BigViffer

You may have been able to fight off muscle loss. You may have been able to maintain and strengthen existing muscle fibers. But for substantial weight gain from increased muscle mass, there is just no way at 6 months out. I'm talking about lifting and causing muscle tissue to tear and split, then be repaired stronger than before. The only way to do that is with max lift reps and then lots of Protein. 6 months out, you should be at about 1300 calories, max. That is not a weight lifters diet. That is a weight loss diet. At best, the only thing at this stage anyone will be able to do is strengthen existing muscle. To gain muscle, he would need to take in about 1 gram of protein per pound. If the OP currently weighs 250, that would be 250 grams a day. Multiply that times 4 since there are 4 calories per gram of protein. 1,000 calories a day from just protein. Considering a steak is about 30% protein, he would have to eat 105 ounces of steak to hit that goal. So as I said before, focus on maintaining your muscle for now. Tone it up as best you can, but wait until at least a year out before trying to pack on the bulging muscles.

Not me. I'm one ugly mofo. But I am pretty damn charming. Sent from my phone, please forgive brevity and misspelling

That's an awfully broad stroke to paint men with. I have never liked skinny women personally. Atheletic maybe, but I like thicker or dare I say plump women. Most of my friends do as well, but not all. And those that do not like fuller figure women have something that they themselves are insecure about. So I believe they are using the "hot" woman as a way to hide their perceived shortcomings. Same thing with guys and sport cars. They assume that others will see him with a beautiful woman and think to themselves, "Man, that guy must really have his sh_t together to get a woman like that!" I find that I have almost always wanted someone that I enjoyed their company first, the looks second. So that is the type of woman I set out to attract. bellanloom stated that she is doing the online dating thing. If so, then that means that she has a profile on a service. The men that are reading it and contacting her must have something in common with her profile. Not saying her personally, but the persona she is projecting on a service. So I guess my advice to bella would be to change your profile to reflect the part of you that you want people to notice and attract the type of man you want. In a state as big as California, there must be someone who isn't "crazy" like your other thread nor a skinny chaser.

I really can't say how much muscle I have added, but I can say that they are more visible now than they were before. I was never competitive, but I was pretty dedicated weightlifter before my injuries started stacking up. My upper traps and my lats are the areas that I see the most improvement. I want to develop my lower traps and my glutes now though. Since I have lost so much weight, I literally have no @ss.

It's really difficult to build muscle while losing weight. You still need the same amount of protein as far as % of total calories. The problem is that you can only take in so many calories during this time. The best thing you can do for yourself is to go slow and look for strength and not size. Stamina & endurance are what you want to strive for at this stage. Once you are at maintenance, then you should be able to start adding muscle.

And modest. Don't forget modest.

I had one at the largest incision (where they actually pull the stomach out). It was about the size you are describing. They said that it would either be re-absorbed into the body or it would rupture and leak out dark dead blood. Literally the next day it popped and dribbled dark red ichor. While it was gross, it was not really a big deal. After the majority of it drained, I pressed around the edges to get the rest out and kept a bandage over it. The next time I went in for my appointment, they stuffed wadding in it that I had to change after each shower. My surgeon did not like it, but only from a perfectionist POV. The scar is a little wider than he wanted it to be because of the wadding, but it is by no means the largest of all my scars. At 8 months post surgery, it has already started fading and I expect it to be unnoticeable to a casual glance by 1 year.

dude, you totally forgot your duckface.

If you are talking about plain greek yogurt, it does take time to get used to it. I used to add peanut butter, or protein powder to mine. Then I started adding Torani syrup. Now I have started using it to replace mayo in my tuna salad. I use a little lemon pepper in the yogurt and mix 2 tablespoons with 4 oz tuna. I think it rocks!

You fool! A male only picture thread?! This forum can't repel testosterone of that magnitude! All the women are going to start creeping this thread looking for their daily dose of beefcake. I actually do like the idea of a Men's Picture thread. On the others it tends to turn into "Here is my new outfit and latest duckface pic" I am 2lbs away from my first goal. I will post my first picture here for that occasion!

