So I have recently started working out with a bit more intensity. Before I was just doing cardio. So I have incorporated weight lifting into my routine as well now. So my main questions are since I am doing a lot more exercise do I need to increase my calories? Is that to much exercise at this point? Any other pointers would be great.

My routine is 35 minutes on the elliptical, followed by about 20-30 minutes of weight training, followed by another 15 minutes on the elliptical

I am eating between 600-800 calories a day. But usually closer to 600. My carbs stay under 20.

Generally, no, you don't need or want to increase your calories; maybe for those who get into serious exercise routines (as in marathon training level.) While what you are doing is intense for you, on the overall scale of things, it is still considered to be "moderate" and you should be able to work within your existing caloric budget. You might, at some point, need to increase your carbohydrate allotment if you feel like you are running out of gas, (particularly before a workout,) but that can be done within your normal calorie level, and avoids the problem of "eating back" the calories that you burn.

At this early in the post op game the calories are ok.

I would suggest that you switch up the order of your workout.

For the best fat burn you should lift weights first followed by the cardio.

No food for 2 hrs before workout if you can.

The idea is to not have available sugar so that you are forced to burn fat during cardio not blood sugar

If you are a body builder this is backwards but for max fat burn you need to burn off stored sugar before you will start to burn fat.

1 hour ago, Krista27 said:

So I have recently started working out with a bit more intensity. Before I was just doing cardio. So I have incorporated weight lifting into my routine as well now. So my main questions are since I am doing a lot more exercise do I need to increase my calories? Is that to much exercise at this point? Any other pointers would be great.

My routine is 35 minutes on the elliptical, followed by about 20-30 minutes of weight training, followed by another 15 minutes on the elliptical

I am eating between 600-800 calories a day. But usually closer to 600. My carbs stay under 20.

I’m doing the same but I only do weights a couple of times a week & cardio nearly everyday. 15 minutes on the treadmill & 30 on the elliptical. I’m not sure where some people get information from but ideally you want to eat healthy carbs in the form of fresh fruits ect pre-workout & protein after for recovery. You’ll find you have more energy during workouts if you eat carbs before & your muscles will absorb protein & recovery will come faster after. I’m only lifting light weighs with more reps to build muscle. This will help maintain & build lean muscle. I use MyFitnessPal to track everything (food & exercise). I have not increased my calories at this point. I average between 1000-1200 calories per day & on weight days I burn almost 1000 calories & 600-700 from cardio. I’m able to get in my protein without any problems & eat mainly only lean meats with fruits and veggies. I do drink protein water immediately after my workouts. 70 calories 15 grams of protein. Other than protein I drink nothing else but water. I get the protein water at Costco & I rarely drink shakes anymore.

Edited May 17, 20188 yr by Seahawks Fan

14 hours ago, Seahawks Fan said:

I’m only lifting light weighs with more reps to build muscle. This will help maintain & build lean muscle.

Light weights and more reps will not build muscle. The only way to build new muscle tissue is by over stressing the existing muscle to the point of tears. Then with caloric surplus, the protein is used to build new, tougher tissue to repair the stressed muscle. All the light weight/high rep plans will do for a person is condition the existing muscle to have endurance. Yes it will be more efficient at burning calories over a longer period of time, but you will not be getting stronger.

6 minutes ago, BigViffer said:

Light weights and more reps will not build muscle. The only way to build new muscle tissue is by over stressing the existing muscle to the point of tears. Then with caloric surplus, the Protein is used to build new, tougher tissue to repair the stressed muscle. All the light weight/high rep plans will do for a person is condition the existing muscle to have endurance. Yes it will be more efficient at burning calories over a longer period of time, but you will not be getting stronger.

What about for toning purposes?

There is no such thing as toning. That is merely marketing speak for the temporary swelling of muscle tissue post workout, i.e. "swole".

Here is a nice article by a coach I respect: https://startingstrength.com/training/three_ways_to_not_get_bulky_from_lifting

When you are lifting any weights, oxygen and nutrients are carried to the muscles for fuel. They are carried there by the water in our blood. That is where the firmness comes from after lifting. That is the muscle bellies ability to retain fluid so that the fuel can be burned and the waste carried away. The only way to increase the amount of muscle tissue that can hold more water and fuel is by the overload of the muscle and subsequent healing and rebuild of said tissue. That is why "toned" muscle never stays after people quit lifting light weights for high reps.

