Fiddleman

Here are mine.
Down 180 lb.
I was sleeve 7-2-2012 and reached goal 2-28-2013.

I remember someone saying a while ago this is related to the anesthesia or pain medicine used for surgery and/or recovery. It should work itself out soon.

Here are mine.
Down 180 lb.
I was sleeve 7-2-2012 and reached goal 2-28-2013.

Most WLS post ops lose 100 # and more. This changes the body's sense of balance and posture. The way we hold our body is not the same as before and this can result in physical strain, especially in the shoulders, back, hips and knees. What are some strategies that you have re-learned in terms of sitting, standing and walking? I believe this topic is not posted about much so any ideas would be helpful to post in this thread. For example, I have lost 180 # and have a totally different muscle composition from head to toe. And I am still working on how to hold myself differently at almost 2 years post op. I am sure this is a problem for other folks too.

Just wait until you start eating Protein all the time. Only then will you find the true meaning of smelly from gas filled rooms. Lol! Hope you have a of to blame it on.

I think everyone should be free to use whatever aids they feel will help them in achieving their goals. No need to condone anyone if they decide to use hydroxycut or some other diet pill. A warning might be OK if you feel such a diet pill is dangerous or detrimental, but no parenting please. We are all adults and live in a free society ( for now). This means we can do what we please if it is not illegal, dangerous or harming someone else.

Before
After

Here is what dropping 180 from 360 looks like from a couple months ago:


I am 5'11".
I have increased my lean muscle percentage since the after picture while maintaining about the same weight of 180 lb.
Good luck pre ops! All is possible.

Here are mine.
Down 180 lb.
I was sleeve 7-2-2012 and reached goal 2-28-2013.

Actually I think it gets easier after 3 months, but that is just me. Best advice I can give you is keep showing up, don't miss an appointment. Improvement comes from always trying to better yourself. Don't directly compare yourself to others in the box. There are people who are super fit and people who are just starting out. However, it might be good to have a role model. If you can afford it, get a trainer. This was key for me because we come from a non athletic background and need the help to catch up, so to speak. Again, that holds true for me but may not for you.
An hour before the workout, eat a balanced meal or a good Protein shake that balances the macro nutrient ratios. For food, I like to have 2 apple slices with nut butter and 1-3 ounces of lean Protein or a Protein Shake and 2 energy squares from nuts.com. 15 minutes before the workout, take your amino acids. I like to take catalyst, but you can really take any form of the complete set of amino acids. Recently mark! gave a good recipe for an amino acid mix he prepares by hand on a response to one of my fitness threads on fat %. The amino acids make a huge difference in your stamina and response during the WOD. Really, it does. I do not know the exact science behind it, but it was recommended by my trainer many months ago. In fact, at the end of my first session with her.
Always do a warmup. Always. You do not want to hurt yourself during the WOD. Spend time to work on mobility after warming up. Stretch, stretch and stretch. My biggest weakness is mobility, but I have been working on it for 6 months.
In the last few weeks, I have just started to make huge gains in my lifting stamina, technique and strength because mobility is finally improving. Form is everything. Repeat. Form is everything. Do not curve your back on dead lifts. Always keep your butt back, chest up and back flat or slightly inverted. Do not get cocky and lift too much in a WOD as that is only going to hurt you. Do not show off. you are not in cross fit to impress anyone, but yourself. stay super focused. Push yourself. Turn off any negative self talk. It is only you and your workout.
if you need a preworkout drink to help with concentration and focus, by all means take one. I take c4, Hyde and no explode 2 at different times. You have to cycle on them for your body to remain effective with them and not to intoxicate your liver or kidneys. I have been good so far, but will be getting blood work done soon for my 1 year post op. knock on wood.
After the work out, cool down and stretch. Stretch, stretch and stretch. You do not want sore muscles to bite you in the ass the next day. Drink a high quality recovery Protein Shake. I drink synth 6 now and it is high calorie for 40 g, but complete worth it. The extra calories (400) mean nothing in scale weight, but mean everything in building lean muscle. My weight is dropping and body fat is dropping daily. You want to eat as clean as possible to support your cross fit workouts. Cross fit is like Paleo fitness so it is best to eat Paleo nutrition to optimize your efforts.
There is a careful balancing game when calculating how much to eat to hit the sweet spot of leaning out while gaining lean muscle, not losing lean muscle. It has taken me months of trial and error, but think I have a natural eating flow that is easy to maintain and also supports goals of leaning out and gaining lean muscle while being active intense workouts 5 days a week. Others can help you put together this eating plan, but it is really individual based pong your body composition, weight, height, etc.
Take some BCAA and creatine with your shake after working out to optimize muscle repair. Always take large amounts of Omega 3 to combat stiffness and soreness. I have not felt sore once the next day when taking the BCAA and Omega 3 supplements. This week I just started experimenting with 10 g creatine monohydrate before and 10 g monohydrate afterwards and man, it makes a huge difference. Some guys in the box are loading with way more creatine, but it is not really worth it to go above 20 g. Creatine monohydrate is cheap.
And most important, have fun and always look on how to improve during every workout. I promise you that cross fit is going to add a new dimension to your life and your presence around others. Stick with it. Push through the pain as long as it is good pain. Do not push through bad pain as you do not want side lining injuries. Talk about your successes and challenges on VST. VST continues to be a problem solving atmosphere for fitness because there is a lot of existing experience ( like aroundhdk, mark, btb and mike ross) and new experiences ( like me and others).
Hope this helps. It is a bit of a mind dump, but these tips have paved the way to my success. Sorry for the long verbose length of this post, but there are truly a lot of balls you need to keep in the air to optimize your success at Crossfit. Next year, I hope to be competing with the big guys at regionals.
Can someone pin this post? It is good information.

