BigTink2LilTink

Last few days I've been working out in my street clothes. Its just makes it easier if I skip the locker room and walk into the gym right into cardio. Some look at me crazy but I'm stilk in there getting the routines that I need to complete completed. I will admit the jeans are heavier and make my normal 3 miles on the elliptical seem like 6 miles. But the key here for me is trying to restore some consistency in my workout schedule and routine so that my body doesn't do another heart plateau again.

This ^^ here. I did it about 20 months ago when I was in a stall. I did the 1 week reset and while it did help to get me out of my stall, it was harder. I found myself getting headaches and body aches over that time period. I was going to do it again at the beginning of Dec to mark my 4 year surgery anniversary. The whole thing from liquid diet fasting. But as with this any anything else related to your gut health, I would probably run it through your doctor before hand.

Have any of you guys experienced skin related issues post surgery? Things like rashing, irriated skin, jock itch, and/or things like that post surgery? I've notice since having the surgery I've had more issues with my skin than anything else. More ache in my face, and more like jock itch issues. What gives?

As someone that is 6'5 and when I started this process well above the 450lb mark I can say that the skin issue while it maybe minimal for you isn't as big of an issue as the stuff you will face being obese. I have it and the skin hasn't stopped me from doing the things that I needed to do or being happy. It hasn't stopped me from having meaningful relationships with people, or hindered me from working out. The skin at best is a mental thing. A reminder from where I've come from and sometimes, no a lot of times a reminder of what I did to myself. DO NOT LET THE SKIN SCARE YOU FROM DOING WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO GET HEALTHY! Don't let that be the deterring factor.

So I was looking into nutrition tips and diets I could ease into to help me get past my latest/current stall and I came across this video on YouTube. Longevity & Why I now eat One Meal a Day It talks about fasting and eating just once a day forcing the body to a state of Ketosis. What is Ketosis you might ask, well "Ketosis is a normal metabolic process. When the body does not have enough glucose for energy, it burns stored fats instead; this results in a build-up of acids called ketones within the body. Some people encourage Ketosis by following a diet called the Ketogenic or low-carb diet." Some of the information talked about in the video below made some sense to me. And when you think about it in the grand scheme of things, when some of us were put on the pre-surgery liquid diet, this was basically what was happening to us. The post -op for those first 4 to 6 weeks were most of caloric intake was proteins and forcing the body to burn reserved body fat. Now around this time last year I did The Pouch Reset deal where I kinda went back on the first 90 days post-op diet for an aggressive week. It was basically all of the same post-op stages but instead done in 8 to 10 weeks, everything is done in 8 to 10 days. I found that when I did it by day 3 I was having some wicked headaches and over all groggy/foggy feeling. After doing it I did slightly break my then stall and dropped about a 3lbs. But it wasn't nearly as good as when I did the stuff pre,and then immediately post surgery. Hell, pre-surgery just on 10 days with liquids alone I dropped almost 50lbs. So I'm bringing my question on this here. I wanna get some feed back from some on here who may have tried this Intermittent Fasting and how it helped, or didn't help you with weight loss or weight maintenance post surgery. I know the one this I may be worried about is the possibility of feeling weak, especially now that I'm regularly lifting weights. Although I am lifting for strength and not really to build muscle, since I still wanna try and lose weight. Am I over thinking this, or is this something that is too risky to try?

Yup this above. I would also add to also be kind to yourself. Get it in your head that you are not going to lose weight every day/week and some days you will actually gain weight. Its natural as your body adjust, retains/release water and what not. Also to add on to the goals thing, try new things that you haven't don't before that you felt like your prior weight before limited you from doing. Case in point this last weekend I went to a water park and rode a 2 story water slide. No way you would have gotten me to do that 3 years ago. You wouldn't have gotten me in a water park, let along in a water park shirtless and riding stuff like that. Take it all in and enjoy your accomplishments. Cause some days when its hard, you will have these sort of memories to lean on to help keep you moving forward.

This right here. There are things now that prior to the surgery I would consume because I enjoyed the way they taste and now, you couldn't pay me to eat them. Sent from my SM-N920P using BariatricPal mobile app

Glad I could be of help to you.

Your surgeon should have covered that with you before the surgery, but I believe you are looking at about 2 to 4 weeks before you are moved to soft solid foods phase post surgery. Again, every doctor has a different recommendations so its best to error on the side of the guy/gal that took out your tummy vs a bunch of people that are on an online forum.

This that post gym pump look. Yeah I have to keep going. If you can't motivate yourself to do it, then no one else will. Sent from my SM-N920P using BariatricPal mobile app

This was probably the best response I've seen yet.

