Fiddleman

My experience with Water before and after WLS mirrors that of CowGirlJane. Maybe we drink the same water. there is some truth to that statement... I loved all type of water before surgery, including, but not limited to, tap, bottled and sparkling after. I was a champion water drinker and rarely drank much else. After surgery, it was quite the opposite. Water had a strange metallic composition to it. Literally felt and tasted like I was sucking on metal. For this reason, I spent a while going through different water enhancers as a post op, looking for not only flavors I enjoyed, but also ones I could keep drinking day after day all day without negative consequences like acid reflux. Almost every Water Enhancer I tried from crystal light to Mio either had my throat burning by the end of day or otherwise had a strange after taste I was unable to manage long term. After a few months I found Dasani drops. Perhaps they were not available until then because I had not seen them before. They were good and had a cool, smooth refreshing taste consistently day after day. No burning in the throat. I settled on a couple flavors I really enjoyed like Pink Lemonade and Coconut pineapple. Recently I have also found Wild Grape which is really good (actually my wife finds the flavors in the store and I latch onto them to her chagrin ). Fast forward to about 6 months post op and I started to tolerate plain water again. I am a year out now and still do not like plain water that much, but can stomach it if no flavor is available. I am not sure if I will ever love plain water again, but the flavor has allowed me to drink 1-1.5 gallon a day (required for high level of fitness activity and very high Protein consumption of 150-170 g - trying to get athlete strong). I can drink tap water fine and have since after surgery with flavor, so no need for me to only drink ice cold water. Usually, I drink normal temperature water that is not chilled. However, I have noticed ice water is sometimes more refreshing or enjoyable to me and a nice change when I have access to it.

Cheri and other vets - you all consistently give among the most detailed and thoughtful responses on VST (Others, obviously not leaving you out, but want to give special kudos here), in the vets forum. Super impressed with your thought processes around these types of struggles and the ability to offer practical solutions. It is a pleasure to read your tomes.

I gained about 30 lb between feb 2012 and June 2012. However, I dropped 180 lb from June 2012 to feb 2013, so it all worked out in the end. I would not recommending gaining like I did though during the research phase. Weight loss for me was 360 to 180.

I think it is pretty normal to go through this stage as your mind realizes post WLS is no longer a typical diet that we are all so fond of. Like you, i have done some very long term low carb dieting on and off before WLS. I got quite good at it, but did have quite a bit of binging between when I decided to have WLS (feb 2012) and my initial appointment (april 2012). i finally got serious about eating well about 1.5 month before surgery of july 2nd 2012. You may go through another phase closer to surgery date called a "food funeral." Many individuals try and eat their favorite foods during this phase because of not being able to eat them again after surgery (not precisely true, you just need to wait for a while after surgery). remember, a food funeral is, again, just a phase and quite normal. Once you are a WLS post op, it is important to develop sound eating habits to support you not only during weight loss, but for the rest of your life. During weight loss, this will look a lot like a low carb diet for most. For example, I ate low carb, low fat, high Protein for 7 months after surgery. during month 7, I transitioned into a Paleo diet (along with Paleo fitness) which I am still following today at about 1 year post op. Not everyone approaches the eating style post op in the same manner. You will need to learn and accept an eating style that helps you be successful. Oh, and I almost forgot, my name is also Andrew (Andy). Good luck!

You are right. We should just abstain as there are way better foods to be eating. I like to eat paleo most of the time, but on occasion I will have a protein bar. And then "it" wakes up. You know what I am talking about. The carb beast. Roaaar...Best to let it lie dormant.

Thanks a lot for the link. I am definitely going to bookmark that one and spend some serious time on there. My trainer is very good at identifying mobility exercises to help me. We spend a good 10-15 minutes each time before and 10 minutes after WOD, just stretching. I am looking for more help in this area!!! Tight everywhere. I want to be Mr gumby so I can clean jerk or straight leg dead lift without be held back by rigidness. Thanks for any additional thoughts!!

