aroundhky

Also, how's your blood-work with the nutritionist? Everything ok? Iron, vitamins, etc?

The rapid weight loss early on and loss of strength to go along with it is basically unavoidable. That's one of the reasons they say it's better to lose weight slowly. But the first few months after the sleeve, there's really no way to get in enough cals/protein to halt the rapid weight loss or even slow it. Just know that your body will rebound some strength-wise once your weight loss slows. I'm not gonna lie, I started to freak out a little the first few months after surgery noticing that I was getting flabby and weak. But I'm hear to tell ya, keep lifting and getting the proper nutrition to support your lifting efforts, and it will come back and possibly even better than before because you will be more able to have intense workouts. As for the sore legs.....I'm not sure what to tell you. What kind of exercises are you doing? Are you running every day or squating several days a week? Seems like we may need a little more info on your routine to hopefully get to the root of your leg problem. It may be that your body just needs time to adjust to the new increased activities. Is it muscle or joint pain? Sometimes muscle pain or especially soreness is fine, or even a good thing. But joint pain is something to be concerned about. If it's muscle soreness, you'll want to wait until the soreness in the particular muscle is just about gone before doing that body part again at the gym. Also, the Protein and some complex carbs (green veggies, Beans, brown rice, quinoa, sweet potatoes, etc) will help your muscles recover.

That's awesome "MinkyWinks"! I can relate to the feeling of being out of sorts if I don't exercise or how great I feel after I do exercise. Sure, I'm a little tired, but feel even better than I did right before my workout. For most of us, I don't really think there's a need to exercise endlessly or do hours and hours of cardio a week. From what I've read, spurts of exercise, even 15/20 mins a day is usually very beneficial.

Na....at least we know how you feel.....I'm sure you're not the only one that feels that way.

That's a perfectly good excuse and fairly typical. Give us a chance, maybe we can still help you find something for you to do and like. There's really no wrong exercise as long as you don't hurt yourself. So maybe it's just a matter of getting yourself going and getting to the gym, track aerobics room etc? Do you feel lethargic and just not want to get going? Maybe it's a timing thing.....perhaps finding when your most energetic time of day is and maybe exercising then?

Don't hold back Laura.....tell us how you really feel.

What specifically do you hate about it? That may help you see what exactly gives you the negative outlook towards exercise and maybe there's a way to get around what you hate, find something you like and thus be more motivated. Is it a public thing and you don't like being around other people while you do it? Is it because maybe you don't have much time due to a busy schedule and stress about finding time for it? Is it the actual physical exertion involved and you don't like or the sweating often involved? Is a combination of some of these or something entirely different? If you can, let us know what specifically you don't like about it and maybe there's something you can do to still get exercise in and not hate it.

Thanks for the kind words "M2G" and "Laura"! My arms and chest do nothing for my doctor's charts/stats though..... Just trying to keep him and my nutritionist happy. Now it's off to the gym at lunch.....no arms or chest today.....doing all lower body this session.

Thanks "Georgia"! Yeah, the only real goals that mattered to me to begin with were getting healthy and feeling better. And the numbers that I really cared about referred to LDL/HDL, blood sugar, systolic/diastolic and body composition, which are now all satisfactory and considered healthy. My actual weight or BMI numbers (as far as my priority) fell somewhere behind the rest of those that I just mentioned. But since the scale number is the only goal left for me, I'm still wanting to get there, so we'll see. If not, I'm still healthy, happy and strong.

Thanks Sue!

I'm a year and a half out and not at goal. I'm not overly worried about it, but I'm making a new push to get to 215, I started around 300. I've reached all of my other goals (less body aches, off medications, more energy, etc), except for the weight goal. At 6-3, I think 215 (if I make it), will be a little slimmer than I prefer to be, so I like where I am now and will probably settle back in to the low to mid 220s. I have about 8 pounds to go, so we'll see. As for reasons, perhaps because I lift weights quite a bit, was a fairly low BMI'er to start with and also because I do slip up every once in a while with my food, but it's fairly rare. So my focus to help me get to goal is to do a little less resistance training and more cardio, absolutely no food slip ups at least until I make goal and also watch my salt since Water rentention can play a bit of a role as well. I've lost 2 pounds the past week and a half, so this may be helping some.....we'll see.

I know exactly what you mean about your body being out of sorts on days you don't workout. I'm not sure what collagen is, but if it's helping and is healthy, I say take it. Keep doing what you're doing and don't worry about the scales....you'll be fine!

I know what you mean on the scale part. I workout 5-6 days a week (since about 3 weeks post op) and the scales have pretty much always moved slow due I think to the resistance training and that I was a fairly low BMI to start with (37-38). The muscle issue is a big factor and causes the scale to move slower, but I hope you don't let that deter you. You will have less sagging skin issues and your body composition will be better even if the scale isn't moving quickly. I'm a year and a half out and still haven't reached goal weight, but I've reduced my body fat % tremendously, and that's more important to me than a number on the scale. But I'd still like to reach goal weight and have about another 9-10 pounds left to go, which I'm working on. But if I never do reach it, I'll still be ok with it because I'm healthier and my body composition has greatly improved. So keep lifting and looking great! You are doing a great job!

That's.................wow......you look great!!! Yeah, you should absolutely wear that in public......smokin'!

Mine are more "before" and "current" since I'm not to goal.....still hope to get there and call it an "after" photo.

Chlorine = squeeky clean bladder and kidneys!

Holy crap man! Way to go! And in just 4 months!

I think it depends on the kind of carb........some can be very good depending on your situation/goals. They tend to all be lumped together and the good ones get a bad rap because of the "black sheep in their family" (simple carbs). Not all carbs are created equal. Carbs can be a powerful tool if you're using the right kind and using them correctly. With great power comes great responsibility. Good carbs.......

He could've just said your "hawt" and left it at that. Being hot takes everything that one sees and knows about that person to come to that conclusion. There was no need for another adjective.......he's an idiot!

That was good stuff...thanks for posting that! #1....I still sweat a lot......

Yep! Year and a half out here and I eat about half as much as I used to. First few months it was about 1/3, but for the past several months (for me), it has settled in around 1/2 as much as I used to eat.

Welcome "2big2skate"! I think you'll be happy you made the decision to be sleeved. I don't see a personal trainer, but I do workout regularly (5-6 days a week). I'm guilty of sneaking back into the gym too early (about 2+ weeks post op), when my Dr recommended me to start around 6 weeks post op and no earlier than 4. I was lucky given my indiscretion and was not injured. But I also took it easy and started back really light with resistance training. I have no idea about training to skate, but that sounds fairly rigorous, so I'm sure you'll burn quite a few calories when you're able to get back into it. I say whatever gets you moving.........go for it! Just ease back into it when you start at the gym and be careful not to dive in, just build up gradually and you'll have a better chance of staying injury free. Good luck getting back on the ice!

Been there!

Yep.........maybe there's an update coming.........?