I’m almost 4 years post op VSG, wanting to start lifting and building muscles. I lost 100 pounds the first year but I want to lost 30 pounds regain after going to breast cancer last year. So weight gain was partly from meds and emotion aspect as well. Is eating at Maintance best or a slight deficit?

If the goal is to build muscle, maintenance is usually the better place to start. A deficit makes it a lot harder to add muscle, especially post-op.

You can still lose fat while recomposing if protein is high, lifting is consistent, and recovery is solid. I’d focus on strength training first, see how your body responds, and only consider a small deficit later if weight isn’t moving the way you want.

Also worth saying, after everything your body’s been through, meds, cancer, surgery, slow and steady wins here. Building muscle will help more long term than chasing the scale.

5 hours ago, Alex Brecher said:

If the goal is to build muscle, maintenance is usually the better place to start. A deficit makes it a lot harder to add muscle, especially post-op.

You can still lose fat while recomposing if protein is high, lifting is consistent, and recovery is solid. I’d focus on strength training first, see how your body responds, and only consider a small deficit later if weight isn’t moving the way you want.

Also worth saying, after everything your body’s been through, meds, cancer, surgery, slow and steady wins here. Building muscle will help more long term than chasing the scale.

Ok thank you so much for your input!!

So my nurse practitioner with my bariatric office is a pretty heavy weight lifter which has helped her understand my journey because since I was 3 months post op my goal has been to recomp and lose fat and not muscle. Because I started lifting right away in the 135 lbs ive lost only 11.2 lbs has been muscle mass and 130 lbs has been fat. This is according to inbody which I have done since the beginning of my journey.

My muscle loss was early in the journey when I couldn’t eat a lot. I physically couldn’t really get in my protein. I couldn’t comfortably get in calories. First and foremost I AM consistent with weight training. I weight train 3-4 times a week, after every lift I do a 30 minute incline walk, I walk all day and get 12-17000 steps every day, and I also do a HIIT class a couple times a week when it works with my schedule. I am active. Because I am active it does allow me to eat. I eat between 1800-2100 calories every day. I get in atleast 150 g a protein however I like 180 better.

My suggestion for you if you want to lose fat and build muscle is to start by walking. Make walking a major priority, find a trainer that can help you get a program together that prioritizes progressive overload, eat as much protein as you can (ideally 1g for every 1lb of ideal body weight or even goal weight is good enough), and watch that change your life. It’s incredible. I still have about 40 lbs to go in my journey but Im getting there.