Thanks again for the instruction. It is so helpful! I will begin on it tomorrow morning, I have high hopes and will stick with these suggestions for a few weeks to see how it goes. Cheers!

Thanks ah0505. Any idea how long this type of stretching would take to fix hammie issues? Weeks? Months? I basically do his type of stretch without a prop, but it is so uncomfortable and I cannot get my leg straight so stop doing it. I will do it again, but how long to hold in place with the prop each time? Thanks for responding!!!!!

You can also help out people here on VST that need something or another depending on their circumstance. There are many ways to give back, pay it forward or whatever you want to call it all around us. You just need to look and then just let it happen. Trust me, you will feel giddy after giving selflessly to others. Have a nice day!

Interesting suggestion. I heard about this in 7th grade and tried it one afternoon. I lasted about an hour and then caved. It is funny I remember those things.

I have a mobility issue with my hamstrings and am unable to completely straighten my legs. Maybe it is not my hamstrings, butI do feel it is tight there and my leg locks at about 170 degrees when trying to stretch it against a vertical bar with my back on the floor. For the past few months I have been doing some pretty focused mobility exercises to straighten them out because lack of flexibility is holding me back in my cross fit training. I do not know what has caused this, but suspect it is either from decades of rigid exercise with no concern for stretching or lack of exercise period. My career has been a desk job as a software developer. It could also be caused by a few months of lots and lots of running earlier in the year. I have a PT roller and use it on my upper body daily, but not so much on lower body. Mainly because I do not know how to do it without being uncomfortable. On my back, it is the best massage ever and really deep. Do you know some really good lower body flexibility exercises that are going to fix this issue? Or a supplement? I already do most of the standard hamstring stretching exercises and do take 2-4 g of very high quality fish oil daily. Any good books on how to fix flexibility issues perhaps focusing on lifting. I have the same problem in my shoulder where my arm will not straighten when doing heavy lifts over head. I am strong enough, but body will not stay straight. I really want to be hyper flexible!!! That would make some lifting activities so much easier.

Here is what exercise progression looked like (just about 1 year post op): Month 1-2: walking, 3 x a day for 30-45 min each time. month 3-4: ellyptical and walking, when energy Month 5-7: running ( up to 20 miles a week), 3 x a week Month 8-12: cross fit, running, strength training ( heavy) Today I typically workout 5-6 days a week for 30-60 minutes (includes warmup and cool down). I also do some local hiking. Hope that helps.

Laura- really good to hear about your success with the 5:2 diet. As for your correlation between sugar and PMS, I am afraid that sweet tooths come in all sexes, shapes and sizes. have fun on your vacation!

You can buy Syntrax at vitamin shoppe or online at various sites like mybariatricpantry or amazon. Anything can be found at amazon.com.

Good advice! I do end up smacking on gum if my mouth needs something sweet. A habit I have picked up about 2 weeks ago. The main issue is I get bored sometimes during my day job at home (software developer for 12-15 hours during the day) and my immediate response sometimes is to drift back to food thinking. Pretty weak trigger at this time, but I do want to be mindful of it. I do not have an excuse to get bored outside of work. There are so many fitness, outside or inside things that can be done. I have so many video games to catch up on.

I thought it might be a good idea to start an ongoing thread on favorite Protein powders and rtd products to help others find one they like. At least they will be picking from among what others have called "the best". I will start. My favorite morning whey is muscle milk light cake batter. Love the flavor. Second favorite morning whey is Matrix Cookies and creme (if i am out f my beloved cake batter). My favorite post workout shake is amplified Wheybolic 60 cookies and creme from GNC. I would be open to a better post workout shake if you have one. No real complaints about his one; I just know there is something better though. My favorite bedtime Protein Shake is Good Standard chocolate Supreme Casein. I guess I do like a good rich chocolate flavor at night. Casein at night really helps with leaning out overnight. Do not be afraid to try it. You can probably tell I like the "sweet" flavors for my shakes. Not into the fruit flavors. Now what about you?