Good luck to you on your weight loss journey my friend. Though others who haven't walked in the shoes of a person morbidly obese, may say that surgery is the "easy way out", I'm hear to tell you that there isn't anything easy about this procedure at all. So the first tip I will give you is this, prepare to work your ass off, cause thinking that this is the magical cure all for your weight-loss blues is going to sourly disappoint you. You have got to prepare your mind and will power for this life changing procedure. Because its just that, life changing. If you have an unhealthy relationship with food (i.e. using food as a cope mechanism, addict, emotional eater, etc) then I would highly suggest that you need to deal with those issues first before going under the knife. Get a very good support system in place to help you mentally deal with those things prior to the surgery. For me I had friends who had already had the surgery that I could lean on for advice, and I was seeing a therapist to deal with some of my emotional issues related to stress/food/and image issues. Because once you get cut on and have 80% of your stomach removed, you won't be able to use food as a comfort release or coping mechanism as you may have done in the past. I learned that lesson the absolute hard way and I spent a good bit of my first year post surgery fixing and dealing with those mistakes that I made, because I wasn't as mentally ready for the surgery as previously thought. And experiencing dumping once or twice and needing IV fluids to be able to see, and comprehend again will make you follow the damn meal plans. Carbonation beverages I would just avoid, especially the first year or so. Now you will have a lot of people here that say never do it and some say its alright, I leave that up to you for you are an adult and can make your own decisions on that. For me I do rarely consume carbonated beverages (maybe a soda or hard cider ever 2 to 4 months at most), but I mostly find comfort in drinking flavored water, tea, coffee, and juice. I use to be about a 1.5/2liter a day diet Pepsi drinker and now I may have a can every 6 to 8 weeks at most and usually when I am out. I haven't really had a beer in like almost two years but I have consumed hard alcohol like Tequila, Rum, Bourbon, and Whiskey. Alcohol is very different for me now in that I don't need no where near as much as I did pre-surgery to get a buzz. So because of that and the fact that I don't like the "buzzed/drunk" feeling I limit the amount of alcohol I consume too. If I am out socially I usually have one to two drinks at most and I sip them slowly throughout the evening to minimize the affects that the alcohol will have on me. As the farther out from surgery I have gone, my tolerance has slowly increased, but its nowhere near where it was at per-surgery. Again not a bad thing because alcohol, especially beer is empty calories, and gas which you will not need. Trust me on the gas part cause being bloated is an absolute pain in the gut literally. I say all of that in the regards that you don't need the stuff really. Those first 12 to 24 months you should honestly be focused on eating properly and getting into a good workout/exercise routine so that you can continue to post gains(weight loss) while your VGS is still in its magical weight-loss phase. Cause eventually you will hit the stall and the tool will at some point stop being so magical. Get into good habits and work your ass off literally and you will see the difference. Sex Yes it will change. If you had low stamina and energy, it will increase. I mean you will have a lot less weight and body mass to deal with, so there is that bonus too. Also men tend to store testosterone in their fat cells, so the more fat you burn off the more testosterone you will be releasing into your blood stream. This means more hair growth, stronger erections, huge sexual desires, and if you hit the gym a lot some more strength. Guys with erectile issues may see those issues go away when they lose the weight off. Also your confidence will start to grow the more the weight comes off. You will look and feel better in your clothes. If you have a lot of fat padding around your pelvic area that will shrink away, which can help in penis growth a bit. Less fat around the "Ram Rod of Justice" I say the better for both you, your ego, and his/her pleasure (for my bi/gay friends there don't wanna leave you all out). I say all of this because I too was in your shoes almost three years ago. Hell if they would have told me about the sexual benefits, as well as me buying normal size clothes in normal stores I would have done the surgery years ago. Instead all I heard about or feared was the complications from the surgery, and all the foods I could no longer eat. Yeah sometimes I do miss being able to eat anything I wanted to eat, but I wouldn't go back to it at all. Because now I enjoy so so much more out of life than what is on my plate.

I tried a papaya enzyme early on and that helped with the water like diarrhea poop. I don't take it anymore but I was on it for about three weeks before it helped make my stool not so freaking runny.

Wow you're on deli meat after three weeks of surgery? How are you able to keep it down my friend, seriously? As "aprilsdiamond" has said stay off of the scale for at least the first 30 to 45 days. Your body is still very much healing from the trauma it when through getting all re-routed and what not. So your still dealing with being sore and inflammation. Also I would honestly avoid eating deli meat too for now. The added salt in said meat is indeed going to make you retain water. And guess what you're gonna have a hell of a challenge just getting in the daily amount of water you need per day anyway, with the little room you will have to store water and food in (hint hint 120oz minimum for males). I would think that at this stage you should be on super soft solids proteins like soft scrambled eggs, canned chicken/tuna fish, and yogurt/cottage cheese. Stick with that stuff and avoid pork, beef, and anything that loaded in salt/preservatives at all cost for now. Maybe try some beans and lentils and another good source of non-animal proteins, especially now with you only being 3 weeks post surgery. You gut is gonna take some serious time to heal, so do what you can to take care of yourself.

