Fiddleman

Agree with Laura the a used Precor elliptical is rock solid. Mine is about 20 years old and does not have bells / whistles. Yet it is really good at just being a high quality elliptical. Unfortunately, the motor just gave out on it (after such a long time of daily use) so we may be in the market for a used elliptical as well. It lasted a really long time before motor went out

It is interesting that a doctor would say no pills for month. I remember it being kind of difficult to take pills for a couple weeks, but did start 2-3 again on pills days after surgery. Today (11 months), I am taking pills of all sizes. I agree pudding or yogurt will help you with getting those pills down until you are fully healed.

Is Zoloft available in liquid form? If so you could ask your doctor about a liquid proscription. If not, perhaps you can slice your pill in half to make them smaller to swallow. I hope it gets easier for you as your sleeve heals more.

That's really good to hear Amy. I am going to ship you the book tomorrow and think you will really enjoy it. I learned so much after reading it. And the rest of the technique came with practice.

Serendipity Really good progress at almost 100 lbs. Isn't that amazing? I bet there are so many activities you can do that you could not do before. Are you able to take your after pictures in a little more light?

Serendipity Really good progress at almost 100 lbs. Isn't that amazing? I bet there are so many activities you can do that you could not do before. Are you able to take your after pictures in a little more light?

Amy- I am really glad that you posted this article. The section on cause by running is interesting, but the section on cause by blunt trauma is most interesting. My wife banged her knee up in a car accident from 2 years ago and has the exact symptoms described here. I am going to share this information with her.

Thanks Chimera. Hard boiled eggs are good and i do eat scrambled eggs about once a week, usually for a weekend breakfast. I had to recheck when I originally posted this thread because said issues are no longer an issue. Thank God! It is no fun to be hungry all the time as a post op. The way I resolved this issue is to be eating protein *all*the*time. By all the time, I mean every 2 hours. You must be constantly drinking water with eating large amounts of protein to protect against kidney stones (protein causes oxidation of calcium from bones which will harden into deposits in the kidney if water does not keep it flushed out). And if i am still hungry, i eat another ostrich meat stick (60 calories and Fred Meyer sells them now) or a chicken meatball (Costco). The reason I do this is twofold. 1. To be in a constant non hungry state with very level blood sugar responses and 2. To hit my protein goals of 170 g a day. I do this primarily with different types of protein shakes, chicken based protein snacks, protein bars (be very careful as these can get you in trouble if eaten too often) and protein based dinner. Do you realize that 170 g of protein is still only 680 calories? This is definitely not a lot of calories for any 6+ month post op. I fill in the rest of my calories up to approximately 1700 (TDEE - 300) or so with good carbs, good fats and calories that come from supplementation ( green drink, coconut water, super omega 3, etc all have calories). I do not eat or drink dairy, sugars, starches, breads, etc. I am not counting anything except making sure I eat 30-40 G protein per meal. for good carbs and fat i try and eat balanced, but am not counting numbers. i use a guesstimate about good portion sizes and good balance of macro nutrients. My good carbs come from lower glycemic fruit like apples ( not the best, but still good) and leafy veggies or broccoli (yum!!). My BMI weight has modulated down 10 lb and my body fat % has dropped to 16% since the original post in this thread. i could do better about tracking, but it is just not my thing. I just stick to a set of simple to follow rules and let everything else fall where it may. My body has been changing shape (broad shoulders, thin waist, powerful chest, etc - still a work in progress). As a guy, this is my goal: to become strong in mental and physical response like an athlete. I also feel good about my appearance and do not mind the extra attention I get. furthermore, I get to eat all the time and never be hungry. It seems like this type of paleo eating would be hard, but it is really not once you practice at it. The lack of hunger from eating makes it really easy to maintain and it also does wonders for preparing your body for an optimal response from daily working out. I could eat like this for a long time as every thing from calories in and calories out per TDEE to hunger levels to nutrition from food seems to bein balance on this Paleo style of eating to optimize results from working out (my current favorite workout is cross fit, but I do a few other strength training activities as well). Energy is amazing. Hope this post helps someone in dealing with hunger as a post op.

Nicole - how are you doing tonight? Hope you are starting to feel better.

