BigViffer

RNY never stops working, same with the sleeve. People just stop following plan. Write all the article you want, but they will all boil down to that.

Holy necro-thread revival. Do you realize you just bumped a +5 year old thread to pimp your youtube channel? Here is a list of 72 theads within the last year that would more sense to push your channel on. https://www.bariatricpal.com/search/?&q=hair&type=forums_topic&search_in=titles&start_after=year

I am coming up on 3 years post op. I was the guy that wore short sleeves even though there was a winter advisory in effect. Now I have two space heaters in my office that run almost year round. One pointing at my feet and the other on the desk pointed towards my hands. Yeah, it doesn't really ever go away in my experience.

Um... those purple labeled Optimum Nutrition powders are Weight Gainers for people who are trying to maintain a calorie surplus. People who lift heavy and lift often will use them. Bariatric patients should assiduously avoid them. In the beginning, everything will taste so funky. If you have a Vitamin Shoppe store near you, they have a wonderful policy of letting you bring back any powder/supplement that you do not like for a full in store credit. I had a woman at that store that I talked to frequently and I was upfront about being recently sleeved. She was familiar with the taste buds profile changing, thus never even batted an eye when I returned several things. I ended up with UMP protein in the beginning. After things became more normal, Optimum Nutrition Whey concentrate is my favorite. The best protein in regards to bio-availability is whey. Isolate or concentrate doesn't really matter. If you are vegetarian, soy is the best you can do. But it is a distant 2nd to whey. Collagen is worthless for soft tissue repair (muscle, skin, etc...) but may be helpful for hair, nails, and joints. Typical sources for collagen protein are your bone broths and some protein "shots" in funky fruit flavors, and pork rinds. The best protein however, is the one that you can and will use.

lol, bravo @Creekimp13! Excellent counterpoint.

Sounds like utter horseshit to me. I only eat fresh salsa, the canned/jarred crap is nasty. If your nutritionist says one word about the acidity of fresh salsa, dump them because they are an idiot. Stomach acid has a ph level of about 1.5-3.5. A habenero has a ph level of 5.8. (1 being most acidic and 14 being most basic)

That's what I am thinking as well. 400lbs to 200lbs would leave anyone with excessive skin. 400lbs to 122lbs would be enough excess skin to cover another person. Hell, you could make a leather vest and chaps out of that much excess skin!

I love salads. I akways have. I remember several times when food was brought to our table that my wife would get my salad and I would be handed her burger or ribs or whatever. We always chuckled. If you love salads and want to pack them for work lunch, a good idea is to get a sealable bowl/container. Put on your pre-measured amount of dressing and then shake the crap outta that bowl! Get dressing all over everything in a mostly even manner.

Awesome! That is fantastic news.

No I do not. Honestly I think I would embarrass myself. A lifter my size should have much higher PR's. I have seen people on the Starting Strength forum start and blow past me within a few months. It is very disheartening. But I do try to keep it in perspective. None of them have the injuries and limitations that I have (that I am aware of) and I know that none of them have had gastric surgery. But to lift such paltry numbers in front of people would be devastating to what little ego I have. Don't get me wrong, I am not a fragile little snowflake that cannot handle being outclassed. Obviously I have no problem talking to a woman that lifts more than I do and it doesn't affect my self image. But to compare my lifts with people at a competition would only highlight my inability to make significant gains in the weight room.

Vasalva maneuver is the act of taking a large inhalation of breath and maintaining that with a closed glottis instead of exhaling during exertion. This enables the spine to be supported by a strong core. Basically, you were breathing properly during a lift. Oh, and they way you set your back on a dead lift was textbook. Just all around impressive to me.

Holy moley... there are pictures of you in a dirndl. That's it, it's official. I'm smitten.

