Fiddleman

12-17-2012 : 202 Do not think 180 is possible by new year, but will try by exercising, exercising and exercising. Running is really melting off the weight and inches.

Sure, no problem. These seeds take the miracle out of miralax. Try them out and see if things improve shortly.

I buy them on Amazon.com. Most ground up chia seed product offerings are sold in 6 oz size.

I buy them pre ground now and they gel fairly quickly when compared to whole seeds. Tried to grind them myself, but was not getting anywhere because their size is so small. Either form of chia helps with regularity very well in addition with helping the body preserve Water on long runs (greater than 30 min in length). Good luck.

Not only that, but eating all your favorites in abundance before surgery may make it that much harder to give up foods after surgery. Believe me, it is not easy to do this for some. A suggestion might be to gradually ease your way out of sugars, high starch, high carb, high fat and high sodium foods 1-2 months before surgery. By the time surgery comes around, you will be free of the temptations ( in theory). Food funerals might be helpful if only they make you sick of the food so you don't want them post-op. I would recommend the former because it is healthier and better on your emotional state. Just my two cents.

Anthony's is a fairly good choice for quality seafood selections, but I could not justify the price for a full entree. I was also going to be out a few hours after dinner, so could not save any. In the appetizer section, there is a dish called "Shrimp Mango Peanut lettuce wraps." It makes about 4 wraps of shrimp, small mango cubes, cucumber cubes and Thai peanut sauce. They told me there was about 4 ounces of shrimp in them. I could eat 2 wraps and had them package up the rest over ice for today. Needless to say, this is my first encounter with fruit ( mango) post op and I didn't have any significant issues, a little gurgling and little uncomfortable. Overall, it was very yummy and want to recommend it as a light meal if you happen to be going to Anthony's.

I think I have to stop reading this thread before it gets any more sophomoric in nature. Lol. I can't help it though...

Very interesting illustrations. Thanks for sharing!

By accident, I found a good stretch for hamstring/buttuck muscles that is very easy to perform. Siting in a chair, put right leg over left leg, right above knee, bend forward and hold. Repeat for other leg. It really gives your hamstring a good stretch, one side at a time and feels oh-so-good when you are sore there (e.g. I have been running). This is easier then the traditional runner's stretch of laying flat on your back, lifting each leg to 90 degrees and holding. Do both of these stretches target the same group of muscles in the hamstring area? I do not know a lot about muscle groups and the interactions between them with regards to stretching so I am going to research that.

I got in a couple more runs this week. One was 5 k and the other was about 6 k. I love the feeling from running, especially when taking the time to enjoy it. ButterTheBean has recommended 2 books that are seminal to read if you want to enjoy running, relax while running, feel better when finished running without any injury: "born to run" and "slow burn" I read "slow to burn" this last week and will look into reading " born to run" in the near future. "Chi running" is also excellent and is where I have adopted a majority of my running technique from. When running, I like to constantly be doing a systems check on different parts of my body, from my neck to the bottom of my feet. The reason is to achieve relaxation and balance. I find it takes my mind off the fact I am running and it becomes effortless. I have found it important to shift energy from all parts of the body to the core muscles. This completely eliminates fatigue that one typically feels in hamstrings, calves or even arms. The chi running also talks a lot about treating various parts of your body as pendulums. This helps the body becomes a series of perfectly balanced pendulums that can keep on going like the pendulum in a grandfather clock. My arms and legs have really toned up this last couple of weeks and I have dropped 10 lbs, between 1-2 lbs a day. I have not seen this type of progress since month 1 and 2 post op. it is exciting. If anyone finds themselves in a long stall or a slow loss, I would recommend really increasing the intensity of your workout. Your body is fully capable of handling it. It is important to make sure you are cleared by doctor and you have lost enough weight to avoid injury. Running is my drug of choice for accelerating my weight loss in that period where it is really hard to lose the last 20-30 lbs. others might cycle, swim, rebound, row, etc.i have also started to do Bob Harper's Inside Out DVD for strength training a couple times a week. Now that workout kicks your butt and then some! Good luck everyone!

