Mio both give me a weird taste and feeling in throat and mouth after drinking the all day so I tend to stay away from them unless I do not have anything else. I am also finding I can drink tap water again without extra flavor. It no longer taste metallic or weird tasting. This is good as we have pretty decent water and I can save some money by just drinking the tap water without flavor.

I am 6 months out: Breakfast (6am): 8 oz Protein shake with chia seeds during work week or feta eggs and turkey sausage links (2) on weekend. Snack(9am): 3 oz chicken sausage Lunch(12pm): 4-5 oz chicken patty with seaweed salad Snack(3pm): 3 oz chicken sausage Dinner(6-7 pm): whatever the wife is making or eat out. Try and aim for 3 oz protein and 2oz veggies. She works hard to make sleeve friendly meals. Snack(9-10 pm): 8 oz Protein Shake with chia seeds I drink flavored Water all day. I have a 32 oz water bottle and refill it about 8-10 x a day. Exercise is about 1 hour a day alternating between running and weight training (DVD with bob Harper called inside out) Heaviest: 360 lb DOS: 335 lb Current: 195 lb.

Definitely a coffee lover here. And a latee, cappuccino lover. That being said, you should follow your doctor's orders with regards to coffee and the healing process. It takes about 6 weeks for the stomach to get through initial healing and caffeine during that time can cause ulcers or perhaps something worse. Do not take this as medical fact, just experience from going through the sleeve and reading posts here my doctor did not limit any coffee except we were not allowed to drink it the day before surgery and we should keep it to 1-2 cups. I stopped drinking coffee about a month before surgery and then started slow about 6 weeks post op. if you are not able to have coffee, there are other options. Nectar has a good cappuccino protein shake. There are a lot of coffee flavored drinks and shakes out there. You might try one or two and see what you think. Good luck!

That's really something to be proud of. Dropping 100 lb is really hard for anyone. Congratulations and good luck the rest of the journey.

I didn't think I would experience this. Following 6 months, there are some days when I feel really hungry 1-2 hours after a meal when I need to go 3 hours. There are other days when I am not hungry at all. The time of day that this happens is pretty random. It started to get more noticeable around 4 months. I tend to eat very well, getting in at least 3 oz of Protein per mini meal and try to get in 1-3 oz of veggie (sometimes only 1 oz). My Water intake is really good at 120+ oz daily. I find that drinking sometimes helps the hunger, but not always. My exercise tends to be pretty intense for an hour a day. I do not tend to keep track of calories burned versus calories eaten. I am a KISS sort of guy and don't like to complicate where it is not necessary. All in all, I have been good about keeping on my plan, but it is getting harder. I especially think about wanting something crunchy or very flavorful. I love foods like seaweed salad, chipotle chicken, and satay that burst with savory flavors found in other countries. I have always preferred to eat international foods over American foods. Any suggestions, tips or hints on how to tame the hunger beast? I can't just grab a 1 oz serving of something in between my 6 meals because I would then be grazing. I do not have long to go until done with weight loss, about 10 lb. At 195 lb and started at 360 ( my highest ever before starting pre surgery diet).

What flavors do you like to freeze?

I started walking my dog the day back from the hospital which happened to be day 5 post op. Only made it about 100 yards on that first walk and my brother was actually holding the leash. Over the next month, I was literally out walking my dog up to 3x a day up to 3 miles at a time(ramped up the endurance, of course). I lost a lot of weight by just walking like this until 6 weeks out ( about 65 lb). And my dog got addicted to all the walks. Since then I still enjoy walking my dog, but usually only once a day and no longer for exercise. He is well behaved on a leash and got a canine good citizen certificate 2 years ago. He is an english springer/ border collie mix that weighs about 55 lbs give or take 5 lbs depending on how many treats or table scraps he gets.

Accidentally posted this to food instead of fitness. Does anyone know how to move the post or is this something a VST admin (eg *susan*) needs to do?

This sounds like a challenge

Monday- casual long run day. warm up of 4.5 mph jog for 5 min. Stretches. run 45 minutes at 5.4 mph. This is my 125-135 bpm pace where I feel there is no stopping me. I can run over an hour at this pa e, but start to feel weak (not tired) from using up the stored energy. Cool down by jogging at 4.5 for 2 min and then walk at 3.5 for 3 min. Tuesday- Bob Harper's inside/out "hard" DVD workout with 3 lb weights. This workout is currently kicking my butt to the moon and back. Will increase weights as I get better at it. This workout is tough! Look it up on Amazon. Wednesday- high intensity cardio interval training day. warm up with 4.5 mph jog for 5 min. run 30 min interval training. 5.4 mph is my easy run pace. Every 2 minutes bump up .2 mph until 6.2 mph. Stay at 6.2 mph for 2 min. Bump down. 2 until at 5.4 mph. Stay at 5.4 mph for two minutes. Repeat until 25 min and bump back up to 6.4. At 28 min bump up to 6.8 and for the last min, but out 7.0 mph. For cool down, bump slowly down to 5.4 mph every 30 s. Next bump down to 4.5 mph in a min. Finally walk at 3.5 mph for 2 min. I did this today and it was not too bad. Thursday- bob harpers inside out DVD again with light weights. Friday- fast 5k day. 5k in some time under 30 minutes. Try for 27-28 min. This will be a fast run as opposed to slow run on Monday and interval training on Wednesday. Best time so far for 5 k is 26.5 min achieved over last weekend, but it was not easy at all. I feel the interval training will help me run faster with less effort so a fast 5 k is not so grueling. Saturday- a fun exercise outside like 5 mile walk with dog or a hike or yard work or something that is different from the week days. Not too intense. Sunday- rest I feel like a couple months of this type of training will get me ready to enter 5 k and 10 k races where I have a shot of doing well. I love my new running shoes. They make a big difference with being able to sustain good running posture for a long time without feeling tired ( if not running intervals or fast). Also just got a bluetooth jaybird transmitter and high quality ear buds. This set me back over $200, but well worth it to get high fidelity music in my ears where I cannot even hear the treadmill as I am running because of noise canceling. Love em!

Welcome to the joys of running!