Damn, you made that squat look easy! I squealed when I saw you vasalva before squatting then go below parallel. You are no pretender, that's for damn sure. And you're stunning! When I think of a powerlifter from Norway, I don't expect a beauty like that. Wow... just wow. Take this only as a stranger on the internet giving advice; don't get the sleeve. I know nothing about PCOS. I mean, yeah I can read about it, but I can't experience it and none of the women in my life have either. So I cannot comment on how the gastric sleeve may or may not help you in that aspect. What I see is a woman who is healthy enough to put most American men to shame in regards to a barbell. I saw you with mountain pictures and scuba diving. You can and have experienced a physically active life unlike many who here in America have not. You will definitely be able to do all of that post sleeve, but the powerlifting will most likely suffer. HOWEVER - there are some people that have had gastric surgery that have gone onto bodybuilding. You and I know the difference, but the lay person may not. Hypertrophy is the goal of bodybuilding, not strength. Lyss Remaly is the most famous example I can think of: http://www.lyssremaly.com/my-story/ She went from 350lbs to 150lbs and looks very healthy, but I don't know how strong. Sorry, went off on a tangent. Nutritional needs do not change post op. As a lifter, you are probably watching what you eat as far as quality of food. I would imagine you eat clean for the most part. Post op, I find that I will eat my dense protein and that's eat for that meal. Less than 2 hours later, I will eat some vegetables. Later still I will eat some carbs like oats or figs. I still eat the correct macro mix as anyone should, but I have to break it up in 2 hour increments. So what a normal lifter would have for breakfast, it takes me all morning to do. Then after my workout, lunch takes me until 5pm. Hitting the 3000 calorie mark is a mix of timing and food choice. High fat foods like avocado or whole milk will make it easier. A sweet potato with real butter and a bit of maple syrup is another way to get the calories for those days. When I say full from drinking, it's not painful. Well, I mean it has happened once or twice, but I had that happen pre-surgery too. It is just a feeling f being very full. Have you ever chugged an entire beer? When you are done, you feel that if you could just burp, it will make all the difference? That is the feeling. It goes away fairly quickly though. And no, it has never been bad enough to make me stop a session. Oh, and since you keep mentioning water, you should know that many of us cannot stand the taste of water post op. I used to drink it all the time, now it taste... wrong. I just can't explain it. But it is very common for people to have a hard time drinking water post op. Whatever you decide to do, I am betting you will be successful at it. No one gets to the level you are on by being casual. Deadlifts and squats train the mind to do things that are hard. If you can put 200lbs on your back, you can pretty much do anything in my book. And if you are going to be buying dresses and bikinis, I am going to bookmark your instagram!

First off - let me take a moment and tell you how excited I am there is someone on here that is interested in powerlifting, much less competing. Low bar or high bar squats? Sumo or traditional deadlift? There is so much I would love to talk to you about! Do you have any form check or PR videos? Can my body take a beating in the gym? Honestly, I feel better physically in the gym than anywhere else. I would say I am more resilient now than before. But I was in pretty bad health prior to surgery. So I am not a good person to tell you if you have the same endurance and/or toughness. I know for a fact that I do not have the endurance for long sessions in the gym. Unless I would pack a lunch and eat after squats and before deadlifts! You just use up so much fuel training. According to Mark Rippetoe, Jon Sullivan, and my coach, a lifter at with my build needs 5000+ calories a day to add more muscle. They however are not thinking about a gastric sleeve patient. When I spoke with Sullivan and my coach, they said that recovery is what is going to hold me back. They told me ways to get more calories, but I don't want to gain the weight. So to me, the numbers on the bar are not as important as the inches on my waist. Maybe if I was 20 years younger. That's what this is going to come down to for you. Do you want to be as strong as possible or overall healthier? For me, I want to be healthier overall first, and stronger than I was. I have succeeded at that. However, the desire to always get better is what the powerlifting does for me. That is probably why I have been successful keeping the weight off too. I keep meticulous records of my nutritional macros. That 3000 calories I mentioned, that is rare. My average is 2000. And yes, eating all day gets monotonous. I paid attention to my drinking at the gym today, I can gulp no problem, but my stomach cannot take the volume it could before. So two gulps and I'm full for a few minutes.

