aroundhky

I doubt you are adding a lot of muscle mass at this point. Running doesn't really bulk you up ... at all. What it does do, though, is help store glycogen more efficiently in your muscles. Glycogen is mainly stored in your liver, but when your body sees it needs more resources, due to additional exercise, it will begin to also store glycogen in muscles. One of the differences, though, is when it is stored in muscles, it must also bond with Water in a 4 to 1 ratio. So, if you are storing an additional pound of glycogen, you also have to store an additional 4 pounds of water. This equates to 5 additional pounds! So then you think, "Woa! I'm giving up all exercise, then!" Well, as you mention, your clothes are fitting better. I'm also guessing you have great energy and have a better overall feeling of wellness. Not even to mention the heightened metabolism. I know when I was running regularly, my body was a furnace and my weight loss was incredible. Don't worry about the scale or your doctors if you decide to stay committed to this. They will understand what exercise is doing for you. And ditch the scale. It measures weight, not fat. What are you looking to lose? Another great post by PdxMan! Thank you for explaining it so well! My typical response is that the body is holding onto water more (in a non-bloated way) with the exercise. This is so much better! Bottom line.....the weight gain is not fat and that's the main thing. Dr's who ONLY look at the number on the scale and judging their pateints by that are not really looking out for their patient's best interest. Again.....great post!

Oh yeah.....and welcome to the site and message board!

I hear ya "Quietstorm" and wishing you the best with the surgery!

Oh.....and I am 41 years old. I missed that one....oops

How old are you? What surgery did you have? Sleeve Male or female? Male How much weight did you lose? Total lost from highest to lowest after sleeve....around 90 pounds How fast did you lose your weight? Very fast the first 3 months, and finally hit goal weight around 20 months post op. Have since gained about 15 pounds back. If you are female and didn't have cosmeticr surgery, are you comfortable enough to go to the beach in a bikini? I don't qualify to answer this question, but I would say that I've had no cosmetic surgery "yes" anyway to the bikini. Seriously, I don't mind wearing just my swim trunks on the beach and have many times the past few summers. How much loose skin do you have? None

Get active and moving first (lots of walking, swimming, etc). Then when you start resistance training, educate yourself, set goals you want to accomplish from lifting, have reasonable expectations at first, and find ways to get and keep yourself motivated. Wish you the best!

Great job, you'll go beast mode nest time!

Excellent choices! Hopefully we'll be able to see them online.

Congrats!

Great for you on deciding to hit the gym! Seems like there may be a regional board on this site where you may have a better chance of Michigan(ers?) see your ad. Not sure, but seems like I've seen one on here somewhere. Good idea on getting a workout partner....accountability is one of the important parts to sticking with it early on. Wish you the best!

Trainers can cost a bit much at times, but they can be worth the money, especially if you just get one initially to help you through the initial process, knowledge transfer and how to perform the many types of lifts/movements with proper form/technique. They can be good to motivate and push you to new limits as well, but that's usually more long term and will cost more. I would just make sure you get a type of trail period before committing long term and with more money. Some are great, some are slack and some just are not always a good fit personality-wise. Wishing you the best!

So one reason is probably because you can't go below 90 degrees. I can only go so low myself due to the scar tissue in my knee from ACL reconstruction back in college. I can go lower than 90, but if I try a$$ to heels, my good leg can do that, but without my full range of motion in my bad one, it will not bend as much or go as deep, and I'd just fall over to the side. Have you tried similar movements to a deep squat that maybe is a little easier on your knees such as a Hack Squat, Leg Press or Smith Machine Squat? I don't really do lunges, but I heard they help as well. Anyway, I'm wishing you the best!

Can't deny.....love round booties! Cowgirl......depending on the health of your back and knees, deep squats are very beneficial. Squats are mostly all about working the quads going down to parallel with the ground. Go deeper than that, and you'll really engage your glutes and hamstrings....which can help with butt shape. Also doing these with volume or time under tension....basically doing high reps to failure will help with the "rear section". Anyway....good luck and feel free to send progress pictures.

Probably cracked me up more since it's a Friday. If it was a Monday....my reaction may have been different.

