can you build muscle on a post-op diet?

[ItsMe2033 143]

Okay this was very helpful. Once the lightbulb went on about anything that is not fat lbs = lean mass, then I did 1-fat lbs and re-did my calcs and I feel great! you know why?

Because of my 32 lbs of loss? only 4 lbs was lean mass, rest was fat. Woo hoo!!

So you lost 32 pounds in all -- 4 pounds of muscle and 28 pounds of fat. That means that 88% of the pounds that you lost were from fat and that 12% of the pounds you lost was from muscle. The really impressive statistic is that you lost (burned) 28 * 3500 = 98000 calories from fat loss, and 4 * 450 = 1800 calories from muscle loss. Your total loss was 99800 calories, of which 98000 was from fat, so 98% of your loss comes from fat calories. Pretty damn good, I would say.

[Sarah0829 41]

MY TURN! Lol!

Maybe you can help me...

Surgery weight was 280 and current is 248-250. My scale goes up and down 1-2lbs for some reason... I have a 800 calorie diet ( which I never meet) I workout 5 days a week average of about 409-600 calories (45 min Zumba/60 min walking).... I've lost 30-32lbs! Almost 6 weeks out

The question is why doesn't my scale move consistently? And if I burn 500 calories and intake only 600 my net is only really eating 100 calories worth.., us this bad? Good? That's the part I'm most confused with... I feel like I'm working my butt off scale moving inches definitely coming off... HELP PLEASE

[Sarah0829 41]

*scale NOT MOVING but inches coming off!

[Sarah0829 41]

* Sorry I do one day Zumba the other days 2.5-3 mile walks

[ItsMe2033 143]

MY TURN! Lol!

Maybe you can help me...

Surgery weight was 280 and current is 248-250. My scale goes up and down 1-2lbs for some reason... I have a 800 calorie diet ( which I never meet) I workout 5 days a week average of about 409-600 calories (45 min Zumba/60 min walking).... I've lost 30-32lbs! Almost 6 weeks out

The question is why doesn't my scale move consistently? And if I burn 500 calories and intake only 600 my net is only really eating 100 calories worth.., us this bad? Good? That's the part I'm most confused with... I feel like I'm working my butt off scale moving inches definitely coming off... HELP PLEASE

Here's my best guess.

1) You probably need to make sure that you get at least 800 calories per day. You don't want your body to think you are starving. If you do 600 calories of exercise in a day then you have a net intake of 200 calories, so you should probably add an additional 200 calories to your intake that day.

2) I don't think you mentioned your Protein intake. You should be getting at least 80 grams per day, or possibly more since you are working out so much.

3) Your weight is more likely to vary up and down from one day to the next if you are eating any significant amount of carbs. This doesn't have an impact on how much weight you will lose in a month, but it can have a significant impact on your day to day weight. If you are eating many carbs, but still under you carb limit from your NUT then I wouldn't worry much about this. The underlying cause of this is your body replenishing its glycogen stores.

4) Are you using salt in your food. It doesn't take much salt to cause you to store more Water, which will cause your weight to go up a pound or two. If what you eat the next day doesn't have as much salt, then that weight will come back off.

5) Hormones fluctuations can cause more or less Water weight to be stored. You may be accustomed to that and have some idea if that is a factor or not.

6) The amount of waste stored in your intestines can influence your weight on a daily bases. Do you have BMs daily?

7) Some scales are not as reliable as others. To test this you should weight yourself, then step off the scales, and hold something that weighs 5 or 10 pounds, and weigh yourself (but ignore that weight), then step off the scales, put down the object you were holding, then weigh yourself again. See if the weights are the same, and try this over several days. You should also try to weigh yourself at about the same time everyday.

8) Since you do one kind of exercise on some days and another kind on other days, maybe you sweat more on some day than other and this would result in the loss of more water weight and more electrolytes, which would also impact your water retention.

Do any of these seem like they might apply to you?

