vikingbeast

Being able to sit wherever I was put in a restaurant, whether booth or table.

I am The Most Unlikely CrossFitter (started at my heaviest weight) and also mourned the enforced detention from the barbell.
I was told absolutely no weight at all for two weeks, walk only. After my two-week visit, I was cleared to for running, jumping rope, and biking (but not rowing, just because of the mechanics of it) and given a 10-lb. restriction which I will freely admit I stretched to 15 lbs so I could use a training bar. I went back to the gym and modified things heavily.
I was cleared to return to the gym fully at 6 weeks which was last week. I strongly, strongly suggest you plan to go slow as you return. If you used to go five days a week, go 2-3. If you went 3 days a week, go 1-2.
Scale. Absolutely. Everything. Your body will hurt just like it did when you started, and after the gyms reopened post-quarantine. We are finishing a strength cycle that I wasn't here for, so I'll just be kind of doing moderate weight and seeing how my mechanics have changed (cleans feel TOTALLY different), and will start the next strength cycle.
I will say that my running got better IMMEDIATELY. I went from a 14-minute mile where I had to stop and use an inhaler, to an 11-minute mile in just four weeks, and my inhaler is in a drawer. I ran an 800 m in under 5 minutes and didn't die. I actually can't wait to see how much closer I can get to a pull-up or a toes-to-bar with the increased mobility and less of a leaden weight in my @$$.

Oh, and for what it's worth, I was able to pull 60% of my heavy deadlift for 5 reps absolutely cold the week I returned. Will there be strength loss? Probably. But it's not as bad as I feared.

You'll know a lot closer to then what you can and can't eat. Some people can't eat steak, because it's too dry. Some people can't eat Pasta or bread because it expands too much in their pouch. Everyone is different.
I will say this, though... you're likely not to be able to come anywhere close to eating an entire three-course Italian meal. If you don't speak Italian, you might want to take a little card with you that says something like Mi hanno operato allo stomaco e non posso mangiare molto. Per favore, mi serva piccole porzioni.

Thank you! I do have an appointment with my GP, so I'm going to bring it up, and in the meantime continue with ROMWOD (one of my bucket-list goals is to be able to put my palms on the floor with my knees not bent).

Dr. Vuong needs to get current on research. It's fat we're losing. There is SOME muscle catabolism during the process because there has to be, but no, the point is not muscle catabolism, otherwise people who succeeded in losing their excess weight would be weak blobs of fat. 🙄
Weight training helps get rid of fat. It revs your metabolic engine. I did increase my calories (in concert with my new NUT) in order to get my Protein consumption up, but I'm not hungrier than I was. And my weight loss actually accelerated by about a pound (0.45 kg) a week. I weight train 3-4 times a week and I do some kind of cardio (running, biking, rowing, skipping rope) 3-4 times a week.
And you don't need to be a gym rat. You can go to a store and buy a few dumbbells (buy them in pairs) or a kettlebell. Nick Urankar, who's a CrossFit athlete, has a whole program called "Just a Bar" where you use a barbell (25, 35, or 45 lbs.) for strength training.

Dr. Vuong needs to get current on research. It's fat we're losing. There is SOME muscle catabolism during the process because there has to be, but no, the point is not muscle catabolism, otherwise people who succeeded in losing their excess weight would be weak blobs of fat. 🙄
Weight training helps get rid of fat. It revs your metabolic engine. I did increase my calories (in concert with my new NUT) in order to get my Protein consumption up, but I'm not hungrier than I was. And my weight loss actually accelerated by about a pound (0.45 kg) a week. I weight train 3-4 times a week and I do some kind of cardio (running, biking, rowing, skipping rope) 3-4 times a week.
And you don't need to be a gym rat. You can go to a store and buy a few dumbbells (buy them in pairs) or a kettlebell. Nick Urankar, who's a CrossFit athlete, has a whole program called "Just a Bar" where you use a barbell (25, 35, or 45 lbs.) for strength training.

Hopefully it’s just something as innocuous as having pulled a muscle or similar. It’s easy to do. I did it simply by pulling a weed out of the garden.
You’ve also lost quite a bit of weight (congrats) so you could be experiencing discomfort from muscles & tendons relearning how to simply hold your now lighter body. Your body had been holding itself in certain ways to compensate for your weight for years & now it doesn’t have to. Some talk about their balance being off because their centre of gravity had changed. Personally I had upper back pain which was eased by buying better fitting & smaller underwear (though a gender specific issue 😉)
If it is either of those things acupuncture may help as may a good therapeutic massage or a visit to a physio.