From my workout yesterday. Yesterday was cardio and back day with the weights. Those last 20lbs are very very stubborn as far as going away. My tracker says that 11lbs away from goal, but its more like 20 to 22lbs actually.

As a male, I experienced a lot of hair growth. Especially body hair growth, but that is more than likely due to the increased levels of testosterone release within my body's fat cells due to the rapid amount of weight loss I was going through. I heard that its quite different for women though than it is men when it comes to the hair question. As for my incisions, they've healed up quite nicely. I had 4 incisions with my surgery and I can really only see too of them. They are way smaller than what they use to look like. But I think a lot of that was due to the increase amount of vitamins I've been taking along with a hair/skin/nail vitamin I was taking from Walmart of all places.

Don't use the scale as your only source of measuring. As you've said you have gone from a 26 to a 14 (12 inches btw) and you have more definition in your legs and soon the rest of your body. As long as you are feeling great and keep doing what you're doing you'll get to that goal, and be fit and healthy along the way.

Why thank you for the compliment madam. I do truly appreciate it

I tend to follow this method. It may come as a shocker to some, but I do eat bread and drink soda. Well let me state it more accurately and clearly. I eat small amounts of breads (carbs) weekly, and I may drink a soda once in a blue moon (still very rare for me to consume carbonated beverages). Thing is, I like you, don't eat an entire loaf of bread in 72 hour time span or consume a large pizza in one sitting for lunch. Or try and finish down said pizza with a 2 liter of diet Pepsi. Its all in extremely low moderation now, which is what I needed. I needed the portion controls and the sense of feeling very full and satisfied after a few ounces of food in my tummy and not a few pounds. So I portion control like a mother, and I still try and follow the rule of protein first, veggies/starches second, and carbs last if there is room to spare for them. The trade off for this consumption of carbs from bread I do indule in, is that I have to burn off what I consume for the day in exercise. Mostly via cardio, but does include some resistance training to boot. So if I had about 80g of carbs then I know that I will need to burn off caloric equivalent of that in exercise for that day. How I do it may not work for everyone else, but it has been working for me. I think the only thing I could suggest for anyone is that to make sure you have a good understand of the foods you are consuming into your body, as well as having a healthy relationship with food. If someone is getting over food addiction and carbs/sugars were their trigger foods then its probably best for them to avoid those things. Also talk to your doctor/nut about these things before you start consuming them if you have any questions. Just my $0.02 worth of input here.

Yeah about two to three weeks post surgery. Sent from my SM-N910P using the BariatricPal App

You got this guy. My highest weight that I had ever seen on a scale was 597lbs about 2 and a half years ago. When I had my surgery in Dec of 2014 I was at 463lbs As of this morning I was back to my current weight of 242lbs. I've been floating between 242-250lbs give or take over the last few months. But yeah you can indeed lose a lot of weight off of your body by getting this surgery and following the plan of attack your weight loss and surgical team puts in place for you. You just have to stick through it and put in the work. Because no matter what, its still work. This tool only works if you put in the work needed to make it work.

I think with me sometime when I look back at all the complications I had to deal with post surgery that puts me in a mind frame of regretting having the surgery done. But over all, no I wouldn't change what I've done. My health and outlook on life are more positive now than they ever have been in my entire adult life. I for the most part feel better and can do things that I couldn't even imagine I would ever be able to do just a few years ago. If I could go back I would still have the surgery for sure, but I would better prepare myself for the changes I was about to embark on and maybe removed some toxic people out of my life months instead of weeks before I had the surgery.

Do I regret having the surgery, no way. I wish I didn't suffer from the complications that I did suffer through, but I have no regrets on having the VSG done. Honestly I probably could have benefited from doning it sooner (like while I was still in my 20's) when my doctor initially tried to get me to do surgery. Losing the weight and feel/looking better was one thing. No longer being injectable insulin dependant was the main reason for my having the surgery. Anything that I could do to get my type 2 diabetes either removed or under better control was what I was after. Sent from my SM-N910P using the BariatricPal App

Also to add, every one is different, our bodies react to surgery and weight loss and gains differently. As long as you are losing and continuing to get healthier in your journey then that is all that really matters. If its a pound on month or 10lbs in a month, as long as its pound(s) that habe no chance in coming back, then Celebrate. Because you are doing the right thing, and believe it or not you are moving forward. Sent from my SM-N910P using the BariatricPal App

Early on after the surgery the only thing I could say that it did was that it got me higher quicker. But now that I'm well over a year post surgery and my body has completely healed from the surgery I would say that my tolerance for it is back to where it was pre-surgery. I've recently dabbed into the CBD/THC in foods and oils and found those to be somewhat as affective as smoking it. But the high or buzz takes longer to get to the bloodstream than smoking it does. But boy oh boy when it does finally break down and hit the bloodstream, yeah talk about an intense high.