CalGuy64

I told anyone who asked. A few seem relieved as they had speculated that I was losing weight because I was sick.

I never had my T levels tested before surgery. I've had them checked twice since and they're right in the middle of the normal range. However, I've noticed that I'm much more aggressive and short-tempered now. Don't know for sure if this is related to any hormonal changes brought about by weight loss but that seems likely.

There really doesn't seem to be any way to avoid losing some muscle. I was totally weak for most of the first year. It took about six months of moderate exercise after that to get back to preop strength levels. The most important thing is that even though I can't press or lift any more than I could before I'm much athletic.

" ... anyone have any tips that helped them?"

1) Upgrade your seat/saddle. I got my GF this one (wide version) https://www.rei.com/product/152865/bontrager-boulevard-bike-saddle.

2) Make sure you're in a nice low gear for even slight inclines until you build some endurance. It will seem that you're pedaling fast but not getting anywhere but you'll be getting your exercise and not over taxing your joints or muscles.

Any quality mountain bike will be more than strong enough. A 180 pound college student bashing down a rough trail puts way more stress on a bike than a 400 pound person doing a couple of laps around the neighborhood.

Losing over 100 pounds can change your personality quite a bit. I've become much more aggressive.

Its not just the same amount covering less area. I've grown quite a bit of new body hair -- and I was pretty damn fuzzy to start with. Interestingly the new hair is all jet black while much of what existed before was grey.

You can have the occasional drink (I had a glass of wine yesterday). However, you'll get drunk real easy so be careful. Also, alcohol can add lots of calories.

1000 - 1200 calories seems very low. I can't imagine a healthy long-term diet being less than 1800 calories per day.

Thanks for the info.

BlueCrush, wondering where did you have your surgery? Was the hotel with nursing care associated with the hospital?

Two years out and I'm eating pretty normal sized portions (as opposed to the old super-sized portions). Haven't actually kept a food journal but I'm pretty sure I'm eating somewhere in the 2500 to 3000 calories per day range.

Trader Joe's cheapest medium roast coffee works for me.

Have a good divorce lawyer pre-selected. I wish I was kidding but divorce rates skyrocket after women have WLS.

My sex drive went up drastically too. Three to four times a day is seems about right.

The OP's surgeon is incredibly ill informed. First "bulking" in the bodybuilding context is more about eating lots than it is a specific weight training regime. Obviously after WLS "bulking" is just not going to be possible. Second, everyone (other than steroid users) loses muscle mass when they loose a significant amount of weight -- its just reality. Third, weight training (especially with weights as heavy as possible) is the best way to minimize loss of muscle mass.

Despite fairly intense weight training I've lost at least twenty pounds of lean body mass since my surgery. This isn't a bad thing since I've lost far more fat. More importantly I would have lost significantly more muscle if I hadn't been lifting.

Bottom line is that after WLS no one is going to be gaining muscle. This is true for guys and even more true for women. The best case scenario is that after a person's weight has stabilized they may, with a lot of hard work over a long period of time, manage to regain some muscle mass. However, without steroids (or Testosterone Replacement Therapy for guys AKA legal steroids), these gains are unlikely to exceed 5 to 10 pounds for women and 10 to 20 pounds for men. But that's enough to make a huge difference.

Its been almost a year since my surgery. I'm down to 204 pound and still slowly losing. I figure I'll be losing for at least another six months. I'd like to get down to about 180 pounds (I have a small frame). I've got a bit of loose skin around my middle. I'm hoping my skin will shrink enough that I won't really need plastic surgery. So my question is for folks several years out. When did you skin stop shrinking back?

Resistance training with heavy weights is the only effective way to gain muscle mass. Make sure to focus on compound movements that stress a variety of large muscle groups (i.e. squats, dead lifts, presses, dips, pull-ups).

Its damn hard for most guys to gain more that ten pounds of actual muscle so don't expect the moon. The good news is that just ten pounds of muscle can make a huge difference.

I hate prepared Protein Shakes. I make my own in the blender with whole milk (makes a huge difference and you're not using that much) and fresh fruit. Also, some Protein powders taste a lot better than others. I'm partial to Isopure (available at GNC) and Optimum Nutrition (available at Trader Joe's).

I make a blender full in the morning and put it in three insulated travel mugs I take with me. I have one on the drive to work, one with/for lunch, and the third one after I leave the gym at about 6 (I have a small diner at about 7).

The BMI recommendation is probably pretty close to the ideal. BMI is only inaccurate if your lean body mass is either unusually high (or even more rarely low) -- most people have quite normal lean body mass.

I feel that coffee and tea are actually quite beneficial. I talked to my nutritionist about this and she was OK so long as I didn't have any side-effects. I drink about four cups of coffee (black no sugar or sweetener) and three cups of tea (milk no sugar or sweetener) every day.

My doctor insisted on a two week Liquid Protein pre-op diet. His rational was that he wanted as much room as possible to operate in the abdominal cavity. The purpose of the pre-op diet was to shrink the liver (the biggest organ in the abdominal cavity) and thus make surgery easier.

Wanting my surgeon to have the easiest time possible I did a three week liquid Protein diet and lost 26 pounds. I specifically asked him about my liver when he came to check on me post-op. He told me that my liver was normal with no observable fatty deposits and that he had lots of room to work.

A small glass of low or zero calorie carbonated beverage every now and then isn't a big deal. Just make sure to drink it very slowly so there's no chance of distress or stretching. I like lemon flavored carbonated Water (0 cal.) on hot summer days.

wrong forum

I'm eight months out now. I think I could easily regain the weight I've lost if I don't watch what I eat and/or stop exercising. I can eat most things and its not really that hard to eat around the restriction (i.e. graze). Loosing weight has made it much easier to exercise and easier to be active in general -- but if I want to keep the weight off its on me to take advantage of this.