BigViffer

I'm not big on trainers. All of my sport injuries came from doing exercises I learned from trainers. I would recommend a physical therapist over a trainer any day of the week. A sports medicine therapist is the best.

Damn, I thought that was a double barreled slingshot until you ruined it for me.

Wow... now you are going to be turning some heads!

Damn... you are looking lean! Good job!

You didn't come and and say it, but I want to chime in here just in case you may be thinking it. There isn't anything easy about this. We don't wake up with a perfect body. Everything after the surgery is difficult, emotionally taxing, physically trying, and just all around hard. But the rewards can be equally as great. Improved physique is likely, but we will have excess skin or hair loss. And that is just one more thing to stress some of us out. The loss of a coping mechanism is no small deal. I don't want to sound like a Debbie-downer, but I just want you to be armed with all the information going into this.

I just thought of something... every once in a while we will have some free time and money and we will hit the skating rink. I haven't enjoyed roller skating in 20 years, but I have to admit that I am really enjoying since losing weight and eating right have taken care of most of my pain.

The weekends really aren't my own. The kids have volleyball and we have chores and errands on the weekends. So I wouldn't exactly call it "rest days"! The only cardio I get is walking behind my wife and the only weight lifting would be me carrying her purse.

First off, dude... it happens to the best of us so don't let it get into your head. I could have written your post a year ago myself. However, once I got the drain out and my incisions were pretty well healed and I was off the blood pressure medicine; well it was on after that! Once you start rapid weight loss, you are going to have a ton of hormones dumped into your bloodstream too. There were many a night where my wife had to tap out long before I was ready. Oh, and as an aside... don't worry about the soy Protein giving you moobs or elevating estrogen levels. That has been pretty much debunked. Unless you are taking in mass quantities like a vegan weightlifter. Soy is safe.

Wrong forum... you should have posted this in the Rants & Raves section!

If you are really hitting the gym hard, you may be burning more than you are taking in. That can put your body into starvation mode where it holds onto everything. There is also the possibility that you are adding muscle. Perhaps a BMI calculation is in order? And I don't mean the caliper test, I mean the one with the electrical current or the water submersion test.

@@dmedic72 Killing it man!

@@OneDollarBill - good question. My target is 3 sets of 10 reps. However, if I don't feel spent, I will load up a little more and try to get another 8 reps. Conversely, if I went heavy and can only finish 6 - 8 reps, I don't push it. That just means that I exhausted the muscle I was working.

Oh, and i just remembered; my wife has been using agave for a long time and I never noticed it. So I can tolerate both of then just fine. Sent from my phone, please forgive brevity and misspelling

Excellent question that I should have thought to mention. I am a year out and at most... MOST... I will eat 3 dates. They are so rich and sweet that it causes dumping. If you haven't experienced that yet, read up on it. It's awful. Sent from my phone, please forgive brevity and misspelling

I love dates! I don't eat them often because of the sugar/carbs, but I do eat them regularly. My new favorite way is to dip them on Peanut Butter. Sent from my phone, please forgive brevity and misspelling

I think I should make my goal of the year to get my shoulders wide enough to block the damn urinals in my gyms bathroom!

Since @@BigTink2LilTink upped the ante for Beefcake in this thread, I had to rise to the challenge and take a new picture myself:

Figured I would post an updated picture. My weight hasn't changed much since my last pictures were taken, but I think my definition is getting better. I believe the last picture of me in the white shirt is from December 2015 and this is from today:

I think this is one of those subjects that is just overthought, over analyzed, and beaten to death. I think relationships in general can be handled with just two guidelines: 1 - Do unto others as you would have them do unto you 2 - Say what you mean, mean what you say. If you can't do those two things consistently, all the letter writing, therapy, and group hugs in the world will not amount for anything in the long haul.

If you are having problems getting the hydration needed after surgery, then hot yoga is not only a bad idea but a dangerous one. Once you are getting 100 oz of Water a day, then revisit it.

I knew what it was as soon as you described it. I had one then my wife did not even a year later. She took back everything she said about me being a wuss! Get better soon!

I had a very difficult time dealing with this issue for months after surgery. And to be honest, it still appears sometimes now a year later. I was literally a walking zombie after surgery until they took me off my BP meds. That helped quite a bit. But what really helped was becoming acutely aware of my Fluid intake and regular checking of my BP. Go to Walmart or a Meijer or whatever and buy a blood pressure cuff. They have battery operated ones that are fairly accurate. When you are feeling dizzy, check your BP. Then get at least 32 oz of fluid in you as quickly and comfortably as you can. Wait 20 min and check it again. I'll bet it was lower when dizzy than after the fluid. I am just now able to get 100 oz of fluid a day. If I don't get close to that, I can get dizzy pretty easily when standing up.

Dude, @@BigTink2LilTink you're kicking ass bro. Keep up the momentum!

Woah... damn Babbs, I didn't realize you were so hot. I guessI haven't creeped your profile yet. brb... creeping.

@@Dub Look at those deltoids! Killing it!