Catracks

I'm at 5'1" and 175 down from 246. You can see that on my ticker though. I have been stalled out for month or more. I have begun to seriously hike (I mean climbing peaks and being on the trail for hours). I too am very happy and can do the things I love again, but it is frustrating after loosing so quickly in the first few months. I'm thinking of stepping back and maybe going on Protein shakes for a couple weeks -- or maybe just eating nothing but protein and getting back to the basics. Yes, I know I'm building muscle and retaining Water while they heal, but it really sucks. I don't want to go back to 110 pounds. I looked mal-nourished back then - even with my small frame.

Looks like Eaton Canyon or Sturtevant Falls above Arcadia in the Little Santa Anita Canyon. I love waterfalls. I'm just getting back into hiking myself. Last week it was Mt. Baldy. Yesterday it was Redbox (Mt. Wilson) to Switzers. It's the first time I've been hiking in the Angeles National Forest since the Station Fire. Poor trees! Most are burned to a crisp!

So I get a letter from my surgeon telling me to have blood drawn for the following tests: CBC Complete metabolic panel Lipid panel PTH Iron binding B12 Folic acid Vitamin A, D-(Hydro xy), E, K, Magnesium, Calcium, Thiamine (B1) Then my PCP wants: Lipid panel A1C I started out with really high cholesterol, borderline diabetes and fatty liver. Everything was down significantly at my two week blood tests. The cholesterol was still high, but had dropped like 70 points. The blood sugar was down, but I think the A1C (blood sugar over a couple months) was a 6 I think. How many of you had number that were high and had them mostly resolved and normal at 6 months? I know everyone is different, but I'm just curious about trends. Now to rant: They stuck me 4 times with a butterfly needle (tiny veins) and took 16 vials of blood! I was also slightly dizzy and dehydrated. I fasted, but I should have drank more Water.

I like to see my A1C sugar at 5.9 or below so my PCP will stop waving the Metaformin in my face. I had a 7 at my highest and he declared me diabetic. Last time it was a 6, but he says it's just well controlled. Phooey. He doesn't believe I can ever come back from being diabetic. My surgeon thinks the opposite.

BlaqBeary, I want to get a Panniculectomy myself. May I ask where in California you are? What surgeon you will be using and if you got insurance to cover it? I seen much worse than mine, but my flab skirt in not very nice and I've got a bit to go to hit goal.

My husband, daughter and the people I love treat me the same. My husband has always loved me at any weight. Strangers and acquaintances treat me very differently than they did before and I'm not even at goal. I tend not to blame them too much. Even the nicest person is hardwired to some extent. I just try and remember what it was like for me and treat others accordingly. Now I just want to tell everyone about this surgery, but it CERTAINLY isn't our place unless asked. I had my blood drawn this morning and a beautiful young woman came in. She was so pretty, but she was quite large -- like maybe mid 400s. I just said a prayer to myself that she either is or gets to be right where she wants to be.

Pasadena area here.

I had lower back pain about that time. I also noticed that my posture was bad. I'm not sure what it is, but it might have something to do with weight re-distribution. I worked on my core trunk muscles and learned to sit straight.

but she has a pouch! What did they do? Reattach the stomach and then do this pleating stuff? I can pretty much tell her future. It sounds like she never retrained her mind or her body. I'm just glad the sleeve doesn't stretch too much. From 4 oz. to approximately 8 oz. I can handle. She was either doing the slider thing or she stretched the heck out of that pouch, or both.

He might be sorry eating that fast when he gets to solids. If you eat too fast and too much at once it is almost guaranteed to come back up on you -- or you wish it would. Very uncomfortable.

I am still a total foodie and love to watch food shows and cook. I do have to admit that he can eat faster and more than I was able to, but he is a man with a larger sleeve probably and he is doing extraordinarily well. I had a fast recovery too. Do keep in mind that liquids go down pretty easily. He will feel more restriction when he gets on solids.

For us folks just starting out on an exercise regimen, there is a nasty little surprise: Weight stall or gain. It's all over the internet. I've been on 3 very strenuous hikes and they have caused me to gain a couple pounds immediately after. I know I'm healthier, but it's disconcerting. I have been reading fitness articles like this one and the articles on the right hand side of the article below. They are all about weight gain and exercise: http://www.livestrong.com/article/378472-why-am-i-gaining-weight-with-exercise/ Now they make a very good point. We should be all about fat-loss as opposed to weight-loss. They also say in some of the other articles that the high intensity exercise that I prefer may not be the best for me because of anaerobic verses aerobic training and a host of other factors like Water retention, muscle mass and glycogen storage. It's just not as simple as burning more calories than you take in. I walk everyday and hike on the weekends. Should I increase my daily workouts? Decrease my weekend workouts? Mix it up more or stay on the same schedule? Increase the mileage and intensity of the hikes? Decrease it? I honestly do not know what to do.

I read the Staci article. I guess I'm on a modified paleo diet. I don't demand grass fed and wild caught. I also eat a lot of dairy. I think some cultures have adapted to dairy over the years while some haven't. Most Asian people I know are lactose intolerant. I have cut the sugar (except for my tiny bit of dark chocolate) and do not really eat processes foods except for my sunflower whole wheat crackers and those raisin rosemary crackers from Trader Joe's. mmmmmmmm. What I need is a drill sergeant. "More PT SGT, more PT. I like it, I love it, I want more of it! ARRRRRRGGGGGHHH" &c. Yes, I see them out there on the web. Can't hurt to give it a try.

