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Fat vs Lean Muscle Loss



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Hey everyone,

I am almost 2 weeks out from my VSG surgery and was wonder something. I used to be an avid power lifter before a knee injury and still enjoy lifting heavy when I can. I still have a lot of residual muscle from those days and wonder how much if any of my muscle will I be able to keep over the next year to year and a half when I drop my excess weight. I know that your body prefers to burn lean tissue before burning fat so I expect to lose a lot of muscle mass. I just don't want to lose it all lol. My Dr. says I can gradually start working out again after my 6 week mark. Right now I'm just walking. Is there anyone out there that has experience with this?

Thanks everyone :)

Bigbeaz.

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I lost a lot of muscle mass, but I tried to keep it to a minimum by being pretty diligent with my Protein intake both through natural sources and Protein drinks. I lifted a couple times a week, but my main concentration was aerobic exercise through running and HIIT. I know I lost a lot of muscle, but I would like to think it wasn't as bad as it could have been had I not done these things to ensure that when my body was going to be doing muscle repair, it had the Protein available to do so.

There is a whole exercise and fitness forum HERE.

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Yeah I am looking forward to being able to use regular Protein instead of this Isopure pre-mixed stuff I'm on now. They recommended me to get in 70-80 grams of Protein a day but I've been having trouble doing that lol. Hopefully it gets better once im on regular foods.

Not going to lie though it will be nice to finally have this extra weight off lol.

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Yeah, 2 weeks out, it is impossible to hit 70-80 grams of Protein. Don't do the shots, either, as it is usually casein Protein, which is OK before bed if you are power lifting, but is a slow absorber otherwise. Ensure you are hitting your liquid goals first as you can end up in the ER for dehydration, but not for lack of protein.

Know what I mean?

The protein goals will come.

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yeah, Ive used those before. Someone else on these forms said they were useless for us basically. Yeah I had an IV once already because I wasn't getting my liquids, I think its just because I was sleeping so much and didn't have time in the rest of the day to get them in.

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
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