Jdub

I'm a little over 7 months post op. Here's a before during summer of last year and one that was taken about 3 weeks ago. Down from a 42/44 to a 34 waist, and from XXL to Medium/Large in shirt sizes. 5'10 currently 208lbs and in the first picture, I was around 300lbs.

I just started the Stronglifts 5x5 this week to change things up. I was finding that I struggled trying to lift anywhere near what I was. I had been doing squats previous on and off so incorporating them into Stronglifts wasn't a big shock other then I'm lifting much heavier (225), and the low reps. My body is pretty sore, but that's a good thing!

+1 for the Stronglifts 5x5...I'm hoping to see results in upper body strength! My legs are a machine now that I'm into running all the time!

Ideally I would like to be in a 32/34. I was sleeved in December 2013 and wearing 42/44's. Currently in a 36.

It's hard not to wait! I was told 6 weeks before any major exercising. Just walking or very light cardio until then. Even at 6 weeks when I started back at the gym I had to be very careful of stressing my core/abdominal muscles. Certain exercises I had to delay for another 2-4 weeks and introduce them slowly after that. Glad you are okay though!

I agree with some of the statements made by others here. I am coming close to 5 months post op now, but some days I still struggle with how much "I think" I could eat. I force myself to weigh all of my food and stick to 3-3.5oz of dense Protein and 1/4 - 1/2 cup of veggies and call it after that because I know eating more is only going to make me miserable. I still tend to have Protein shakes for a meal or a snack as a replacement as I've heard it helps with restriction. Water, Water, water...lots of Protein. Fast food is like slider food, that stuff is terrible for you. I don't go totally low carb myself, as I still like to get some whole grains in now and again, but that stuff fills me up so fast compared to pre-op, it's the last thing I allow myself in the meal if I need a bite or two.

I have the Force. Have not bothered to send it back as I've not had any skin irritations with it in the 4 months I've owned it. It's pretty much the same as the flex except without the display.

I enjoy the unjury stuff as well. chocolate Classic/Splendor are both good, as well as Vanilla. I even mix some of the vanilla in with my skim milk my Cereal in the few times that I have Cereal.

The Premiere Protein chocolate shakes are good too.

I was in a similar spot with weight loss two weeks post op. But PdxMan has it right. We are all different. Just keep on doing the things you are supposed too and you will succeed.

Wrinkles to go with more wrinkles that us WLS patients endure!

I usually stick to the same things each day, but have been trying to add some variety. Supper usually ends up with left overs and I take some of it for lunch the next day, but I'm happy with:

- Protein shake in the morning

- Greek Yogurt for a snack

- lunch is some dense Protein and veggies or a small salad

- Protein Bar for snack

- Dense protein and veggies for supper

I'll mix it up and sometimes get a piece of fruit in here or there, but that's pretty much it for me. I do try to do Cereal in the morning once a week with some banana

Almost 4 months out here and I can tolerate pretty much everything...I'm still measuring my foods religiously with my food scale but I find that 3oz of dense Protein (chicken, fish, beef, etc..) with a 1/2cup of veggies will satisfy me. I drink my fluids usually right up until I eat, and then wait 30minutes after.

This is a sweet setup. If I had a treadmill at home I'd totally rig my gaming PC up to this. Good way to get extra steps in!

I'm not sure what you consider high carb. My low days are 60g of carbs, and my high days are 120-140g of carbs (mostly complex carbs) with high Protein, lots of fluids. I'm also working out 5 days a week to help offset. 140g of carbs is nothing compared to what I was consuming before this journey started.

Not sure what I advice I can offer with the scale....I have the same problem. It does sound like you may need to up your caloric intake some looking at what your burning every day. You might see the numbers move more. What does your NUT say about your daily calorie goals?

I had issues with ham, ground beef, beef roast at any amounts when I attempted those 1.5-2months out. No issues with soft foods such as scrambled eggs, tuna, haddock, tilapia, ground turkey, ground pork, chicken (dark meat). Mind you I could only eat about an ounce of those for a few weeks. I can now handle about 3oz of any dense Protein a little over 3 months out just have to take my time eating some of it slower then others like the beef roast, pork roast, etc...

Congrats! you look great!