Perfect example, here is me when I was doing high rep weight lifting:

Looks nice and big, right? Here is a more current picture of me:

Not quite as impressive, eh? My arms are not as big, but I can lift twice as much weight one year later after switching to low volume/high weight. My deadlift at the time of the first picture was about 120-135 lbs. Second picture I am lifting 260. While not Herculean by any stretch of the imagination, it is an movement I was unable to do 3 years ago. But that is another story for another time.

The point of my reply is this; if you want pretty muscles, lower weight and high volume is the way to accomplish that. If you want stronger, lower volume and higher weight. There is nothing wrong with either desire, but do not confuse the results of either method.

54 minutes ago, BigViffer said:

There is no such thing as toning. That is merely marketing speak for the temporary swelling of muscle tissue post workout, i.e. "swole".

Here is a nice article by a coach I respect: https://startingstrength.com/training/three_ways_to_not_get_bulky_from_lifting

When you are lifting any weights, oxygen and nutrients are carried to the muscles for fuel. They are carried there by the Water in our blood. That is where the firmness comes from after lifting. That is the muscle bellies ability to retain Fluid so that the fuel can be burned and the waste carried away. The only way to increase the amount of muscle tissue that can hold more water and fuel is by the overload of the muscle and subsequent healing and rebuild of said tissue. That is why "toned" muscle never stays after people quit lifting light weights for high reps.

Perfect example, here is me when I was doing high rep weight lifting:

Looks nice and big, right? Here is a more current picture of me:

Not quite as impressive, eh? My arms are not as big, but I can lift twice as much weight one year later after switching to low volume/high weight. My deadlift at the time of the first picture was about 120-135 lbs. Second picture I am lifting 260. While not Herculean by any stretch of the imagination, it is an movement I was unable to do 3 years ago. But that is another story for another time.

The point of my reply is this; if you want pretty muscles, lower weight and high volume is the way to accomplish that. If you want stronger, lower volume and higher weight. There is nothing wrong with either desire, but do not confuse the results of either method.

Thank you for the info! Very helpful. I'm just trying to minimize the excess skin on my upper arms and thighs.

Unfortunately there is no way to undo the damage to the skin after it has been stretched. There is also the fact that new soon has grown to cover our girth when we were fat. That doesn't go away, it can only be removed. No oil or lotion can do that.

Sent from my phone. Please forgive brevity and spelling.

At the point you are at, I was at a similar calorie count and working out a bit more, but was very careful not to eat what I worked out. My workout days would be my 800 calorie days and I would make sure I upped my protein and water intake those days.

Currently, I'm training for Summer Nationals in early July (I fence foil). I fence 5-6 hours a week. (Roughly 1300 calories in 2-3 hours). I'm in the gym doing lifting and circuits (pull ups, Romanian Dead Lift, Shoulder Presses, shoulder rotations with 25 lb plate and push ups - that circuit is 2x week for about an hour and 800 calories with 20 minutes of cardio on the elliptical), an hour of Pilates a week, an hour of agility and flexibility training - most of those days I'm burning 1000 calories - so I up my intake a bit.

I currently eat between 1000 and 1200 calories and shoot for 120 g protein and 80 ounces of water minimum. I up my carbs after lifting. But If I just do an hour workout like you described, I just make sure I drink some more water. So long as you do not feel weak, no reason to add calories. Just space your foods so you can eat something after your workout.

Dang it! You guys all rock. Thanks so much for the question and the answers!

Ok, This will be my one and only response to all the above. You missed the point.

Not everyone who gets WLS has any interest in body building and that is the info you provided.

If you feed your body carbs just before a workout your body will use those carbs and only those carbs.

I can't count the number of post i see every week with the same " i work out but don't lose weight" theme.

Your body will burn easiest form of energy always. If you provide sugar it will burn sugar if you provide carbs it will burn carbs.

Only in the absence of both of those will it burn FAT. Fat burning is energy of last resort your body will not go to it if there is any other source of ready energy.

If building bigger muscle than before is your goal now then you need to feed those muscles as stated in the above posts BUT if your goal is body FAT reduction then you can not eat carbs before a workout.

bookmark this post and in 3 months when you get ready to post about the stall you are in and how much you workout but dont lose any weight come back here instead.