What has been said is pretty much spot on - everyone is different. I only want to mention one thing that hasn't been said yet: Get right with your meds before going back. I work an office job as well, but I was still taking blood pressure medicine after surgery. I should not have been though. My BP was very low, not quite in the dangerous area, but low enough that I was a zombie and my work that first week was less than my best. People were coming up to me constantly asking if I was alright and checking up on me throughout the day. If you value your privacy and personal space as I do, then this is of course the last thing you want to deal with.

@@OKCPirate - that sounds pretty damned good to me! The only reason I ask for about the caffeine is for my wife. Thanks for the info!

@@OutsideMatchInside & @@OKCPirate - tell me about this Ice coffee concentrate for Protein drinks please. I go to Trader Joes all the time, but mostly for their hummus and yogurts. Does this concentrate have caffeine?

I just went to The Vitamin Shoppe and they have a huge section of clearance bars for $1.50 and under. They are ones that are nearing their expiration date. I have found many with calories around 200 and Protein of 20g. Sometimes they taste like cardboard, other times they are delicious. I started doing this to try and find bars that I liked, but now I just do it because I am cheap. I do want to try making my own, but I need to get the wife on board first.

Don't even try to eat one. No matter how bad the urge. They clump up something fierce and get stuck right that the top of your stomach/bottom of your esophagus. Sure fire way to throw up. Don't ask me how I know. I don't crave tortillas anymore though. And that is something considering I am married to a Costa Rican that likes to make her own!

lol, I never thought of being a straight Hoosier as a deep dark secret!

I have replied to several women's only posts when on my mobile. It does not always show that it is gener specific. And CowGirlJane is not known for being a troll, so I believe her. Not that Pirate was accusing her or anything. Just letting the OP know that it happens on here frequently. To the OP's question, it really does boil down to your level of confidence. But how do you gain confidence in an arena that you have no experience? This is merely my opinion; so if you don't like it or agree with it, that's totally cool. I have no credentials as a couple therapist nor a matchmaker. Don't go looking for a date yet. Don't go looking for a woman to complete you just yet. You are getting ready to make a big change in your life. Embrace it and be a little selfish for now. Is there something that you always wanted to do that you were just too shy to do? Like take a dance class? Or maybe Judo? Learn the piano? Is there some club that you always wanted to join but just not confident enough in yourself to try? Do that now. Then you will start to meet people that have similar interests in what you have. Maybe you will meet someone in that class/club/lesson and you will have a natural opening line or at least an easy conversation starter. If nothing else, you might make a couple friends. Then they will perhaps say, "I've got a friend/relative I'd like you to meet." OKCPirate has said several times that it's a numbers game. The more people you meet, the better chance you will have of meeting the one you are looking for.

I only get the hiccups if I eat too fast or too much. Are you taking enough time between bites?