Oh - I looked up my stripper name yesterday:
Randy Lays
My wife loves it!! That is from my real name, not my VST name.

Mine has to do with when I used to fiddle around with my musical friends in college. We would busk on the streets of Seattle and even played in a few venues like The Show box. However, we mostly did Irish bars and book stores. I played for part of my college tuition by performing Irish tunes for others. Jammed quite a bit also in late night sessions with pints of Guinness. Yes, those were certainly the days. That was many years ago and music has taken a bit of a back stage place for one reason or another (family, career and more recently, wls / fitness). I hope to open that chapter again in the near future when the interest and time comes back again.

Here are mine.
Down 180 lb.
I was sleeve 7-2-2012 and reached goal 2-28-2013.

I think exercise and eating clean are great tools for anxiety and depression It was my sedentary lifestyle and consumption of sugar that led to many of my anxiety and depressive episodes pre VSG. And I had them in the worst way. I have not had any such episodes since changing these two parts of my life : daily exercise and eating small balanced meals throughout the day. I know it sounds crazy, but the wrong food (as a drug) really messes with your mental quality of life.

How true! We do tend to forget about the 1st week of hell.
I had some respiratory complication and had to be in ICU for a couple days after surgery. O2 levels were between 75 and 85% for a few days. I could not eat or drink anything for about 4 days (still was in hospital). My heart rate was constantly around 40 during the day and 30 at night until 5th day in hospital. The little alarm was constantly going off so I had the nurse disable it so I could get some sleep.
I did not really realize the severity of it all until retroactively thinking about it months later. I was feeling well enough on day 5 to go home, but still took it pretty easy for 3 weeks, always working on my respiratory system with spirometer (sp?) and walking every day multiple times. They did not let me leave until I proved I could drink and pee on my own as well as keep my O2 90% or higher.
Sounds pretty rough, huh? I think it had to do with the anesthesia. My wife claims they had trouble waking me in the recovery room, but that is hard to think about. Took 4 hours for me to come to. What if I had not woken up?
However, it is a distant memory today and I would still say VSG is worth it 100%. Even when it was rough, I still did not regret VSG at anytime. Regret did not ever enter my mind. You see, VSG was my last hope. I wanted to have a more fulfilling life, did not want to be in chains as a food slave any longer and wanted to be there for my family.