This is literally exactly how I am doing my goals. I have had several DXA scans (there's a place here called BodySpec that charges something like $45, no insurance) because despite being obese I am also extremely muscular. I took the lowest of the lean body mass results (knowing that I would lose some muscle during this weight loss process), added 15% body fat, and voilà, 240 lbs. goal.

It confused my surgeon at first but he was supportive.

A stall is very common between 3-5 weeks out. If you search this site there are more than 17,000 posts about the “three week stall”. Just stick to your plan and let your body sort itself out. The weight loss will continue.

Since I am now halfway between my heavy weight and my goal weight, I thought I'd show myself. I lost 26 lbs. on my own, then 9 lbs. on the pre-op diet, and 41 lbs. so far since surgery (five weeks ago). I only "see" the changes when I look at before-and-after pictures. I'm starting to see what I'll look like further along and I ain't mad about it.

76 lbs. down, 76 to go.

My surgeon weighed me, took some vitals (BP, heart rate, respiration rate, temperature, pulse ox), worked with me on setting a realistic weight loss goal, prescribed post-op medications (painkillers, anti-nausea meds, and stool softeners) and gave me the rest of the half-hour to ask whatever questions I had. He also ordered the pre-op testing I would need: EKG, blood work, urine sample, etc.

My clinic has not had a dietitian/nutritionist on staff for months now (part of the Great Resignation, I guess). So they've been contracting with people, and I finally had had enough of it.
She asked what I have been eating. I track religiously, down to the teaspoon of mustard (which probably isn't necessary, but...). So I told her. It came to about 850 calories. She absolutely lost her mind, whipped out a booklet, and told me I'm to be eating no more than 1/3 cup of food five times a day. I pointed out that I run or work out literally every day, that I am going back to a pretty physical outdoor job, that I'm losing weight steadily, and that eating this amount gives me the energy I need.
I asked how I was supposed to get the Protein goal the surgeon gave me (80-100 g a day) on that little food, and she told me to stop being difficult, that I was obviously going to just gain it all back (lol, on 850 cal a day, lol lol lol), that too much sodium would spike my blood pressure and heart rate (lol, it was 114/74 during intake with a resting heart rate of 54), etc., etc.
So I fired her. At the top of my lungs. Which meant that a bunch of other people came running and there was kind of a scene.
I don't care. I asked a friend who's had VSG who she uses for a NUT and she recommended her folks, so I signed up there and will be given macros to meet by someone who has experience with athletes who've undergone bariatric surgery. I'm not going to be wedged into a one-size-fits-all kind of thing because she's reading from some Nth-generation copy of some manual.

I was ALL up in my feelings before surgery and just had to be reassured constantly.
But here's the thing. The weight is going to come FLYING off you. The first few weeks are hard while you work off the fluids and gas and get used to the new way of things. But once you pee away the extra surgical fluids, you are in the serious honeymoon phase. I could step on the scale three times a day and have it be lower—and I started at a lower weight.
Once you get used to it, you're going to notice so much energy. You won't be stuck in bed. You'll be up and about before you know it.
I know you got this. You're gonna rock it.

This is one of my goals! I just haven't flown yet.

This is one of my goals! I just haven't flown yet.

I just wanted to share some positivity with everyone, especially those going through the hard phases of pre and post surgery right now, or those that are in the buyers remorse phase. I had my gastric sleeve done in July, I have since lost 80 lbs and today was my first time post surgery flying on an airplane. I used to be so embarrassed that the seatbelts didn’t fit me I would put a jacket over my waist so the flight attendants wouldn’t see my seatbelt couldn’t buckle because I was too embarrassed to ask for an extender. But today, just about 3 months post surgery, I am able to buckle and fasten the airplane seat belt. This was a huge win for me & I just had to share :)
Please try your best to stay positive and get through the hard phases, I promise it will be so worth it!

I’m so happy you’re speaking up for yourself @vikingbeast! I’ve noticed that’s a positive attribute many of us achieve after WLS. Maybe it’s the process of fighting for ourselves to get the surgery, and all the work before and after?

I’ve also noticed a big difference between a nutritionist and a fully fledged dietitian with licensure. Dietitians also can meet nation accreditations in specific areas like bariatrics. Look before you listen!

I hit Onderland today!!!