Goodnight, enjoy your weekend

On 5/18/2018 at 3:50 PM, allwet said:

Ok, This will be my one and only response to all the above. You missed the point.

Not everyone who gets WLS has any interest in body building and that is the info you provided.

If you feed your body carbs just before a workout your body will use those carbs and only those carbs.

I can't count the number of post i see every week with the same " i work out but don't lose weight" theme.

Your body will burn easiest form of energy always. If you provide sugar it will burn sugar if you provide carbs it will burn carbs.

Only in the absence of both of those will it burn FAT. Fat burning is energy of last resort your body will not go to it if there is any other source of ready energy.

If building bigger muscle than before is your goal now then you need to feed those muscles as stated in the above posts BUT if your goal is body FAT reduction then you can not eat carbs before a workout.

bookmark this post and in 3 months when you get ready to post about the stall you are in and how much you workout but dont lose any weight come back here instead.

Goodnight, enjoy your weekend

If you want to burn your body's stored fat, you need a caloric deficit; it makes little difference what your diet is composed of, so you may as well make it a fundamentally healthy diet rather than one of these high deficiency diets that eliminates whole food or macronutrient groups. If you swap carbohydrates for fats, as is popular in many of today's fad diets, you simply burn your ingested fat rather than ingested carbohydrate before getting to using your fat stores - either way, you still need a caloric deficit to do that job.

People do often stall when starting or changing up a workout routine due to hydration issues - you need more water to counter increased demand from the exercise, along with the water used in muscle repair. People also often stall when they increase their carbohydrate proportion (within an existing caloric budget) when they are on a low carb diet and their body is running short of glycogen, which fuels our short term exertion and needs water to keep it in solution; those who aren't on a low carb diet but similarly increase their carbohydrate proportion don't see this effect, or not as significantly, as their glycogen is already at or near its normal capacity. This is the same reason that most need to overshoot their goal weight to make up for that snap back regain that happens when they normalize their diet moving into maintenance - they need to account for that previously lost water weight that came with their low carb diet coming back to them. (Note that this is not a reason to avoid a low carb diet if that is appropriate for one's needs, but simply a manifestation of that diet that needs to be accounted for, rather than buying into the mythology.)

1 hour ago, RickM said:

f you want to burn your body's stored fat, you need a caloric deficit; it makes little difference what your diet is composed of, so you may as well make it a fundamentally healthy diet rather than one of these high deficiency diets that eliminates whole food or macronutrient groups. If you swap carbohydrates for fats, as is popular in many of today's fad diets, you simply burn your ingested fat rather than ingested carbohydrate before getting to using your fat stores - either way, you still need a caloric deficit to do that job.

wow a level of wrong so deep you will never make the surface before you drown

fat does not raise blood sugar

carbs will raise blood sugar / increased blood sugar will raise insulin level

as long as you have increased insulin level you will burn NO stored body fat.

You are so lost in the 1990's that it dangerous for you to even open your mouth

There's an awesome book, that I kinda look on as the "bible" of low carb sports physiology that debunks a lot of the myths that circulate about low carb keto diets. Written by two docs who are very well-respected researchers at the fore-front of sports medicine and endurance athletics science.

The Art & Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance - by Drs. Stephen Phinney and Jeff Volek

It's a pretty mind-blowing book, actually.

9 hours ago, allwet said:

wow a level of wrong so deep you will never make the surface before you drown

fat does not raise blood sugar

carbs will raise blood sugar / increased blood sugar will raise insulin level

as long as you have increased insulin level you will burn NO stored body fat.

You are so lost in the 1990's that it dangerous for you to even open your mouth

The problem with depending upon the latest diet fads is that they tend to ignore history, as in all those people from the 90's who successfully navigated their WLS, even when low fat diets were the "in" thing, not to mention that there is little in the diet world that hasn't been tried before and found wanting - that's why the diet industry cycles between diets (what's old is new again!) and why the obesity crisis continues unchecked despite the major pendulum swing toward low carb these past couple decades. It sorta makes one conclude that things are a lot more complex than macro nutrient elimination or the hormone of the day (insulin, leptin, cholesterol, etc.) Keep the faith, and it will keep you all the way until low fat diets are back "in" again.