Fiddleman

There are a lot of SF ways you can improve the taste of chocolate shakes.
1. Butterfinger: add PB2, caramel Syrup
2. chocolate mint: add creme de menthe syrup
3. Samoa cookie- add caramel syrup and coconut syrup
These are all really good.
I also have tried adding chocolate chip cookie dough syrup to chocolate shakes. It is good, but I had a hard time tasting the cookie dough.
I am sure there are some websites out there where there are 100s of crazy recipes for you to try with SF syrup and a chocolate shake.

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

Why not work the calculation from the middle of healthy BMI range? Good for you in your losses from month to month. That is good news. You must be very happy to avoid stalls and consistent loss. Too bad that is not true for everyone.

As for what event I am training for : America Ninja Warrior. It is one of my favorite shows to watch and want to be doing the course one day, maybe a few years down the road. They are amazing athletes. There isn't anything that says we cannot do it also!

I do not run marathons, but I do other running and workouts where I need a good flow of energy. Low carb is just not going to do it. I even ranted about carbs not being evil in the rant forum recently. There are a ton of good carb options there. As for me, I eat a lot of carbs before my workouts in the form of 1/2 cup steel oats, 1 scoop Protein Powder and 1/2 cup Fiber one original Cereal. Not only gives me the energy I need to work out hard, but also tastes good. I have been eating this carby meal 2-3 hours before my workout for about 18 months now and am still as fit as I was when I reached goal, even more so now. Quite a bit more. So I say to you - eat your "good" carbs and then kick it during your run, workout, whatever. Also take the time to carb up afterwards with Protein. Your muscles will thank you the next day.

As for what event I am training for : America Ninja Warrior. It is one of my favorite shows to watch and want to be doing the course one day, maybe a few years down the road. They are amazing athletes. There isn't anything that says we cannot do it also!

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

Happens to me Georgia. I get hungry 2 hours later after last meal. I just eat again, keeping meal calories small enough so I hit my daily calorie quota and not go over. If I am "hungry"again for something immediately after eating I will wait it out because it may not be real hunger.

If it helps (it may not), my WLS center food advancement plan:
1. Clear liquid- day 1
2. liquids (protein shakes, Soups, etc)- week 1-3
3. Purée- week 4-5
4. Solids - after week 5
I did liquids (phase 2) until solid phase (skipped purée). After week 5, my solids were 2-3 ounces of soft food like salmon. It wasn't until month two that I could eat chicken and pork (still in 1-3 oz quantities). Hamburger and beef did not happen successfully until month 5 (tried a few times after month 3, but it did not work). The nut recommended we get used to eating 1/3 a cup or 3 oz of food a meal at least for 6 months. That is about how much I could eat, but I measured almost every meal. After 6 months, I started to eat more and more. Today at 19 months, I still can only manage 3-4 oz of chicken, but I can eat more of non dense food like salad, chili and the like. Yet I am not eating based on fullness, but satisfaction. It takes a few months to be able to read your body to get an intuition about satisfaction versus edge of fullness. I made a deliberate decision to not eat sliders, extra carbs, starches, etc during the first 6 months to maximize weight loss. And it worked. I lost 100% in 7 months (180 #). Today it is really easy to eat just enough to satisfy, but it took quite a few months to build these habits. These are just some thoughts for your consideration.

A supplement that helps with DOMS is called beta-alanine. It reduces muscle inflammation as an anti-oxidant and buffers against high levels of lactic acid after that heavy lifting or HIIT session. It is best to take beta-alanine directly instead of carnosine (an aggregate of beta-alanine and histinine) because carnosine must be broken down into its parts during digestion and loss of beta-alanine will occur. Beta-alanine takes 3-4 weeks to build up to where it is useful to prevent DOMS and also boost athletic performance; specifically anaerobic high Intensity interval training activity. Jump higher, sprint faster, lift heavier and most importantly, avoid DOMS. It is very cheap and can be found at most Vitamin stores or online at Amazon. For reference, I order mine from NOW and am still working through the same container I bought last year. One container lasts a very long time. I never get DOMS since using this supplement a year ago, even when doing some very heavy lifting or pushing myself through cross fit bursts of exercise. I find myself able to exercise (functional cardio and lifting or isolation lifting) 6-7 days a week. It it good to cycle beta-alanine, like any supplement, after 3 months or so to prevent tolerance. This is one of the few supplements that actually works well for most people (creatine is another).