Do you track your measurements? I know how it's very frustrating when in a stall mode. Also, do you use MFP at all? I'm sure if you're tracking food intake that it may help if others could view it and possibly make some suggestions. If you are not tracking what you eat, see Alex's recent article on "Are Hidden Calories Holding Back Your Weight Loss" under WLS Magazine articles. I'm not nearly as advanced in the post-op side as you, but just went through a 2 week stall, and now just coming out of it. I've been adjusting my exercise regime just this last week to help with the stall. In my case, I wasn't getting enough fuel (food) into my body with the strenuous exercise I was doing 5 days a week and had to tone it down a bit, because I wasn't getting more calories in (yay for the sleeve!) unless I started eating junk food, and I'm not going down that road again!

Jdub.......not sure what everyone else is getting.....but I now average about 1600-1700 cals on days I lift weights and around 1400 cals when I don't lift....which is basically on Sundays and maybe every other Wednesday.

Thanks for the response aroundhky. If your info is correct, you're a few years post op now? Are you in maintenance or still losing gradually? I don't want to sabotage my weight loss to early in the game.

Myself, I'm doing full body workouts. Going with lighter weights then I can handle and train to failure. I stick to the machines and cable machines and they can do resistances in three settings of 1,2, and 3 which is 1 - tension in the middle, 2 - tension at the end, 3 - tension at the beginning.

Normally I would leave it at 1, and do my 3 sets (12-15 reps) and take a 30-60 second break between each set. With the train to failure I will start on tension 3, and do reps until I can't complete one with correct form, switch to #1, go to failure, and then switch to #2, goto failure with no rest between. This usually ends up being about 35-45 reps. Then off to the next machine. I start with Chest, shoulders, legs, back, lats, biceps, triceps, 20-30mins cardio and then core (1-2 exercises) along with stretching. I do this routine 3 times a week and on my two other days, I'll do 30+minutes of cardio.

Every 6 weeks I'll change it up, go back to heavier weights and evenly spaced out reps and different exercises. I'm interested to see what everyone else is doing. I had a trainer about 5 years ago for almost a year and picked up a lot of material he gave me which I've kept for reference.

What are you guys hitting for calories? I ramped up my gym routine to 5 days a week (3 weight/cardio, with 2 just cardio), and I've completely stalled my weight loss over the last two weeks. I realize it could just be phase where my body is adjusting to the weight loss, as it's been a steady weight loss since I had my sleeve in early December until now. I've been working out early in the day too (6am), so my metabolism is ramped up all day as well. I've been averaging around 1200 calories/day, and after a recent visit with my NUT, she would like to see me hitting 1600/day (I think it's a bit high imo, since she had me at 1800 pre-op). I have zero issues hitting my Protein goals. Some days I'm actually a bit high around 120g Protein, and at least 80g each day. I'm coming up on 3 months post op now. I can tolerate most all foods, around 3oz of lean meat with about 1/4-1/2 cup of veggies. I've been trying to get some fruit in too.

Anyway, just curious what others are doing for calories as I think I'm forcing my body back into starvation mode where I'm burning 500+ calories/day at the gym. Not looking to build muscle, but keep what I have and lose the fat

No regrets here, and energy levels are better then ever! You'll need to experiment with your levels (calories, carbs, etc..) to find what works best for you when you ramp up the physical activity. I found out quickly that too little calories was actually causing me to stall when I re-introduced weight training along with cardio each day.

Feel free to add me as well. I was sleeved on 12/09/2013 and finally cleared for all foods. Just upped my workouts to 5 days a week and trying to increase calories to 1200/day now. I'm woodjwl on MFP.

Happy V-Day! 242.3 for final weigh in! Happy to have passed my goal!

I'm around 9 weeks out and can eat about 3oz of soft Protein (chicken, tuna fish, haddock, ground turkey/pork) along with about 1/4cup of veggies (green Beans, or broccoli) and that fills me up really good! At 4 weeks post op, I could only handle about 1oz of the same type of foods listed above. Mind you, I can still have an 8oz Protein shake and that will still fill me up as well!

I was on a chewable Multivitamin day 1 post op, and then 4 weeks postop I was allowed to have a regular multivitamin.