I have to do things I enjoy like walking, hiking, swimming, kayaking or biking. Weight training as in lifting cannot keep me focused. Same with ellipticals and treadmills. I like Tae Bo, because it's fun to punch and kick :-) I want muscle, cardio fitness and weightloss. I wouldn't mind extra pounds if it meant that I was fit and toned. Personal trainer. That must be expensive. Do they just carve out a routine and let you have at it? or do they stand over you like I think what happens in The Biggest Loser? (I've never seen it). I've never had a personal trainer. Greedy huh?

I have been using MFP daily, but I haven't been adding in the exercise because I didn't want to pay attention to the net calories. I drink almost exclusively Crystal Light. I like the orange sunrise, the lemonade and the strawberry. Yes, there was information that your muscles will retain the water when healing and also as storage because you body expects you to go through another round. That's why it takes so long to lose that water weight. It was exhilarating to have finished those hikes. I am doing the things I used to love and had missed for so long, but I am also very goal oriented when I latch onto something and the weight loss has been that goal. Maybe a revise not that I have fitness goals too? Yes, the scale will move. Just perhaps not as quickly? Bingo! Really? Gulp! You're body gets resistant to fat loss? Boy that seems counter-intuitive, but this stuff is really confusing. Oh wait: You mean as your body gets conditioned to the workout you've been doing? That's why you have to mixed it up and step it up? Wow. You look great BTW.

Yes, Water. I never get enough water and I suppose my body really holds onto what I do get. I'm going to add the Tae Bo and some biking in. Lissa, I can't find the specific article. They do like Legos on that site. Very clever. It would probably be a lot more simple if I just concentrated on eating right exclusively, but my pulse and blood pressure have come down ever more and I feel even better.

Hey, THANKS! Too bad I HATE poached eggs. Nice to know that when I do use my protein powder, I'm doing my body a good thing. You might want to post this on the Food and Nutrition board.

It wouldn't have bothered me. I just forgot. I was too busy scoping out Protein powders. i also forgot to save my biggest pants so I could stand in one leg and cheer. Oh well. I have plenty of embarrassing pictures. Oh wait! I just saw the above post. My surgeon did take measurements. When taking new measurements do you wrap the tape really tight so that the miles of hanging skin doesn't count? I'd hate to count that. Sorry, it's a self deprecating, Rodney Dangerfield type of day. The skin thing is really pissing me off today.

If you plan to do something strenuous like say ... hike up a mountain, make sure you get enough carbohydrates and stay hydrated. I got the worse case of muscle fatigue and cramping. I was literally in pain and couldn't move well. All I had for the day was a bit of refried Beans and some cheese, On a very low carb diet, your muscles do not have the glycogen stores to be able to sustain such activity. DUH! I went out and got some Soup and ice cream. Not shivering anymore. All better. At the counter was some apple juice. I don't drink sugar Water anymore, but was craving it like you wouldn't believe. My muscles basically needed easy to covert straight sugar. The extra fat we have can not be converted fast enough during this type of exercise. A friend of mine told me this: I have a Chiropractor friend who does bicycle races in the Rockies,etc...He says that at pit stops the racers gorge on carbs,Gatorade,sweets..etc and they still lose weight ! The pace in the mountains is brutal and electrolytes is a mainstay. I know there are a few of you out there who do marathons and otherwise train heavily. Maybe you could advise on the best things to eat during long endurance training.

Now I'm just stumbling over this stuff. He's another guy for chocolate milk. I hate video article though. I really wanted a list of foods. http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/features/elite-athlete-workouts/nathan-adrian/best-time-to-eat-after-a-workout-29616944.html

I wonder about that too. For awhile I was experimenting with ultra high Protein bread, but it tastes like crap and it would just sit there until it molded. I just buy good, healthy bread for everyone and have an occasional bit. The last thing I latched onto was Trader Joe's whole wheat peasant or rustica bread i think it was called. If I'm going to eat something it going to be good for me and good to eat.

Wow! That's amazing!!! I was looking at your menu from a sleeve perspective and it made me laugh. I'd love to tell my nutritionist about this. I'm pretty sure she has no experience with this. In fact, It kind of blew my mind that she did not know how to make a good Protein shake. If you do it right, they can be very good. This was my hike: Trail Stats: Devils Backbone Trail via Baldy Notch Mileage to summit 3.2 Trailhead 7800' Baldy Summit 10,064' Total gain 2264' Gain per mi. 707' Then taking a different and very steep route down from the summit is: 4.2 miles with a loss of 3,900' of elevation. I know 6.2 miles sounds like nothing, but it's steep and there is the elevation for those of us not far above sea level. It's also fun if there's still snow up there because sliding down the bowl beats walking anytime!

I think some figs bars and an orange are going with me on my next hike. I wish I new the right proportions though. I just ran into an article that says that chocolate milk might be better after strenuous exercise than sports drinks. All this bike talk makes me want to get back on my bike. I have a Giant mountain bike that is about 10 years old. I wish I would have gotten a small frame instead of the extra small.

I had a two week post-op appointment with my surgeon and he cleared me for any type of exercise. I would give them a call if you didn't get this appointment. I would make sure your incisions were healed. I would say 3-4 weeks would be more like it, but again, check with your surgeon's office.

My upper abdomen looks okay. Okay enough to actually wear a bikini top, albeit with board shorts. Anyway, I got in the pool and poked the right side of my stomach. There was this slow motion ripple from one side to the other like slapping a bowl of Jello. It was so weird that the kids kept asking me to "Do it again!!!" Then there is the lower abdomen. I tried jump up and down. As I went up, it went down. As I went down .... well, you get the picture. I look a lot better, but there are some issues to be addressed and I'm not even done loosing weight. Anybody once opposed to plastics and then reconsidered?