[Sarah0829 41]

Here's my best guess. 1) You probably need to make sure that you get at least 800 calories per day. You don't want your body to think you are starving. If you do 600 calories of exercise in a day then you have a net intake of 200 calories' date=' so you should probably add an additional 200 calories to your intake that day. 2) I don't think you mentioned your Protein intake. You should be getting at least 80 grams per day, or possibly more since you are working out so much. 3) Your weight is more likely to vary up and down from one day to the next if you are eating any significant amount of carbs. This doesn't have an impact on how much weight you will lose in a month, but it can have a significant impact on your day to day weight. If you are eating many carbs, but still under you carb limit from your NUT then I wouldn't worry much about this. The underlying cause of this is your body replenishing its glycogen stores. 4) Are you using salt in your food. It doesn't take much salt to cause you to store more Water, which will cause your weight to go up a pound or two. If what you eat the next day doesn't have as much salt, then that weight will come back off. 5) Hormones fluctuations can cause more or less Water weight to be stored. You may be accustomed to that and have some idea if that is a factor or not. 6) The amount of waste stored in your intestines can influence your weight on a daily bases. Do you have BMs daily? 7) Some scales are not as reliable as others. To test this you should weight yourself, then step off the scales, and hold something that weighs 5 or 10 pounds, and weigh yourself (but ignore that weight), then step off the scales, put down the object you were holding, then weigh yourself again. See if the weights are the same, and try this over several days. You should also try to weigh yourself at about the same time everyday. 8) Since you do one kind of exercise on some days and another kind on other days, maybe you sweat more on some day than other and this would result in the loss of more water weight and more electrolytes, which would also impact your water retention. Do any of these seem like they might apply to you?[/quote']

Possibly...some of it Yes!

I get in around 60-80 grams a day if protein....very seldom I eat out (soups, chicken etc) that have high sodium I'm guessing so the water retention is possible...

I have BM every day.... Thank goodness! I don't urinate as often maybe 3 times :/ I drink lots of fluids most days so it's weird...my carbs are limited to mostly pretzel thins...and the little that's in yogurt and low fat cheese... I rarely have any rice (except veggie sushi roll but it's not much) no Pasta, bread, rice, or any other "bad" carbs...

[ItsMe2033 143]

* Sorry I do one day Zumba the other days 2.5-3 mile walks

Do you sweat when you do the Zumba?

[gamergirl 4,609]

So you lost 32 pounds in all -- 4 pounds of muscle and 28 pounds of fat. That means that 88% of the pounds that you lost were from fat and that 12% of the pounds you lost was from muscle. The really impressive statistic is that you lost (burned) 28 * 3500 = 98000 calories from fat loss' date=' and 4 * 450 = 1800 calories from muscle loss. Your total loss was 99800 calories, of which 98000 was from fat, so 98% of your loss comes from fat calories. Pretty damn good, I would say.[/quote']

I'm somewhat surprised by this since I wasn't working out and wasn't lifting basically eating only Protein and drinking Water. From here in out, I think it will be harder to not lose muscle. Recently started walking and biking but will need to up my game shortly.

[gamergirl 4,609]

So you lost 32 pounds in all -- 4 pounds of muscle and 28 pounds of fat. That means that 88% of the pounds that you lost were from fat and that 12% of the pounds you lost was from muscle. The really impressive statistic is that you lost (burned) 28 * 3500 = 98000 calories from fat loss' date=' and 4 * 450 = 1800 calories from muscle loss. Your total loss was 99800 calories, of which 98000 was from fat, so 98% of your loss comes from fat calories. Pretty damn good, I would say.[/quote']

Here's something else. I created that calorie deficit over 60 days which means I ate 1,600 calories less than I burned daily. Add that to the 600 I ate, it means I need 2,200 to maintain which is FABULOUS news because historically, I had starved myself so much, I'd put on weight at a lot less than that, and couldn't lose at 1,200. Maybe my metabolism is re-setting slowly. Who knows.

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

Okay, I can't speak to the science, but I can speak to my own experiences. During active weight loss, I just did what I could. Lets face it, morbidly obese, I couldnt do some things comfortably. i did a circuit work out, Water aerobics and eliptical. I went with longer duration daily exercise.

As I approached goal, and wasn't getting there... I found out about high intensity training. Shorter duration, higher intensity. I dropped weight lifting and started doing boot camp/cross fit and spinning type stuff. About killed me, but wow, the weight loss kicked in gear.

Then, i hit goal, had a summer of fun...haha... but stayed very active. Quit the gym, did my farm work etc but felt I was losing fitness.

I hit it with the Julian Michaels Ripped in 30 days and kickboxing DVDs, and continued my "farm work". I went on a new eating plan to shed the last few pounds... and holy smokes, I have defined muscles now. I am not sure I get it exactly, but i do think that the Julian Micheals type high intensity/short duration/calistenic type approach really works.