Globetrotter- let me first state that I am in an active state of finding out what works for effective strength training. There are a lot of very experienced lifters on this site that have years and years of working experience, where some used to be professional body builders or trainers. For this reason, I hope they will stand up and offer some good leadership around effective strength training for all of us who are fairly new to it all. As stated in the original thread above, I have 3 days a week where I am strength training. I never use machines. First reason is I do not own any at home and do not have a gym membership. however, I do take personal training at a cross fit gym. Second, and more importantly, machines takes away the balance, focus and strength required for effective strength training, I use dumbbells and body weight exercise. Currently, my strength training at home is done using Bowflex adjustable dumbbells and strength training / HIIT cardio done at cross fit is a mixture of body weight exercises and barbell lifts in an intense circuit. A good WOD performance should take every bit of strength, breath and focus you have. You asked about rotation so I will focus on my dumbbell-based strength training rather then my cross fit sessions. Cross fit tends to be completely random every session so cannot talk about rotation except when it comes to warmup of body weight exercises. My rotations for each day are fairly basic and can each be completed in 20-30 minutes. I do the same rotations from week to week, but increase the intensity by increasing the weight +5 lb and paying attention to maximum focus and proper form. Push day Dumbbell bench press Dumbbell flys Dumbbell side raises Dumbbell triceps kickbacks Dumbbell biceps curls Pull day One arm dumbbell rows Dumbbell pullovers Reverse dumbbell flys Lying dumbbell triceps extensions Dumbbell biceps curls Leg day Dumbbell squats Dumbbell step lunges Dumbbell straight leg dead lifts Dumbbell sumo squats Dumbbell single leg calf raises My sets look like 12-10-8-8+ for each exercise in a rotation where there might be 1-2 additional drop sets. I keep track of rest between sets, planned weight / reps, target intensity level, actual weight / reps and actual intensity level. Tracking this information helps with measurable progress and helps me make changes as they are needed. The intensity and focus of each set builds as the set reps drop and set weight increases. Intensity must come from your focus and not just from heavier weights delivered from a machine. That is why dumbbells are much more effective then machines when seeking true intensity, but dumbbell exercises do tend to not map onto functional movements very well. Body weight exercises are much more effective then dumbbells because they do map onto functional movements and, hence, tend to be safer with less prone to joint injury. Hope this helps.

The following article might explain the difference between endurance runners that are lean / fit and others that are skinny fat for those that have a question about it: http://joshsgarage.typepad.com/articles/2010/02/why-does-endurance-training-make-some-people-skinny-fat-and-others-ultra-lean.html It is one person's opinion. In summary, avoiding skinny fat as an endurance runner has to do with performance and how hard you are pushing yourself, as your body adapts to both distance and speed. For example, my body adapted to running 5 k very well and then 10 k very well where it was less about performance and more about an hour of running. I got very good at the 10 k after doing this at least 3 x a week for 2 months, but generally did not push myself to improve past an average of 55 min 10 k. So I stopped running in a steady state and now run much shorter distances (2-3 miles MAX a day) in a manner that is always about performance and challenge. I only have so much time during the day and do not want to go much more than 1 hour for any work out, so instead of running a 10 k, I am doing short very intense bouts of strength training 3 x a week (20-30 min) along with intense sessions of cross fit 2 x a week (30-45 minutes). Every workout feels more challenging then the previous and I push using a very focused drive. It seems to be working so far with regards to my transformation thread. It has REALLY helped to make this change for myself in terms of building a lean, muscular and fit body instead of being skinny fat. Both old and current body types have approximately the same healthy BMI for my height but i am MUCH happier with the results from performance-based cardio/strength workouts rather then steady-state cardio/strength training I was doing previously (impressive, but became less of a challenge for my body after advancing from walking to 5 k to 10 k too quickly and then performing the same 10 k workout for a couple months without trying to keep challenging my body). Getting fit is ALWAYS a work in progress. It will never be 'over', but will always be there every week to improve upon. Do consider the excellent points made in the article as they apply to you as my anecdote appears to map onto those points, yes, including he ones about how running made me skinny fat. The article makes a lot of sense to me.

It is *so* yummy if you are interesting in dessert flavors. I love cake batter, Cookies and creme, vanilla bean, chocolate truffle. Maybe others know some more good dessert flavors like banana foster, brownie, chocolate mint, banana split, etc. I would go for it as long as it is 1-2 carbs of sugar. Maybe we need just a good set of recipes for flavoring up the plain Protein powder.

*ka pow* *bam* *crunch* what a take down!!

Aaron - I think you just need to do it, as the 'Nike' ads say. My starting position was very much like you - ground zero. One day I just decided to put my foot in a cross fit box and just do it. Now I took the more expensive route of hiring the gym owner as my personal trainer. We do our own WOD that is different from the WOD that everyone else does for open gym. However, it is still just as awesome. See my last cross fit session above. I look forward to an hour of focused full body workouts 2 x a week. It is so much fun and she does a super job at cheering me on when I am fading and in training me about all the technical lifts. I am planning on participating in open gym by end of the summer (October), once I get technique rock solid and can actually bust out the WOD with the best cross fitters in the gym. I have a long ways to get to that point, but so far have been on a really good progression in the last few months, being able to do all these bodyweight and weight exercises without bands or other assistance. A trainer might really help you get started if you are brand new like I was a few months ago.

Globetrotter- I am out most of the day (at a support meeting currently here in Seattle for Swedish), but will write down my thoughts tonight.

Tally- I keep looking at your cross fit session every day and am always super impressed by it!! Thanks for motivating me!

