aroundhky

No problem and wish you the best!

Hey thanks for the props "PdxMan"! "Matthew"....what you've heard about me is true....I do lift. Lifting has pretty much always been an addiction for me. But do I lift sensibly? Probably not. I have two huge scars on my arms (torn biceps) and some scars on my left shoulder (impingement/bone spurs) to prove my lack of sensibility. Since sleeve surgery however, I've been a LITTLE more wise about the lifting, especially in the few months immediately following my VSG. With all that's going on in your lower torso from your surgery, you really want to make sure to ease back into it and err on the side of caution. You'll want those abs to heal back and with almost all compound lifts, you'll use those abs, at least for support. As far as starting out, I went for the very low weight, low reps option the first two weeks back in the gym. Then I stuck with the low weight and increased my reps for another 2-3 weeks or so. At that point, I gradually increased the weight with low reps, then added in higher reps a few weeks later going to failure for the first time. I'll tell you that I was VERY weak and going to failure at that point was what I used to warm up with. It can be very humbling, but just progress slowly, be patient and make sure you get your technique/form back down. Like you'll hear on this board a lot in regards to weight loss...."It's not a sprint, it's a marathon"...or something to that affect. It's better to get to your former strength late, than not make it at all due to injury. I was deadlifting around 450 pounds about a month before my sleeve surgery. Around 5+ months after surgery, I was back to that same deadlift and have since then passed my old max. So it can be done, but with our limited calories, it takes some well-timed meals (complex carbs w/high protein), and being ever-mindful of our eating and training. I also do cardio 1-2 times a week. A lot of it depends on your lifting goals I guess, but I'll be glad to give you more details on my experience if you wish. I'd also like some feedback and tips as you progress through getting your strength back. I'd be interested in hearing what works for you or what doesn't. Take care and look forward to hearing back from you!

'Ivonne'... don't forget about some well-timed slow digesting carbs to go with your lean protein after your lifting sessions. My carbs of choice are broccoli, brown rice, sweet potatoes, oats and quinoa.

Well said "gmanbat"!!

I've just told a few of my friends, the closest ones and they were all good with it and happy for me, especially when I told them that it caused me to stop taking all of my medications. One guy even asked for a good bit of information on the surgery due to his mother's present interest in bariatric surgery. I gave him a lot of information and referred my Dr to her and last I heard, she was following through a little more seriously and starting the road to getting the sleeve herself. Nothing but positive reactions on my end. But maybe it's a little different with guys.......who knows.

Do we need to fill you in on what kind of activities lead to pregnancy or tell you what causes it so that you will know from this point forward? Hmmm....shotgun wedding in the near future? Seriously, congrats and you will love being a parent!!! Wishing you and your fiance the best and that your pregnancy goes well!!!

It sounds like all of your lifts took a hit strength-wise, which is natural. As you've continued lifting, the strength came back in other lifts, but not the bench? Any shoulder issues now that maybe you didn't have before? I'm clueless "tattoo". Maybe hang in there and keep doing them and perhaps it will just come back slower than the other lifts. I hardly bench press, and when I do, it's usually just with dumbbells and not the bar, so I'm at a loss as to why it's dropped off so much and stayed down. Hopefully it will bounce back....good luck!

Have you pretty much maintained your other lifts? If so, and it's just bench that's down, that's a little weird. How much weight have you lost so far?

Great job!!!

'ActingNurse'....yes, you sure do want to hold off on anything that may engage your core for lifting or even using them for support like squats. Just gradually build up to it over the next couple of months and you should be fine. I'm always looking for tips in the weight room, so let me know what works for ya!

I worked out (lifted) off and on for years before surgery. I thought at the time that I lifted fairly often, which was about twice, maybe three times a week. Looking back, I was not nearly as dedicated as I am now with a set plan and lifting 4-5 times a week currently. So I was kind of muscular and kind of strong, but now that I'm over a year out and weigh a lot less, I feel better and I'm now stronger than I was when I was 315-320. Also, for the first two months after surgery, I lost A LOT of muscle due to losing weight so fast. When I first went back to the gym post-op, I was really weak and it really bummed me out. So it's been a slow, but steady road back to strength and now then some. You have similar goals for strength?

Still a work in progress, but muscle really helps to fill in the loose skin. This one is from over 2 months ago, so I've probably made just a little more progress since then. But some of those core/torso muscles were starting to develop by this time. The deadlifts have really helped to keep the flab away from my tummy. Just need to start really light and get that form down before advancing with deadlifts. I've also had very little issues with loose skin on my arms as well. I would recommend targeting muscles and lifting in any area that one wants to improve loose skin or flab issues. My next goal while continuing the "ab" area is to start improving my chest area with some bench press, incline press and dumbbell flys.

