BigViffer

I am almost 2 years out and I still cannot stand Protein drinks. Hate them. The first year they did make me want to vomit, now they are just gross but I can stomach them. If it were not for the protein cake I never would have made my protein goals though. It looks like everyone so far that has posted are pretty new, so maybe they aren't familiar with the protein cakes either. It's really simple though. In a big coffee cup or a small bowl add one scoop of Protein Powder. I use Gold Standard whey, but you can use whatever whey you want. It needs to be whey though. Add just enough coffee creamer to turn it into a batter. Add one half teaspoon baking powder (not soda). I microwave mine for 25 seconds for a lava cake type consistency. Others will go for about 45 for a fluffy cake. If I am feeling really fancy, I use my add Peanut Butter to the batter and "ice" the cake with plain yogurt.

Damn. Looking fantastic! Sent from my phone. Please forgive brevity and spelling.

Also, don't freak out if you gain a pound or two. It's just your body retaining water from the increased sodium.

Just be aware that Powerade and those sports drinks are filled with electrolytes (sodium). So if you're BP has been low or dizzy spells coming that weren't before surgery, they will help with those effects. However if you are fighting high BP, they are a bad idea. Also, by design they make your body hold on to Water. Sent from my phone. Please forgive brevity and spelling.

I can totes relate. I told my bestie of 25 years about my surgery and I didn't get support either! After I told him I had surgery, all he said to me was, "Huh... I can still eat in front of you, right?" In all seriousness, stop talking to people about it if they aren't on board. You're just wasting your efforts. Sent from my phone. Please forgive brevity and spelling.

We aren't as vocal and chatty as our female friends. More often than not there are a lot of discussions about feelings, food, or fashion. I'm not sure how many male vets are left around here, but after a while we just get tired of the same questions over and over. It's not that there is anything wrong with the questions, we just don't have anything new to add to the discussion because the 6 month to a year members have already taken over the role of answering the common questions. I have several threads and/or posts on workouts or food ideas. Snoop around and dredge some of them up if you want to generate some discussion on those topics! Welcome to the forum and good luck.

Hell. Yes. Too many times I have seen threads started by people going to the gym and it's just cardio. Nothing wrong with that, but I can't get excited about it. Doing squats? That is where it is at! I've talked about it quite a bit why I am a fan of the squat and the importance of it. I know you were taking pictures, but when doing squats you don't look up do you? There is a lot of completely false and dangerous "tips" on how to preform the exercise. Looking up is sure fire way to cause damage to the cervical spine when/if you start getting up into the heavier weights. Another good exercise to look into is the deadlift. Starting out you can use kettlebells.

As long as you understand that the best you will be able to do is minimize it and not prevent it, you should be too disappointed. I have pretty bad sagging skin on my chest, belly, lower back, and inner thighs. Unless I somehow find a way to take in 6500 calories and dedicate all of my free time to lifting, there is no way to fill all that skin with muscle. It's really going to depend on what you are wanting to get out of the gym. If you want to build muscle, your focus will be on progressively loading and lifting heavy weights. Cardio will deplete your reserves. If you are wanting to be lean and muscular, cardio first and just do what you can with weights. I have a regimen that I used the first year before I transitioned to heavy lifting. It's in the Guy's Room: http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/361768-by-request-bigviffer-workout-routine/ I have since moved over to a Starting Strength routine. Much different without as much variety. But that is a pretty good starting point.

Wow! Sent from my phone. Please forgive brevity and spelling.

OK, as promised here is some of my tracking I do for my personal satisfaction: Summary Pivot of my macro's by day. Also shows % of calories from protein/fat/carb and if I am getting too much of one. This one is my total calories consumed gross by week: Total calories consumed net after exercise based on my heart rate monitor: An ironic donut graph of my macro's by week: Monthly average weight: Weekly average weight: BM tracking! Weight lifting by exercise: Total work by muscle group: The food diary that all the macro graphs are based on: BM detail for the graph: And lastly the detail lifting diary: In case you cannot tell, I am an Excel nerd. By choice and profession!

When I get back into the office on Monday, I'll have to take a screen cap of some of my graphs. I'm willing to bet I track more detailed than anyone else on this forum! Every bite I've eaten since May 2015, BM's, weight lifting... All in table formats with pivot tables. Sent from my phone. Please forgive brevity and spelling.