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.

I'm in my third week of p90x3, and I love it!! It's really challenging but I am already seeing more muscles!!

There are so many threads that demonize carbs with regards to WLS post op diet. Carbs are not evil.
There are two different types of carbs: the "good carbs" and the "bad" carbs. Good carbs are those that are of lower glycemic index and have a high Fiber content. Bad carbs are those that are mostly sugars. Some good carbs are fibrous fruits (apple, green banana, etc), steel oats, fibrous veggies (brocolli) and Fiber Cereal. Some bad carbs we are all familiar with: candy, ice cream, donuts, etc.
The fiber that is a part of good carbs help regulate fat oxidation (good bacteria in the stomach produce enzymes which break down fat to be used as energy) and the digestion process (fixes "lazy bowel" syndrome, Constipation, etc).
Finally good carbs are a direct source of energy for exercise (it is said low carbs may lead to 30% reduction in endurance energy during a training session), daily activities and neurological firing. Low carb diets almost always lead to brain fog, tiredness, etc.
So before discounting carbs, consider all the benefits that come with including them as part of a balanced post op diet. A good balance is 50% Protein, 30% carbs and 20% fat. MFP works wonders for being able to track and target the daily carb goals.

The real question is when can you buy it off Amazon now that it is legal here in WA. Everything can be found on Amazon so why not? All those prime memberships will go into overdrive.

Fiddleman,
I love how you spelled Vagus nerve---Vegas. Since Los Vegas, (Lost Wages)--is over consumption of food at buffets and gambling.
Isn't the Vagus nerve involved somehow with metabolizing food, appetite or something like that? I remember reading over a decade ago of some kind of research to stimulate the Vagus nerve in an effort to help people loose weight. Never heard anything again about it though.
Maybe I have a Vegas nerve instead of a skinnier person's Vagus nerve?
Have a good day,
Kathleen

"Is their opinion more important than my health? No way."
Yes Lord! Bottom line, if your opinion is to be negative of someone trying to do something to get healthier, then you need to be talking to a counselor. Lots of people don't attempt to do anything. Why can't we encourage those who ARE taking steps to do so?
"Another thing I discovered is that if I put my earphones in on my way in from the car, it's like being in a quasi-invisible bubble! No one yacks at you with headphones on,"
The problem is that you don't hear people like me who encourage the non stereotype gym people on. Not everyone out there is going to cram you. Some may have been in the same position you were and want to pass on blessings.
People like me.

I agree with all of the above posters. Yet, in all my years, never felt comfortable in a gym. I was okay with it during thinner times, but other times I just wouldn't put myself through the humiliation. I'm in a good place now with my weight, but still choose walking the hills over the gym. If you find that you're just too uncomfortable at this point in your journey, there are other options for exercise to get you to the point where you're not crawling out of your skin in that environment.
This post made me remember something..... Many years ago, when I was living in Los Angeles, I wanted to lose weight and get some exercise, but was too humiliated to join a regular gym. Richard Simmons had his studio close to where I lived, so I went in a took a class there......knowing that I would be around people with my same struggles. Interestingly, as heavy as I was, I was the smallest person in the room. That brought on a whole other brand of discomfort. The difference was extreme in the other direction, and I felt out of place there as well. My best successes with exercise, have been routines I setup in my own home; treadmill, free weights, etc. I'd crank up the music and go to it! And I didn't have to drive anywhere and sit on machines with someone else's sweat That's what's worked out for me over the years.....finding a place and routine where I didn't have to force myself to feel a confidence that I wasn't in a place to feel.

