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Advice to anyone pre-op



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If I could go back in time, I would have gotten a personal trainer and started lifting Before I had the surgery. Because I only really went hard on the weights post op, I don't really know how strong I was to begin with and if I'm just weak because of muscle atrophy or because I was always weak.

Also, take good and comprehensive measurements now! They'll really help when you to monitor your losses.

Any other good tips from anyone who has been sleeved?

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Hi,

what do you mean muscle atrophy? Have your muscles atrophied after the surgery? And have you done any weight lifting at all before surgery? Usually it takes time to see major strides in lifts and sometimes it can be harder if you still have some extra weight to lose.

i haven't gotten surgery yet but hearing that you're concerned about your muscles scared me!

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This is a good idea. I'm just getting started -- surgery is probably about a month away. I should try to add some weights in, and I do want to take good measurements.

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I started HIIT in February and it has become one of the most important things in my life. After my surgery on the 31st I'll probably stop by classes and just do the cardio so I can stay with my people. I'm worried about losing strength and progress so I'm going to consume about 150 g of Protein.


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Worrying about muscle atrophy is silly and ridiculous honestly. Unless you're a hardcore bodybuilder at their peak or end up with a feeding tube (which I have no idea why this would even happen) , expecting substantial loses in muscle mass isn't going to happen especially over a relatively short period of time.

Follow your diet, get your Protein, work out and you'll be fine.

That said there's nothing wrong with working out preoperatively before your surgery, in fact it's probably a good idea

Edited by Mhy12784

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Sorry, I didn't mean to alarm anyone. I did not mean to imply "atrophy" in the extreme sense of seeing someone wasting away or with significantly smaller limbs (as you'd see with someone completely immobile for months on end). But more so with the extreme calorie deficits our bodies will be in, our bodies will try to conserve as much fat as they can and will try to use muscle for fuel. To combat this and also increase metabolism, both resistance and endurance exercise are recommended. Here's a good simple explanation: http://bariatric.stopobesityforlife.com/obesity-surgery/correcting-obesity/bariatric-surgery-side-effects/loss-of-muscle-mass/

You Will still have muscles and you will have the energy to do things postop, but the amount is mostly up to you with meeting protein/vitamin goals and how much resistance training you work up to.

We like to think that after surgery, all of the weight we lose is pure fat, but it isn't. One study found that in the first 3 months, patients lost about 45 pounds, made up of 41% lean body mass and 59% fat mass. The good thing is that by a year out, the weight they lost was 70% fat mass and only 30% lean body mass. I wasn't able to find their eating or exercise guidelines so make of this what you will.

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On 7/22/2017 at 2:16 AM, Meyer13 said:

Hi,

what do you mean muscle atrophy? Have your muscles atrophied after the surgery? And have you done any weight lifting at all before surgery? Usually it takes time to see major strides in lifts and sometimes it can be harder if you still have some extra weight to lose.

i haven't gotten surgery yet but hearing that you're concerned about your muscles scared me!

Hi! I simply meant that our body would turn to breaking down/using our muscles as one of its main energy sources (in addition to fat) because of the extreme calorie deficit it will be in. I'm sure I have lost muscle, unfortunately, I never pushed myself to failure when I was lifting pre-op so I don't know how much weaker I am now than before. On the positive side, the surgery has definitely also helped me lose fat! Which makes it easier to do my 60 minutes of cardio 3-4 days a week in addition to my push, pull, and lower body resistance days.

Progress is totally possible post-op in terms of strength. I've been hitting the weights since I was 2 weeks post op and I've been able to increase the weights on all of my exercises by 5-20 pounds! I don't think it's likely that I'll put on significant muscle mass while I'm losing because the conditions necessary to gain muscle are pretty similar to conditions to gain fat (excess calories, but also with Protein and complex carbs). However, there are so vets on here who are much further out than I am who have shown some great gains!

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20 minutes ago, PAstudent said:

Sorry, I didn't mean to alarm anyone. I did not mean to imply "atrophy" in the extreme sense of seeing someone wasting away or with significantly smaller limbs (as you'd see with someone completely immobile for months on end). But more so with the extreme calorie deficits our bodies will be in, our bodies will try to conserve as much fat as they can and will try to use muscle for fuel. To combat this and also increase metabolism, both resistance and endurance exercise are recommended. Here's a good simple explanation: http://bariatric.stopobesityforlife.com/obesity-surgery/correcting-obesity/bariatric-surgery-side-effects/loss-of-muscle-mass/

You Will still have muscles and you will have the energy to do things postop, but the amount is mostly up to you with meeting protein/vitamin goals and how much resistance training you work up to.

We like to think that after surgery, all of the weight we lose is pure fat, but it isn't. One study found that in the first 3 months, patients lost about 45 pounds, made up of 41% lean body mass and 59% fat mass. The good thing is that by a year out, the weight they lost was 70% fat mass and only 30% lean body mass. I wasn't able to find their eating or exercise guidelines so make of this what you will.

Lean body mass doesn't mean muscle, it means anything that's not fat. Water glycogen stool digesting food are all included. Yes you'll lose some muscle but not much

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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. LeighaTR

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    • Alisa_S

      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.
      · 1 reply
      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.

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

    • CaseyP1011

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