Tally - thanks for that app tip. I don't know if it is just me or what, but -for the life of me - I cannot do a workout using aps on my phone or IPad. I need to use a DVD, a trainer, my own plan, but I find the idea of playing with a mobile app during a workout really distracting. Maybe I am just not in the habit of it. Don't know. That being said, I did download the "be your own gym" app and even paid for it. I have yet to use it, along with a few other fitness apps I have downloaded. need to get better at using those. I am more of a DVD person when it comes to interacting with a non live human being for my workouts. Here is what I am doing every week: Monday: push strength dumbbells (12-10-8-8x using 35-50 lb Per dumbbell) Tuesday: morning- Ab workout with PT roller and DVD training DVD. Afternoon - cross fit with my personal trainer Wednesday: leg strength dumbbells (12-10-8-8x using 40-55 lb per dumbbell) Thursday: morning - Ab workout with PT roller and DVD training DVD. Afternoon - cross fit with my personal trainer Friday: pull strength dumbbells (12-10-8-8x using 20-35 lb per dumbbell) Saturday: bob Harper " inside out " DVD. Good circuit exercises for full body @ 10-12 lb per dumbbell Sunday: wii fitness ( going to add - just picked up balance board and fitness games for cheap a gsale) I increase my weights by 5 lb almost every week. I did just get the "be your own gym" DVD set yesterday and am super psyched about working this into my fitness during the week, perhaps cycling on/off with my dumbbell strength training I do now. How can I integrate the "be your own gym" program? I need 3 x a week. Need some advice from others on this!!! I am going to master the " be your own gym" programs starting with beginner and moving up to advanced. These will really help my over all fitness for competing in cross fit. I am super excited about achieving elite fitness with this program as the instructor trained special ops for most of his career and this program is the same type of workout they use. Notice I am not doing cardio per say I stopped cardio about a month ago as it is a muscle eater. If i am going to do cardio, i am going to run 5 k or 10 k. i have some races coming up in the summer time which i want to do and am very well trained at running a 22 minute 5 k or 45 minute 10 k from lots and lots of daily running earlier in this year. now with cross fit, I try and bust out 6 minute miles and do run 1-2 miles before every workout at a slower speed to warmup before strength training. Besides the cross fit and circuit training give my target and max heart rate a good friendly hello for 30-60 minutes at a time. Cross fit WOD averages 30 minutes a session ( other 30 minutes is warmup, stretching and improving technique and trying 1-2 rep heavy weights) where circuit training is 1 hour. I do abide by the 1 hour rule per day. I just do not have much more time given a demanding job and family life. Now that it is summer, I am going for hikes on the weekend in my area and am thinking about participating in a hiking meet up group this year. Good chance to hike a lot and make some friends in the process.

That is really awesome. I have not heard of he term prone hold so had to google it. Now I see it is another term for plank position. You know you just completed an exercise that most healthy adults cannot do more than 30 seconds of. That's right!!! You did 10 x better!! So awesome.

I started at 360 which is not quite 375+, but defnately up there in the extra fat category. There was no way I could run at this weight, but agree with BTB: the elliptical is very good on the joints and knees when carrying a lot of weight like this. Honestly, I found daily walks to be supper effective at weight loss after surgery and something I could get better at one day at a time. Just getting out for 10 minutes after surgery is going to help you. Slowly you can add distance, time and speed. Slowly. Listen to your body. That is very important as it will naturally want to do more challenging stuff as the days go by.

Mmmm. Voodoo donuts. Love the name. Anti band and I are going to have to take a field trip to our local frost and have fun observing the weird donut creations they have. If I were eating donuts (has it been 13 months since the last?!?! Wow), I would be eating more of the standard apple fritters, but aim for super high quality stuff. Not the cheap imitations from sub standard donut shops (maybe Dunkin donut? Not sure they fall under this umbrella) or even grocery stores (eg albertsons, Safeway, etc). Top donuts all the way!!

Yes, it was interesting. I was on so much IV fluid that week that my weight was 20 lb higher then DOS. It took a couple weeks to return to ground zero weight. Anyways. Not meaning to hijack the thread Elaine. It is just something you want to keep on your radar for after surgery. I am super impressed by your viewpoints on this thread. It shows you are going to be of sound MIND for when the really hard stuff comes post op where your headspace is really messed with.

Bumping my thread to give it another chance.

By the way, how do you know if you (not you specifically, but a VSG person) are going to have a problem with the gallbladder? I have seen so many have kidney or gall bladder issues during my time on VST, I often wonder will I be next? I hope not, but do not know what are the precursors before an attack requiring hospitalization.

Oh Nicole! I am so sorry to hear about this. Take care and spend time recovering. We will miss you in the updates. Is there anything you need to help with your down time? We are here to support you.

Sliming is when you eat too much or too fast and you literally slime in your mouth with a thick mucous saliva. Kind of gross and uncomfortable. Not everyone experiences it, but when you do, you will know. I lost count of my own sliming it happened so often. I did not have trouble with eating too much, but often ate too fast especially during month 2 and 6. It is not a problem any longer nor has it really been a problem since month 5.