You gave a good thing going! Congratulations.
I am a bit of a zombie when I rise at 5:30am and the only thought on my mind if caffeine before starting work at 6 am.
I have found that a morning 5 k around 9:30 am is really helpful in prepping the body and mind for the remainder of the work day. Then my regular workout is from 4 pm-5pm. Two a day is working out and I have found it pretty easy to lose a few lbs and tone up in days by doing this.
There are times on monday when I look at my body and think, you are going soft, especially if I ate too many calories over the weekend or had a drink. So push I do and usually by wed or Thur, I am happy with body.
It has becomes fairly standard to manipulate the body comp in just a few days. One of the benefits of being at goal.

There are so many threads that demonize carbs with regards to WLS post op diet. Carbs are not evil.
There are two different types of carbs: the "good carbs" and the "bad" carbs. Good carbs are those that are of lower glycemic index and have a high Fiber content. Bad carbs are those that are mostly sugars. Some good carbs are fibrous fruits (apple, green banana, etc), steel oats, fibrous veggies (brocolli) and Fiber Cereal. Some bad carbs we are all familiar with: candy, ice cream, donuts, etc.
The fiber that is a part of good carbs help regulate fat oxidation (good bacteria in the stomach produce enzymes which break down fat to be used as energy) and the digestion process (fixes "lazy bowel" syndrome, Constipation, etc).
Finally good carbs are a direct source of energy for exercise (it is said low carbs may lead to 30% reduction in endurance energy during a training session), daily activities and neurological firing. Low carb diets almost always lead to brain fog, tiredness, etc.
So before discounting carbs, consider all the benefits that come with including them as part of a balanced post op diet. A good balance is 50% Protein, 30% carbs and 20% fat. MFP works wonders for being able to track and target the daily carb goals.

Just thought I would share an interesting observation from this last week.
Usually, I am not a machine user (excluding treadmill for sprinting on) and prefer body weight workouts. However, I was a tad bit mentally fatigued and wanted to do about an hour of elliptical and not have to think too hard. A good focused workout usually requires the mind to be focused and a good response from the CNS. My philosophy that day was I would rather do something then nothing.
So I put in my age and weight and do a hill program with some tough resistance. I did my hour and it says 1200 calories. I worked it pretty well and had puddles of sweat to prove it. I also wore my fancy heart rate monitor, including the chest strap making sure everything was calibrated before starting.
After reading 1200, I look down at my watch and it says 640 calories. Man, that is a really large error margin. And it is a commercial precor model, albeit a pretty old model (90s I think). I trust my polar heart rate monitor much more than the machine since I have started using it, but was still a little put off by the discrepancy. Maybe I am in much better shape in terms of heart rate and max vox2 than the machine thought I was with respect to the programming in it given age and height; remember, it does not have a hr sensor.
No wonder I had trouble losing weight in the past when using this elliptical machine at home with a not so clean diet (many years ago, before VSG). I had always thought I was burning twice as many calories as I really did. I do not have a problem with diet today (thanks to VSG post op), but I did back then and always tried to burn a lot of calories to offset the calories from my junky diet.
Maybe this story and information will help someone.

Thanks for this post! I am mystified by the calorie indicators on most of my tools. Today, for example, I did 20 minutes of moderate elliptical ("jog") and 45 minutes of recumbent elliptical, again, moderate. The machines told me based on my weight and age that I burned 451 calories for that 65 minutes. My Fitbit said I burned 1,170 calories (please note that it only picked up "38 active minutes"). Add onto that my Spark People fitness minutes - they say I burned 900. So which is it? This is just too crazy for me - I just assume I've burned enough to eat my 210 calorie Atkins pretzel bar, which I count as a "treat" each day.

