A bit about me: I had the sleeve surgery in December 2017 period. I've lost a total of 181 pounds since last May, and now I'm looking to gain some muscle mass. I'm currently sitting at 225lbs pounds and 6'2.5" tall.

So many unanswered questions of not been able to find good responses to. Things such as how to start eating any calorie surplus now that I want to add muscle. Will I be able to eat enough to add muscle? Follow me on this thread and I will track my journey for any others that may follow the same path.

Starting status:

8/17/18 - 225lbs

Edited August 20, 20187 yr by BlueCrush

Please document this meticulously for the rest of us

CONGRATS!!!!

Looking great man!? tagging for interest.

Interested to see your journey!

Today was legs day:

3 sets of dumbbell lunges

3 sets of machine hamstring curls

3 sets of dumbbell squats

3 sets of dumbbell calf raises

3 sets of machine leg press

3 sets of machine leg extensions

Today's top workout tracks:

Nothing More - Don't Stop

Avenged Sevenfold - Bat Country

Volbeat - Seal the Deal

Legs current state:

1st Congrats on your success. 2nd GREAT idea for a thread. I was just cleared today to start working out "lightly". I'm only a month out so no where near goal but plan on lifting lighter weights with higher reps for now. I havn't been near weights in quite some time. As my body adjusts I will lower the reps and raise the weight amounts to help build muscle mass. Without researching it I couldn't give you any good answers to your questions, sorry. I'm sure you'll get the answers once some of the more experienced members see this thread.

Again gotta say, Love the idea of this thread. Not only to help others looking to build muscle mass but also for yourself, to track your progress. Best of luck to you sir!!!!!

Thank you, J San. I'm looking forward to see how this progresses.

On 8/19/2018 at 11:31 PM, BlueCrush said:

A bit about me: I had the sleeve surgery in December 2017 period. I've lost a total of 181 pounds since last May, and now I'm looking to gain some muscle mass. I'm currently sitting at 225lbs pounds and 6'2.5" tall.

So many unanswered questions of not been able to find good responses to. Things such as how to start eating any calorie surplus now that I want to add muscle. Will I be able to eat enough to add muscle? Follow me on this thread and I will track my journey for any others that may follow the same path.

Starting status:

8/17/18 - 225lbs

If you haven't check into the "Weight gainer" proteins, high calorie options for building muscle, these are going to be key with limited room for consumption, not like we can pound a few steaks right!

Very true. It's hard to eat high calories while eating clean with the sleeve. Yesterday, I finished out at 1508 calories, 134g Protein, 117g Carbs, 58g fat.

I have some custom oatmeal from truenutrition being delivered today which has protein powder mixed in. I'm planning to add some PB2 powder into it as well. That should give me about a 400 to 500 cal. bowl of oatmeal for breakfast with about 30g of protein. I'm also going to do some experimenting with nuts and peanut butter into meals to increase cals.

Edited August 21, 20187 yr by BlueCrush

Today was arms and back day:

3 sets of dumbbell curls

3 sets of machine bicep curls

3 sets of hammer curls

3 sets of tricep rope pulldowns

3 of tricep skullcrushers

3 sets of bench dips

3 sets of lat pulldowns

3 sets of dumbbell deadlifts

3 sets of machine rows

Today's top gym tracks:

Stone Sour - House of gold and bones

Metallica - Master of puppets

Current arms and back pics:

Today was chest and shoulders day:

Three sets of incline dumbbell bench press

Three sets of dumbbell chest flies

Three sets of machine bench press

Three sets of military shoulder press

Three sets of dumbbell front shoulder raises

3 sets of dumbbell shrugs

Today's top workout tracks (was feeling the 2000's hip hop today):

Nelly - Hot in Here

Dr. Dre - Forgot About Dre

Chest and shoulders current state (these are the body parts I'm most self conscious about as most of my loose skin is in my moobs and stomach):

I've been following the same routines above twice per week (6 workout days and a rest day 7). I'll report back in a month with progress pics and may change up the routine from there.

IMG_0001.mp4I'm meeting with a sports registered dietician who understands bariatric patients next week about just this. I'm down about 140 pounds and I've taken my body fat from about 50% to 30% (which is pretty good for a 57 year old mother of two). However, what I'm learning from working with two personal trainers is that to really build muscle mass and replace fat, you need to add carbs (I know - it goes against everything we think) but as I understand the metabolics of it, if you do not have enough carbs in your diet your body cannibalizes muscle for energy rather than the fat. But I have been frustrated with finding the right balance of carbs to make this happen without going down the slippery slope because they are crack to me.

Timing of protein and carbs around your workout is important as well. You should have some kind of protein within an hour after a workout (usually I go for one of those Muscle Milk kind of things at about 30 grams and 200 calories) and fiber rich carbs an hour or so before and starchy carbs and hour or two after.

I say this from the standpoint of someone who is 5'3" and now 152. I am a nationally ranked foil fencer in my age group (started fencing after surgery) and I fence 6-7 hours a week and am in the gym doing a crossfit-type class with olympic lifting 3 hours a week, Pilates 1 hour a week and agility/speed/other strength at least one other hour a week.

I spoke with my bariatric nutrition team (all really great RDs) and no one there had experience with feeding a post-bariatric athlete. It took a lot of phone calls, but I found someone who is in my health plan so I can have her visits covered. You may want to speak with your team.

DO NOT EAT ALL OF WHAT YOU BURN! Some of what you burn yes - but not all.

Here's a video of me doing a clean and split jerk from about a week ago. Weight is low (55 pounds) but I'm still learning technique. Did I ever thing I'd be able to do this? Nope. ( Back Squat 215, Deadlift 195, Front Squat 165 - current body weight 152).

IMG_0001.mp4

Edited August 28, 20187 yr by Diana_in_Philly
Goofed up adding video

Amazing @Diana_in_Philly !!! That is a hell of an inspiring clip. You look great. I was reading the part where you were listing all that you do for workouts and I laughed because I thought of the saying "I don't have time for workouts". It's the exact opposite for you. You must be saying "I don't have time for ......" to a lot of other things. Congrats to you on your success and keep killing it.

2 hours ago, J San said:

I thought of the saying "I don't have time for workouts". It's the exact opposite for you.

Not making the time for myself is what got me to 300 pounds in the first place. Never again. All the gym work I do is to support my fencing - I've set a goal to try to qualify for the women's national team for my age group when I'm in my 60s. My first shot will be in 4 years. I plan to fence at least 2 tournaments a month this season, starting in September - my husband will be running the Navy Half Marathon in DC (he's lost 60 pounds on this journey with me) and the day before his race I'll fence an event in Falls Church, Va. In April, he came to a National tournament with me in Richmond and ran a half marathon that weekend. This has become our recreation. (It helps that we have one kid in college away from home and the other is now high school age and pretty self sufficient and doesn't mind late dinners.)

@Diana_in_Philly You are truly an inspiration!