Perhaps this doesn't make others laugh as it does for me....but I had to share. "QuadraTraps"???? Cracks me up!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8diH-XUdvQ

Fiddle......no need to feel guilty man. Fitness, especially resistance training is really about switching things up anyway. As soon as your body adapts to a type of training, you get less benefit from it, so it's best to constantly change to keep your body firing on all cylinders. So this fits right in with that concept. Curvy stated it perfectly, you gave it a try, it gave you a new perspective and some benefit, and now it's time to move on to something else that will benefit you. No need to do fitness and work on physique if you're constantly in pain. I can tell you are a bit of a perfectionist...which has it's place at times, but I certainly see no need to beat yourself up over this. Good luck with the P90X and other things that you will try along the way! Main thing is staying active and getting exercise, and you've got that covered!

Many first time gym goers understandably feel this way. It can be somewhat intimidating.....at least from their perspective. As a "gym rat", I'll be the typical one there just sticking to my workout, focused on it and not giving a second thought about anyone else in the gym. Not to be rude, as in not caring or considerate of others, but I'm just not interested in why someone else is there or what specifically they are doing or how they are doing it. I think most people there are similar to me.....their time is limited, they have a goal they want reached and in order to reach it, they can't concern themselves with what others are doing at the gym. There may be very few that differ from this and if so, they are usually more there to socialize than to exercise and apparently have all kinds of time on their hands to do so. Regardless, I don't think newbies have anything to worry about as far as what others at the gym may be thinking. And if someone would happen to be there watching your every move, judging and analyzing you, trust me, they have a lot bigger problems than someone new at the gym. Remember, you are there for YOU......not them. So I would not give a rip about what someone else may or may not be thinking. Those fit people there that you mentioned had to start somewhere as far as learning about the gym and if were them, I would actually be really happy for someone taking the reigns in regards to their fitness and would try to be the first to lend a hand in helping them learn. My advice......just stick with going to the gym, stay focused on what you want to accomplish and before you know it, you'll be one of those that knows what they are doing and perhaps will be in the position one day to help a newbie yourself. Good luck and I wish you the best!

I've found carbs to be both a friend and enemy....depending on how they are used. Every person seems to have their own unique sensitivity to carbs, so there's that complicated variable. I also think that during the first several months post-op (major weight loss phase), they should probably be very limited. Just my opinion, but during this phase, macro priorities seem to be... #1-Protein, #2-Healthy Fats and #3-Carbs (limited to veggie types and "slow carbs"). During this phase, it seems nearly impossible to actually build muscle during this rapid weight loss, so protein is key to help retain the muscle. Once the weight stabilizes somewhat and if you are wanting to build muscle and add strength, introducing some "slow carbs" like broccoli, oats, some Beans, quinoa, sweet potatoes, etc can go a long way towards helping build muscle. Actually, you need both protein and complex carbs to build muscle/strength and for recovery after long cardio sessions. So in this way, they (carbs) are very beneficial. I make sure to add in these complex carbs on days I do resistance training, which is every day but Sunday and sometimes on Wednesdays. I'll eat mostly protein and complex carbs for at least the first 2 meals after my workout. These carbs at this time will almost entirely (based on my experience), go towards replacing glycogen, muscle and recovery and not stored as fat. Other than after exercise, I'll scale back the carbs or eliminate them and get in more healthy fats (on my non-workout days). I think where we get into trouble is adding in too many carbs, especially the simple carbs like bread, white Pasta and sugary foods. Long answer short on carbs......."it's complicated". So basically it depends on how they are used........I know, that's a lot of pressure, but if you stick with the complex carbs on days you exercise and scale back on days that you don't.....you'll probably be ok. Just be in tuned with your own body's sensitivity to them and know how much you need. Good luck!

Correct, I was 2 years post op this past November. I'm pretty much at maintenance and haven't lost since late summer. I had to really push hard to make my goal weight then. Now, I try to keep exercising and watching what I eat. I can easly eat 2000+ cals if I tried, but my restriction is still a lot better than it was pre-sleeve. Good idea to not sabotage it. Just make sure to get your Protein and watch the carbs, especially on days that you don't exercise. Wish you the best!