So, almost 2.5 years at goal, it finally dawned on me that I need to move the seat up in the car. I've been stretching my leg to reach the pedal and hunching over to reach the steering wheel for more than 2.5 years. Yesterday, the lightbulb went off. With nearly 120 lbs. gone, I'm not so padded on the back side and I have to move the seat up to compensate. Doh! Much more comfortable driving now.
Lynda

Just thought I would share an interesting observation from this last week.
Usually, I am not a machine user (excluding treadmill for sprinting on) and prefer body weight workouts. However, I was a tad bit mentally fatigued and wanted to do about an hour of elliptical and not have to think too hard. A good focused workout usually requires the mind to be focused and a good response from the CNS. My philosophy that day was I would rather do something then nothing.
So I put in my age and weight and do a hill program with some tough resistance. I did my hour and it says 1200 calories. I worked it pretty well and had puddles of sweat to prove it. I also wore my fancy heart rate monitor, including the chest strap making sure everything was calibrated before starting.
After reading 1200, I look down at my watch and it says 640 calories. Man, that is a really large error margin. And it is a commercial precor model, albeit a pretty old model (90s I think). I trust my polar heart rate monitor much more than the machine since I have started using it, but was still a little put off by the discrepancy. Maybe I am in much better shape in terms of heart rate and max vox2 than the machine thought I was with respect to the programming in it given age and height; remember, it does not have a hr sensor.
No wonder I had trouble losing weight in the past when using this elliptical machine at home with a not so clean diet (many years ago, before VSG). I had always thought I was burning twice as many calories as I really did. I do not have a problem with diet today (thanks to VSG post op), but I did back then and always tried to burn a lot of calories to offset the calories from my junky diet.
Maybe this story and information will help someone.

Just thought I would share an interesting observation from this last week.
Usually, I am not a machine user (excluding treadmill for sprinting on) and prefer body weight workouts. However, I was a tad bit mentally fatigued and wanted to do about an hour of elliptical and not have to think too hard. A good focused workout usually requires the mind to be focused and a good response from the CNS. My philosophy that day was I would rather do something then nothing.
So I put in my age and weight and do a hill program with some tough resistance. I did my hour and it says 1200 calories. I worked it pretty well and had puddles of sweat to prove it. I also wore my fancy heart rate monitor, including the chest strap making sure everything was calibrated before starting.
After reading 1200, I look down at my watch and it says 640 calories. Man, that is a really large error margin. And it is a commercial precor model, albeit a pretty old model (90s I think). I trust my polar heart rate monitor much more than the machine since I have started using it, but was still a little put off by the discrepancy. Maybe I am in much better shape in terms of heart rate and max vox2 than the machine thought I was with respect to the programming in it given age and height; remember, it does not have a hr sensor.
No wonder I had trouble losing weight in the past when using this elliptical machine at home with a not so clean diet (many years ago, before VSG). I had always thought I was burning twice as many calories as I really did. I do not have a problem with diet today (thanks to VSG post op), but I did back then and always tried to burn a lot of calories to offset the calories from my junky diet.
Maybe this story and information will help someone.

Just thought I would share an interesting observation from this last week.
Usually, I am not a machine user (excluding treadmill for sprinting on) and prefer body weight workouts. However, I was a tad bit mentally fatigued and wanted to do about an hour of elliptical and not have to think too hard. A good focused workout usually requires the mind to be focused and a good response from the CNS. My philosophy that day was I would rather do something then nothing.
So I put in my age and weight and do a hill program with some tough resistance. I did my hour and it says 1200 calories. I worked it pretty well and had puddles of sweat to prove it. I also wore my fancy heart rate monitor, including the chest strap making sure everything was calibrated before starting.
After reading 1200, I look down at my watch and it says 640 calories. Man, that is a really large error margin. And it is a commercial precor model, albeit a pretty old model (90s I think). I trust my polar heart rate monitor much more than the machine since I have started using it, but was still a little put off by the discrepancy. Maybe I am in much better shape in terms of heart rate and max vox2 than the machine thought I was with respect to the programming in it given age and height; remember, it does not have a hr sensor.
No wonder I had trouble losing weight in the past when using this elliptical machine at home with a not so clean diet (many years ago, before VSG). I had always thought I was burning twice as many calories as I really did. I do not have a problem with diet today (thanks to VSG post op), but I did back then and always tried to burn a lot of calories to offset the calories from my junky diet.
Maybe this story and information will help someone.