I am talking planks, burpees, pushups and stuff like that.

So, I do value maintaining muscle mass but i think I probably sacrificed some during the loss phase, but have managed to get it back and while I am not "ripped" I have noticable muscles hiding under some loose skin now.

Don't be afraid of the weight loss, but DO keep up the fitness exercise, it makes a difference. I am a believer in high intensity interval type training.

My complaint about Julian's DVDs is that for a middle aged gal like myself, she jumps into it too fast. I havve been doing dancing (salsa, zumba, belly dance from utube fitness videos) for 10-20 minutes before now as a fun warmup. I find I can do her workout better since i am warm and loose before I try the hard stuff.

[gamergirl 4,609]

Okay' date=' I can't speak to the science, but I can speak to my own experiences. During active weight loss, I just did what I could. Lets face it, morbidly obese, I couldnt do some things comfortably. i did a circuit work out, Water aerobics and eliptical. I went with longer duration daily exercise. As I approached goal, and wasn't getting there... I found out about high intensity training. Shorter duration, higher intensity. I dropped weight lifting and started doing boot camp/cross fit and spinning type stuff. About killed me, but wow, the weight loss kicked in gear. Then, i hit goal, had a summer of fun...haha... but stayed very active. Quit the gym, did my farm work etc but felt I was losing fitness. I hit it with the Julian Michaels Ripped in 30 days and kickboxing DVDs, and continued my "farm work". I went on a new eating plan to shed the last few pounds... and holy smokes, I have defined muscles now. I am not sure I get it exactly, but i do think that the Julian Micheals type high intensity/short duration/calistenic type approach really works. I am talking planks, burpees, pushups and stuff like that. So, I do value maintaining muscle mass but i think I probably sacrificed some during the loss phase, but have managed to get it back and while I am not "ripped" I have noticable muscles hiding under some loose skin now. Don't be afraid of the weight loss, but DO keep up the fitness exercise, it makes a difference. I am a believer in high intensity interval type training. My complaint about Julian's DVDs is that for a middle aged gal like myself, she jumps into it too fast. I havve been doing dancing (salsa, zumba, belly dance from utube fitness videos) for 10-20 minutes before now as a fun warmup. I find I can do her workout better since i am warm and loose before I try the hard stuff.[/quote']

This was very helpful Jane. I too think HIIT will be the way I want to go. It's the most efficient for weight loss and for conditioning from what I can tell. I think as I get thinner and fitter, my desire for more will ramp up automatically and it will happen as long as I stay focused on it.

I'd love to learn belly dancing! Need to look on YouTube for it. Funny for me to see it in this country because the women who dare to bare their stomachs here are so skinny! For us, stomachs are not sexual, legs are. Here, people wear shorts without thinking about it. First time I saw a skinny chick belly dancing in this country I about died laughing at cultural differences. Where I'm from, a woman has to have some meat on her bones before she starts up with all that! I think I satisfy the meat on bones criteria anyway

You have amazing muscles in your arms and back. That's what I want too!

[Sarah0829 41]

Do you sweat when you do the Zumba?

Yes tons... Full cardio workout hahaha...

[ItsMe2033 143]

Yes tons... Full cardio workout hahaha...

So it would be interesting to see if you weight goes down by more the day after Zumba than it does the other days. If that's the case then it Water loss from the exercise.

Edited October 18, 2013 by ItsMe2033

[Globetrotter 1,340]

Typically, lifting on a calorie deficit such as that will not enable you to "build" muscle. However, lifting during a major calorie deficit (along with sufficient Protein consumption) will help you retain the muscle you do have. Then once you start getting closer to maintenance calories on a daily basis, you'll be able to add muscle and build strength. When you have the clearance from your Dr to begin lifting, it's important to get in there and lift 2-3 times a week, but start out light and slowly build up gradually. This will let your body know that you still need your muscle during this weight loss phase and your body will use more fat for energy and less muscle. You'll hold onto your muscle a little better than you would by not lifting during the major weight loss phase. Just my humble opinion through my own experiences and the bit of reading that I've done. Good luck!

Can you recommend how to lift while in this state? I'm a sleeve vet but after some recent autoimmune issues/illness and a procedure, I have to be on a very gentle very light diet for awhile, basically returning me to post-op eating. That, plus what with everything I haven't been to the gym in 2 months, what regimen do you recommend? I have access to free weights and a few basic machines.

[Sarah0829 41]

True I can try that!

Thanks!