Those are some impressive stats! I did not get into the main lifts until after getting sleeved, so I have no idea what I would have been capable of before hand. I've had some serious injuries from car accidents and that may be playing a part in preventing me from making gains now. As you know, lifting is not just about strong muscles. Strong bones, good joints, and a healthy nervous system are vital. That being said, I am only higher than you on my bench. My current PR's are such: Squat: 205lbs Deadlift: 260lbs Bench: 185lbs Press: 120lbs. I am able - at best - to eat 3000 calories a day and hitting 200-ish grams of protein. And that is with supplemental powder. I am 6'1" 225lbs. I was 330lbs prior to surgery. While it was possible for me to add muscle after about a year post op, I find that it is a very slow process. And there is no way in heck I am able to drink a liter of water while training, much less an entire gallon. I adhere to the Starting Strength model, well as best as I can, and it is difficult. My gut says that you will not be able to compete at the same level as now. But I do not know if my limitations are because of my previous injuries AND being sleeved now, or just because of being sleeved. Being sleeved does make your recovery phase more difficult to manage. As for belts, I use mine religiously, so there is no issue with that. The only problem I have is the excess skin getting pinched. Though I doubt you would have that issue since you are not as big as I was. 210 doesn't sound that big, but if you are short, I can see it being more of an issue. What is your height? Oh, one last thing. I will take being healthy over being obese any day. I know my lifts will never progress to the numbers I once wanted, but I can at least move now. I couldn't even lift my left leg prior to surgery and now I can put 200lbs on my back and squat. Totally worth it.

Damn Tink, I'm sorry to hear this. I don't speak fluff and I don't needlessly try to build people up. You are one of the hardest working people on this site, don't let this slip up take seed in your head. However, let it be a very serious reminder on how we must always remain vigilant. I've always looked up to you man, I know you will take that 60 back off. PM me if you ever need to BS about this stuff.

There are many reasons for the disparity in alcohol consumption. A surgeon may specialize in patients with exceedingly high BMI. Those patients with so much extra fat will have massive quantities of hormones stored. When the rapid weightloss starts, hormone levels can skyrocket. Add a barbiturate to the mix and you can have extreme mood swings and/or depression. We see it all the time on here with comments laden with attitude or excessive weepiness. Add to that the lay persons understanding of what is happening, it is just easier to say "Don't drink booze because it causes heartburn." or something else that is simple to understand. Better to just avoid alcohol until the major physiological changes are done and hormone levels return to normal.

Just to clarify, if someone were to swallow their gum, it wouldn't plug anything up or block anything past the esophageal sphincter. Stomach acid would make short work of it. Also, the act of chewing signalling the stomach to produce extra acid can lead to heartburn.

Head hunger is the most common type of hunger at your stage. I don't say that to belittle your situation, but it is fact. Are you hitting your fluid intake daily? Many times we confuse hunger with thirst. I just went through my old post to find when I moved to solids, and it sounds like I was about 1 month post op when I was approved to eat anything. So that would put me at 3 weeks post op for firm protein. When you finally do get cleared to eat solids, be wary. Mine did not go well. Do it at home and be extra cautious and diligent chewing. I don't recommend chicken starting out. Ground beef would be a good start.

Acid has nothing to do with the reason to avoid coffee or alcohol. The moment the surgeon closed your stomach again it starts producing hydrochloric. That is far more acidic than anything that you will put in your mouth. The main reason for the avoidance of alcohol is the fact that it is a barbiturate(depressant) and a blood thinner and is famous for lowering inhibitions. In the case of a gastric patient, lowered inhibitions could mean "just one more bite" or something along those lines. On one hand I agree with you, it's a special occasion and it should be observed. However, you trusted the surgeon enough to knock you out and cut you open then remove a part of you, yet you are asking a bunch of strangers if it's OK to go against the surgeons recommendations. Do what you like, but realize that it is only 3 weeks post op and you already going against plan.

Genepro is crap. The company has been sued at least twice and just lost the most recent one. There is no such thing as "medical grade protein". It's whey. They came out and said it is just predigested whey that gets absorbed very quickly. It is not equivalent to 30g, it is at best 10g. The best thing to do with that crap is just chuck it in the trash. Yes it is on the bariatric store, but that is a store. It sole purpose is to sell things people will buy. And people buy Genepro because they want to believe it, not because it works. To your original question, mix your protein powders however you like. Whey, casein, pea, or soy... doesn't matter. It's no different than having a salad with chicken on top. There are some benefits to mixing proteins. BCAA content, absorption rate, bio-availability... experimentation in with this should be encouraged. And don't worry about taking in more than 30g-ish of protein at a time. RickM stated it well. You will absorb the protein eventually.

I find that more often than not, I don't have the motivation to go to the gym when things are hectic - especially cardio days . However, I have been going long enough that it is habit. So I go even though I don't really want to be there. I always feel better when I leave though.