I've got one that gives me the chuckles now, but horrified me at the time. The story has a long setup, but it has a payoff. This was back when I first moved to Ohio from Solitude, IN. Needless to say I was a country boy out of place in Dayton, OH. I was in college at the time and working as a manager at a Blockbuster video. (That should tell you how long ago it was!) I rode a bicycle 6 miles one way, 6 days a week, and weight lifted for about 1.5 hours a day. I had no social life since I was so new to the area. Not to be narcissistic, but I was a damn good looking 220lbs. At Blockbuster, It was common for people to rent a tape (yes, a VHS tape) at one location and drop it off at another. So every shift, you would go through the drop box and weed out the other location tapes and call the location to let them know to come pick them up. I established a rapport with a woman (Karen) at the nearest store and we would flirt outrageously over the next few months. One evening, she told me that she and and an employee (Todd) were going out after they closed and would I be interested in joining them? Sure, why not! Now, as I mentioned before, I was a young man from the country. Not worldly in any way. Bigotry and prejudices were rampant in that area, so everyone I ever saw was pretty much just like me. So forgive an ignorant young man for the next part. They swung by my store to pick me up and we went to a bar called 1470's. Dance music was playing and there was a huge crowd outside. As we get out of the car and start walking towards the bar, this 6 foot... thing... walks in front of me in a black lace clingy "dress" with red hooker heels, long blonde hair and a 5 o'clock shadow and hairy arms. I stopped in my tracks. I lean over to Todd, full of fear, "Todd... did you bring me to a *derogatory name for homosexual* bar?!" (Remember, young and ignorant at the time. I am no longer like this.) Todd looks at me with one eyebrow cocked like Mr. Spock, "Duuuhhh.... I'm gay." Now I lean over to Karen, "Karen! Did you bring me to a *derogatory name for homosexual* bar?!!" Karen looks shocked, "Aren't you gay???" My mouth drops and I hit a high pitched frantic voice, "No I'm not gay! I'm from Indiana!!" As if that would explain anything and everything all at once. Needless to say, I set out to prove to my companions that I am indeed hetero by not only flirting outrageously with Karen, but I stepped up my game and we ended up making out. Passionately. That should let everyone know that I am indeed a raging hetero and obviously insecure young man. Karen however loved every minute of it. After we left the bar, we talked a bit, she apologized for not telling me it was a gay night club and also for thinking I was gay as well. (Evidently, every male that worked for Blockbuster in the area was gay. shows how astute I was at the time.) She did however say she would love to go out on a real date. The next weekend we do a pretty generic date. We didn't do coffee since we had been talking for months and also had already kissed. We had a casual dinner, saw some forgettable movie, and then went to a bar for a drink and conversation. This is where she tells me how she had a great time the weekend before and now that it is done, it is actually pretty funny. She asks about my plans for the future, what my family is like; she tells me about her family, how she wants kids, how her father and I will get along famously, and her mother will love having me for a son-in-law, and how cute our babies will be, we should have a May wedding since June is so cliche, but it will have to be two Mays from now since her husband still lives in her house... At this time, all blood has drained from my face. My heart was thundering in my chest. She wasn't joking. I mean, there was no hint of a jest. Her smile now appeared to be a rictus that would be at home on a crazy clown or maybe the Joker. Oh, and she was my ride home. How in the heck to I get out of this?! I couldn't just anger her and make her mad me, I had seen Fatal Attraction. I know where that leads. I had to drag this out over days. Forgetting to call her back, taking her husbands' side in whatever disagreements they were having... anything to make her see that I was not the one. It worked eventually, but the scars of that experience will last me a lifetime.

I saw that article as well. I did not find it sad per se, but I am not an empathetic person. Ordering a pizza while staying at the hospital was monumentally stupid. The part that has me the most dumbfounded was the dad. He said taking his son home was a death sentence: There is no way that man is going to be going up and down the stairs to raid the fridge. If it is a death sentence, it's because the dad is the executioner. Only take him what he needs to survive. If he calls and orders a pizza, don't take it up to him. I get it, I really do. I love food, I love being lazy sometimes. But to exist for the sole purpose of eating just is no way to live life. Right now, all I see is a person that is a burden to all who have to suffer him. I know, I know... I'm heartless and caustic and yada yada yada. I just cannot see the point in spending so much time and money on someone who obviously doesn't want to change.

My wifes aunt died shortly after surgery from ARD (Acute Respiratory Distress) To the layperson it would just be called pneumonia. That was 10 years ago.

I've gotta tell you, I am totally intrigued by this. I don't think I could be more astonished by the thought of beets being eaten any other way. It's almost as if someone is telling me packing peanuts are edible and delicious in a salad. Mark my words, I will be trying roasted beets soon.

lol, I just finished my lunch and was browsing the forums listening to my stomach gurgle when I came across this thread. Yes, it happens all the time now. After every bite, every drink, and when I am hungry.

I've had the chickpea pasta and I couldn't tell the difference between the whole wheat pasta I used to eat. It also has a crazy amount of protein in it. Only had it once though because I just don't crave pasta anymore.

Oh man, I used to be able to destroy a bunch of sprouts! Now I can only manage to bully about 4 ounces of them.