I got up in the wee hours of the morning and decided today is the day to clean out all my "big" clothing. There were over 200 2x and 3x dress shirts and casual long sleeve shirts, 50+ tshirts, 2 suits, 8 dress pants, 2 robes, 5 swimming suits and 5 jeans. And the closet was still 80% full with my wife's clothes. anyone who lives with a women knows what i am talking about. Lol. I was a little sad to see some go, but overall, it is part of the transformation process. I am planning to donate them to value village or good will, but then got to thinking that there are some good quality clothes here. Maybe they can be sold at a consignment store. Does anyone know of a place near Seattle that will buy used big men's clothing? Not all of it is fashionable nor brand name, but at least 70% of it is. Regardless, I still have 10-15 more lbs to lose plus some more body toning so today is not going to be the day to buy a closet full of clothing. I will still buy enough daily, fancy and workout clothing from value village for a little bit longer until I reach goal.

I had to take it during week 3 too for a nasty cold. No issues at all and helped tremendously.

I am not sure I would trust my life ( yet) to robotic surgery. What happens if there is a bug or glitch in the robotic firmware that causes complications that a skill human surgeon would never make. And it leads to serious complications or even death. Who is responsible? As a professional software developer of mission critical software, I know there will always be glitches because the developers are only human. Just something to ponder...

Oh, that is bad.... Time to call the pun police!

I get little burps when I am full and a feeling of satisfaction. Now I have gotten to the point if I sense I am full, I will just stop eating the rest of my protein. Usually it is 2-3 ounces of protein. For example, today I ate a chicken breast for lunch that was probably 5 ounces. After 3 I had the little burps going on so I gave the rest to my dog who was sitting right there beside me, waiting. I have been through many a session of pain in the chest feelings so definitely am listening very well to body in last month or so. Did not know how to listen so well during months 2-4.

Yes, but again hard work. Stuck to a low carb, low fat and high protein diet. No deviation ever. Some may not like this kind of displine, but I strive on it once my mind is set on a goal. I also walked every day started using the ellyptical at week 6 and started running last week. By the way, I followed a 3 hour eating plan where I had 3-4 ounces of protein every 3 hours after being cleared for solids. My advice is to find something you can stick to and follow it to a "t" Do not let anything get in your way because you are stronger then any temptation.

Yes, happy where I am at: High: 360 Sw: 335 5.5 months: 205 Sleeved: 7/2 It has been hard work, but completely worth it.

I need some help from runners who have the WLS experience behind them. I just started running a weeks ago after walking and using an ellyptical for the last 4 months. I am currently 5.5 months out and have 10 lb to personal goal. The post is a little long winded, but please read through my notes until the questions at the end for proper context. Read today that running longer than an hour requires a 4 to 1 ratio between carbs and Protein in order to replenish muscles properly and better than before. I am currently running about 45 minutes (additional 5 minute warm up and 5 minute cool down) during a session and eat a chicken patty or some other meaningful 3-5 oz of protein afterwards. I desire to run more than an hour to push towards my personal running goals or running a 10k a 1/2 marathon and a marathon. No carbs because in general my eating plan does not allow for it. Dropped 10 lb since starting to run seriously last week. What an excellent slow loss and stall buster. As I am in pretty good shape now, I feel that my body is physically ready to start pushing towards the running goals that I listed above. My running pattern during a session generally looks like warm up fast walk/ jog 5 minutes, 5.4 MPH for 5 minutes, 5.6 MPH for 5 minutes, 5.8 MPH for 5 minutes and 6 MPH for remainder of 45 minute run. Then 3.6 MPH, 3.6 MPH and 3.0 MPH cool down over 5 minutes. Total is about 55 minutes on the treadmill. In fact, I did this today. I am running 3 times a week in order to get in the proper recovery. Have to ramp it up during a running session if I am going longer than 30 min so as to not lose steam at 30. I try to really be focused on balance and perfect relaxation while running, until I am able to enter "the zone" where it feels like I am not running any longer and can keep going and going without stress, effort or injury. Love it. No injury so far and my legs feel great afterwards. The points in the "Chai Running" book are really helpful in order to run long distances without injury or getting tired too early. Questions: What does 4 carb to 1 protein look like in practical food choices or in something i can buy (shake, gel, bar etc) online or from a local store? My wife is already telling me I am getting expensive, so prefer to find something economical or at least something that I can try before spending alot. How can i transition from eating no to low carbs for last 6 months (includes pre diet) to healthy carbs that will help me optimize both my health and my running? I have been hitting a fatigue (boredom? Energy issue?) around 40 minutes and then stop. How can I bust through this physically and mentally to hit my running goals above?

I found a perfect fork for us to take smaller bites at Pier One. The fork has a normal handle for leverage and balance. It also has a tiny prong area for the food. It can probably only hold a tsp of food at a time. I bought 8 in order to have plenty available throughout the week without having to be constantly washing them.