I am not sure about guiding, but I can be anecdotal about it and tell you about how the progression from surgery to crossfit worked for me.
Before surgery, I did the typical cardio type exercises. You know - an hour on the ellyptical perhaps a few times a week. It was not helping me very much because my eating habits were so out of control. I did zero lifting mainly because it frustrated me and I would stop trying to figure it out.
After surgery, here is the progression:
Month 1-2 : built up from 5 min walks to 3 hour walks 2-3 x a day.
Month 3-4: inconsistent use of ellyptical. 2 x a week if lucky. Still walked a lot, but not as much.
Month 5-7: started running. First run was surprisingly a 28 minute 5 k. I thought this was really cool that I could run. I started out running 5 k for 3 x a week. I worked up to running 3 x a week, but different types of running: for time, HIIT and distance. My running distance averaged around 10 k in about 55 minutes. I did a few really long runs of 10-15 miles, but that is not as appealing to me as running fast.
I hit goal at this point, but lost so much muscle. That is when I decided to make a change from running to something else.
Month 8-14: I started cross fit as a brand new guy. Never really even heard of it before, but I wanted to build muscle and become more athletic. I worked with a trainer 2x a week during these 6 months, learning about the different exercises and different techniques. I also started getting into some Olympic lifting, but most of the sessions were based on metabolic conditioning. On 3 other days during the week, I did body weight workouts using a program called " you are your own gym". I thoroughly enjoyed doing this program.
Month 15-16: I could no longer really afford the personal training so switched to open gym format. I go to the box 5 x a week and try and RX the workout every day. I can do almost every exercise with the exception of double unders, muscle ups and hand stand push ups. I am still working on these for skill and when they show up in a workout, I need to modify and do something like singles, box hand stand pushups and floor muscle ups.
During these last couple months of open gym 5 days a week I have gotten really good at certain exercises and Olympic lifts:
Running: 4:45 minute mile (first in 3 mile set)
Push ups: 50 unbroken
Pull ups: 15 unbroken
Burpees: 50 unbroken
T2B: 25 unbroken
Box jumps (holding 20# ball)
Dead lifts: 350 lb max
Bench press: 295 lb max
Man makers: 30 unbroken with 25 #
Etc
I really like burpees. Not a lot of people like them.
I still cannot do an overhead squat or s n a t c h with weight ( use a PVC pipe). It is on my 6 month plan. I will get it eventually, once my lats and scapula learn how to operate properly. I am currently in physical therapy working on my lat muscles. They are way to tight, even in neutral position.
There is always something to improve athletically every single day. Keep in mind you are a work in progress. You look at all the really good cross fitters and it is a little frustrating to see how in the world you can do what they are doing. It is a bid chasm to cross.
My suggestion is to think of cross fit as a progression. It takes a lot of practice and a lot of dedication to get it to the point where you can do a prescribed workout and not question yourself afterwards because of the difficulty, pain, soreness, etc. It gets better over time.
Always remember to do the following every day:
1. 4-5 g fish oil
2. 8-9 hours of sleep (I struggled with this until recently)
3. 90 oz Water or more
4. Take 2 rest days a week (not doing this will break you eventually)
5. Journal and keep track of your daily progress( I used a site called beyond the whiteboard)
6. Try and eat paleo. Your workouts will be easier if you put good food into your body.
7. Consider some caffeine, creatine and beta-alanine before your workout to improve endurance. Beta-alanine takes a month to load, but will protect you from fatigue both during lifts and metabolic conditioning.
8. Always eat a post op bar or shake.
9. Consider a recovery shake that has BCAA in it. Glutamine is important.
10. Be consistent. Do not cherry pick your workouts. You want to get as wide exposure as you can so only stay home if it is a rest day or you are sick.
Good luck. Hopefully you got something out of my rambling.

Before
After

Here are mine.
Down 180 lb.
I was sleeve 7-2-2012 and reached goal 2-28-2013.

You bet! VSG has been a game changer for me emotionally, physically and psychologically. I am a different person now, literally. I would never go back to the person I was for most of my adult life: Fat, depressed and angry at the world. food had me in a choke hold for so long. Now I am free to be who I want to be.

From a pragmatic viewpoint, what is the difference between sitting with your feet on a squatty potty and sitting with your feet resting on a pile of books or something else that is the same height? Might as well save 35 dollars.

Here is what dropping 180 from 360 looks like from a couple months ago:


I am 5'11".
I have increased my lean muscle percentage since the after picture while maintaining about the same weight of 180 lb.
Good luck pre ops! All is possible.

Before
After

Here is what dropping 180 from 360 looks like from a couple months ago:


I am 5'11".
I have increased my lean muscle percentage since the after picture while maintaining about the same weight of 180 lb.
Good luck pre ops! All is possible.