I'd rank the pain as equal with a shaving cut. More stinging than anything. Mine were always around my neck and under arms. Pretty much exactly where the polo shirt (that I used to wear frequently) collar and seams were.

You do realize that you posted on an 8 year old thread, right? That member isn't even active anymore. Sent from my phone. Please forgive brevity and spelling.

Seriously?! You look like a kid in your avatar! I'42 and look haggard by comparison.

I'm not going to bother with research on the web for this topic, but I would be willing to bet money that they reason for men not doing it as much as women is actually pretty simple. Ego. I'm not saying that they feel attractive or handsome while fat, but to admit that they need a surgery to fix something it is a blow to the manhood. Same reason men will cut themselves with a power tool and use duct tape as a bandage instead of going to the Urgent Care. Is it stupid? Oh god yes. Is it true though? You bet'cha! I think this picture sums it up perfectly:

I just cut mine off at home. Sent from my phone. Please excuse brevity and spelling errors.

They don't stretch like they used to, no. When people say they have stretched their sleeve, most likely they have weakened the pylorus and food is getting pushed out of the revised stomach. Sent from my phone. Please excuse brevity and spelling errors.

@@sabrina14339 - well, you can't be as big as I was and not have excess skin issues. My arms and legs for the most part have pretty well filled in with muscle. Same with upper chest and shoulders. However, my lower chest, "belly" and the lower back are pretty bad in my opinion. I could probably go down a size or two in pants if I could afford to have the skin removed. The only health issues I am having are ingrown hairs though. While an inconvenience, it's not enough to put myself into debt since insurance will not cover that. The way I see it, I'm married and already have two kids AND I am in my 40's. The surgery to remove the skin really won't add anything to my life. Yes it would be nice, but I don't see it happening.

I was thinking the exact same thing @@QueenOfTheTamazons, those other threads are huge. They really should be restricted to the current year to keep the content current. My before picture is me at my biggest. I don't remember exactly how much it was, but I know it was over 330: And this is from a few months ago: It's too damn cold in the gym to wear a tank top nowadays! I'll have to take a few new ones in the spring.

With a surgery date of November 2016, I doubt your surgeon would want you to bother with them just yet. Once you are a little further out, then you can start to introduce complex carbs or some more simple natural carbs. Dried apricots, prunes, figs, oats, bran buds, shredded wheat... all of these were blessed by my surgeon. I have a low opinion of NUT's, so I would say get it cleared with your surgeon before introducing any of these.

It would be a good thing to have your blood work done to ensure you aren't having any vitamin deficiencies. B-12 & iron would be my #1 suspect as was already mentioned. But before you do that, are you on any regular prescription medication? If so, would it be blood pressure related? It is quite possible your BP is low and making you feel lethargic. You may have to increase your sodium intake as well as increase your fluid intake. Of course, talk it over with your doctor. Now, as for the gym; do you have a goal in place or are you just going to workout? The surest way to get bored or burned out is to workout without a plan. Set a goal, make it a hard one and put a deadline out in the future far enough that it isn't unobtainable. Maybe a pull-up, or maybe a mile in 7 minutes... anything. Working out with a goal gives you a purpose and something to maybe obsess over.

Thanks for chiming in @@RJC5197, no issue with anything you said. I am a fairly dedicated lifter and there is no way I could continue with only 60 grams of carbs a day. I would literally be on the verge of fainting during my workout when I was that low. I had to up my carb intake to about 30-35% of my total caloric intake. Protein is about the same, most times a little higher. Fat I keep pretty low. I am not concerned with my macros, I keep track of them better than probably better than anyone else on this forum. My sole question for this thread was for lifters who needed more calories for to build the muscle. Did they use "weight gainers" and if so, how were the results?

@Webapprentice Oh I have some issues, but I am trying to be positive and work through them. I cannot lift like I did before my injuries of course, but right now the problem is lack of building material post workout! If you go through some of my old post though, I talk about how weak and puny I was when I started going back to the weight room post WLS. Literally using 10lbs dumbbells. So yes, I have made progress. But I would still like more.

Oh, and I forgot to state for the newbies; I am coming up on my 2 years in February. Down 130 lbs to 198 lbs until I started lifting weights. Now maintaining and struggling to gain any weight past 215.