My plans are for making turkey chili. I basically use seasoning or chili mix based on desired "hotness", kidney beans, ground turkey, diced tomatoes (or salsa), chopped onions and I add in quinoa as well as a couple of other minor ingredients. Lots of protein and with some good carbs (beans and quinoa). I no longer eat my chili with crackers or tortilla scoops though, but before surgery, I went that route and it was gooooood! Kind of miss that.

This is absolutely horrible. I can't imagine. If the surgeon messed up the procedure or didn't do it right.....I don't think I would be very rational with him. I hate that you are going through this.

'Sleeve_sister", if you are paying....I'm going!

Lasted 6 minutes??? Well that's the problem and why not enough calories are being burned.

My bad, I had an errand to run yesterday when I started writing that reply and was in too much of a hurry, thus not very thorough. Biceps are your front facing upper arm muscles and triceps are the rear facing upper arm muscles that a lot of people want to work on in the gym. A person would do some of the previous mentioned exercises to target these muscles. Someone doing deadlifts would target their whole body and especially the core (torso) muscles that may help with one's tummy area. Deadlifts are basically taking a weight off of the floor and standing up with it. Though it's still a very technical lift that requires good technique/form. If you've never done any kind of resistance training (muscle building/toning), you'll probably want to do a little research (as Fiddleman stated) on some of those lifts or others you may be interested in. "Mcabercrombie"....those are just a few suggestions that you may want to look into that will hopefully build a little muscle in those areas you are wanting to improve.

Not that you want to neglect the biceps, but the triceps make up 2/3 of the muscle in your arms, so make sure to work those triceps with some dips (or assisted dibs) and close grip bench presses along with bicep work. Lower belly is tough to work on unless you want to do deadlifts, squats and planks. The extra deadlifts have helped me on my lower torso (tummy and sides). If you do those, just make sure you go light at first with high reps to learn the technique. Good luck!

Dude........remarkable!!! You're living proof of what many of us do and try to do (including myself), which is taking this tool that we have and making the most of it. And you have made the absolute very most of it and going way beyond what any of us can expect!! Great job man!!

Way to go!

I didn't have a ton of weight to lose to begin with but I was still way over weight and very unhealthy. My blood pressure could not be controlled with the max dosage of meds and I had to use cholesterol meds to control my LDL, had joint pain and I was at 320 pounds about a few years ago. During the 2-3 years pre-op, I fluctuated between 280 and 315. I've lost slow, other than the first 2-3 months after surgery (see signature below). I may not get to my goal of 215, but I still haven't stopped losing and I'm almost 15 months post-op. The last several months I've probably only averaged a pound or two loss a month and I'm currently at 227 (not terribly bad for 6'-3"). But I'm also still losing inches, which lets me know the fat is dropping slowly and I'm actually adding muscle and getting stronger every month. I see this in my max lifts in the gym, so I'll take the pound or two of fat loss a month, especially if I can continue that during all of my second year post-op. If so, that would put me at my goal by the end of this second year. Also, when I put that 215 goal out there, it was just a number that I was told to give myself and to shoot for it. Sometimes goals can be measured by more than just what is on the scale. My body fat has gone from around 35% to about 16-17%, I'm off my blood pressure meds completely now with normal range BP, off my cholesterol meds, joint pain in my knees are gone and I feel MUCH better! So slow loss on the scales for me has not been indicative of my overall progress since surgery. My main goals always were to get healthier and off my meds and I have done that. Any other benefits are just gravy for me (pun intended) and I am very appreciative of this surgery even though I've not lost heaping amounts of weight.

Lifting heavy slowed my weight loss as well. But the key word is weight, which doesn't mean that fat loss slows. My weight didn't come off as fast as most on this site and at first, it bothered me. I was doing compound lifts such as deadlifts, squats, pullups, dips, etc 4-5 times a week. But a few months after surgery, I noticed that I had lost 50+ pounds and my lifts were back to the weight they were before surgery and my strength was fully back. So that tells me that my weight loss was almost entirely fat, which I was more than ok with. The body composition tests that I took backed that up. I was 35+% body fat two months before my surgery, and as of a couple of months ago, I was around 17%. "Pdxman" has had lots of experience and has a tremendous amount of insight on this stuff and if you are going full throttle or close to it as far as exercise, well timed carbs, especially complex carbs are your friends. Hang in there "vogue" and if muscle retention or muscle gain is a top goal, you'll be happy you stuck with it. Good luck! P.S. I'm over a year out now and I'm eating regular sized portions now. Not insane portions like before my surgery, and not eating like a mouse as I was the first couple of months after surgery. So you'll probably be able to eat a little more, just try and make sure those bigger portions fuel those workouts and you'll stay lean.