Oh, I bet they're similar to the words I wanted to say. (I only used the f-bomb once, and as a proud son of New Jersey, that counts as INCREDIBLE restraint, we toss that particular four-letter word around like it's a comma.)
I went to see a different doctor for a workup today, a cardiologist, and he congratulated me on the weight loss and said it shows in my heart health. So NYAAAAAAH to the now-fired NUT.

My clinic has not had a dietitian/nutritionist on staff for months now (part of the Great Resignation, I guess). So they've been contracting with people, and I finally had had enough of it.
She asked what I have been eating. I track religiously, down to the teaspoon of mustard (which probably isn't necessary, but...). So I told her. It came to about 850 calories. She absolutely lost her mind, whipped out a booklet, and told me I'm to be eating no more than 1/3 cup of food five times a day. I pointed out that I run or work out literally every day, that I am going back to a pretty physical outdoor job, that I'm losing weight steadily, and that eating this amount gives me the energy I need.
I asked how I was supposed to get the Protein goal the surgeon gave me (80-100 g a day) on that little food, and she told me to stop being difficult, that I was obviously going to just gain it all back (lol, on 850 cal a day, lol lol lol), that too much sodium would spike my blood pressure and heart rate (lol, it was 114/74 during intake with a resting heart rate of 54), etc., etc.
So I fired her. At the top of my lungs. Which meant that a bunch of other people came running and there was kind of a scene.
I don't care. I asked a friend who's had VSG who she uses for a NUT and she recommended her folks, so I signed up there and will be given macros to meet by someone who has experience with athletes who've undergone bariatric surgery. I'm not going to be wedged into a one-size-fits-all kind of thing because she's reading from some Nth-generation copy of some manual.

My surgeon's plan was very low-carb but also low-fat. It wasn't working for me, and my weight loss slowed and then stalled. My new NUT and I put together a plan that was a little higher in carbs, and it worked—apparently my body needs carbs to prepare for working in the beet fields of the gulag or whatever. Added in about 100 calories of carbs a day (that's 25g, math people) and the weight loss resumed its 3-4 lbs. a week swoosh.

Every body is different.

My surgeon's plan was very low-carb but also low-fat. It wasn't working for me, and my weight loss slowed and then stalled. My new NUT and I put together a plan that was a little higher in carbs, and it worked—apparently my body needs carbs to prepare for working in the beet fields of the gulag or whatever. Added in about 100 calories of carbs a day (that's 25g, math people) and the weight loss resumed its 3-4 lbs. a week swoosh.

Every body is different.

This makes me so happy. I have a whole list of goals written on my white board (in purple marker, hence their name as Purple Goals) and one of my Purple Goals is no seatbelt extender and being able to put the tray all the way down. I usually try to fly up front, but I might take a short flight (maybe to Sacramento) to see whether I have achieved my Purple Goal.
I won't ever fit in the seat, of course, because I still have Atlas shoulders, but the seatbelt and tray table thing is possible.

My clinic has not had a dietitian/nutritionist on staff for months now (part of the Great Resignation, I guess). So they've been contracting with people, and I finally had had enough of it.
She asked what I have been eating. I track religiously, down to the teaspoon of mustard (which probably isn't necessary, but...). So I told her. It came to about 850 calories. She absolutely lost her mind, whipped out a booklet, and told me I'm to be eating no more than 1/3 cup of food five times a day. I pointed out that I run or work out literally every day, that I am going back to a pretty physical outdoor job, that I'm losing weight steadily, and that eating this amount gives me the energy I need.
I asked how I was supposed to get the Protein goal the surgeon gave me (80-100 g a day) on that little food, and she told me to stop being difficult, that I was obviously going to just gain it all back (lol, on 850 cal a day, lol lol lol), that too much sodium would spike my blood pressure and heart rate (lol, it was 114/74 during intake with a resting heart rate of 54), etc., etc.
So I fired her. At the top of my lungs. Which meant that a bunch of other people came running and there was kind of a scene.
I don't care. I asked a friend who's had VSG who she uses for a NUT and she recommended her folks, so I signed up there and will be given macros to meet by someone who has experience with athletes who've undergone bariatric surgery. I'm not going to be wedged into a one-size-fits-all kind of thing because she's reading from some Nth-generation copy of some manual.

My doctor (my primary) told me to take my blood pressure/water pill combo the day after surgery and I peed like a freaking racehorse. I was under surgery weight by day 3. Now, six weeks out, I'm done with the first stall (it was more like a slowdown) and am losing relatively steadily at around 3 lbs/week, which is elating.