mark!

My instructions were 64oz fluid each day, so I got in as much water as I could, and supplemented with other fluids.

Everyone is different. I was able to start jogging at 4 weeks, and I stretched it and lightly LIGHTLY jogged at 3 weeks. If you're trying to be competitive in the 5k at 3 weeks, you may want to bow out and wait. If you're just doing it to be active and have a good time, you can walk/jog it no problem. I would check with the Dr. (Whom I assume will tell you hell no) but only you know how you feel. I had a slight discomfort when I jogged around the large incision area so I stopped immediately.

As long as you're completely healed up, I was told there wouldn't be any chance of rupture or anything like that since my line of work, well, I fight people who don't want to comply, plus I mountain bike quite often and my concern was falling off my bike on a trail. doc said when I'm fully healed, there won't be any issues with doing anything.

4 weeks jogging lightly on low impact treadmill, no pain and Dr. said it was good to go so long as there wasn't any pain that came up.

B complex, B12 sub-lingual, C, Mens multi gummy, D

Relax sweetness, 15 days post op you're body is still trying to figure out WTF just happened. Let it take some time to adjust. What kind of gains we talking about here? A few ounces a day? Make sure you're hitting your caloric marks, and focus on those liquids!!! Some people have success with cutting carbs, I do, but I don't want to get in to the mind set of focusing on a diet just yet. Focus on getting in solid nutrition. Right now, liquids for you since you're so new out of surgery. Have patience, relax, and don't stress yourself out over it. Hide the scale for a week or so and don't even worry about it.

What? Did they say why? I understand the object is to get as much protein from whole foods etc, but made you cut them out completely? Some people are so anti Protein powder it boggles my mind. Cartman if you're losing, you're doing just fine my friend. If you're getting your protein, and making sure you're getting in your nutrients and you're feeling fine, you're doing it right.

Walking would be as far as I'd push it right now. If you're bored, and have a treadmill, maybe walking at an incline, etc, but as far as jogging and weight lifting goes, I'd wait a few more weeks when you're more recovered and back together. I started my weight lifting (lightly) recently being 4 weeks post op. My Dr. told me 6 weeks, but at my check up they said if I felt comfortable, I could start slow and work my way up as tolerated. I started light jogging at 3.5 weeks on a treadmill that has impact protection and I focused on not jarring anything around.

Leaning to step off my scale and beating it with a sledge hammer. I'm a scale junkie. I used to weigh 3-4 times a day. I'd know what I was when I woke up, and at least when I went to sleep so I'd know approximately what I'd be in the morning good or bad. Now, I'm trying to change that mentality. Clothes are falling off of me, people are always commenting on my weight loss, that's my goal. Keep doing what I'm supposed to be doing, and letting nature take care of the weight loss. I'd eventually like to get to the point where I don't even weigh until a Dr. appointment. That'd make me happy, but for now I'll stick to once a week, then throw the batteries away or hide them and replace them on my weekly weigh in.

I lost pretty quick the first 2 weeks, then hit a wall. So, I killed my scale. It is not my friend, it's my enemy. There's no reason for me to fret each day I step on the scale and get pissed off and want to kick my dog. So, in light of resetting everything, my emotions and attitude, I'm not going to let that piece of glass and plastic decide how I feel today. I started weighing only once a week, sometimes not even that. I honestly don't care anymore about weighing. I do what I'm supposed to. I get my calories in, my Protein in, Vitamins, etc and I bust my ass in the gym and during workouts. I know I'm getting healthier, I don't need a number on the scale to tell me that. Congrats on the weight loss and the beginning of your new life. It's exciting!

It's always awesome watching those shows. I've competed in a few strong man events and highland games, it's a blast. Even at the local level, it's relatively easy to get in to and participate plus it gives us a goal to work toward instead of a generic "lose weight" "get stronger" mentality. Atlas Stones were always my favorite event along with the log press, I was just never very good at being quick and strong so I focused on powerlifing. Will be competing at the National level in 2014 USPA and then at the Texas Police games as long as my recovery keeps going well. I am looking forward to getting the body weight down and start competing in lighter weight classes, I'll likely pick up another local strongman event and give it a go when that happens.

I was scanning Hulu tonight for some new shows and came across a show called Fat Doctor. I watched the first episode to make sure it was pro weight loss and wls before posting. It's really good so far. A lot of information. I'm not sure if it'll be anything on VSG, but it's been bypass stuff so far. If you've got Hulu, it's worth checking out if you like those shows. They give me encouragement and drive watching shows like that.

If you keep your carbs low there's nothing wrong with moderate/ high fat intake, during ketosis, if you're shooting for that (less than 30g carbs usually) it will help with the weight loss. Fat isn't always a bad thing for you. It's not like whatever fat you intake suddenly converts to body fat. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fat/NU00262 Read that article regarding what fats to choose and which to try to avoid in our diet. Here is a list of Protein powders that are less than 4g of fat per serving. http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/catalog/category.jsp?q_facetTrail=REF_ANC_CATS%3AINGREDIENT_WHEY_PROTEIN&qr_fat=0-33&qc_fat=0-4&categoryId=INGREDIENT_WHEY_PROTEIN

This. I tried the baby smooth thing once, it creeped me out. I keep it trimmed now. I'm almost to the point of trying to incorporate some animal designs in to my trimming.

There are all kinds of DVDs out there that would suffice to at least get you moving. Craigslist has some good deals on stuff, especially about now, 3 months after new years when people realize the money they spent on fitness equipment to "finally get in shape" is only collecting dust. Places like WalMart have light dumbbells for pretty cheap, yoga balls, resistance bands, all kinds of things to at least get in a decent work out at home. You can always go the route of a gym in the garage over time, but that gets expensive. I've put probably at least $5,000 in the equipment I have in my garage, all weights and one crappy treadmill, ha. http://www.acefitness.org/article/2863/ http://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/home.html http://www.realsimple.com/health/fitness-exercise/workouts/resistance-band-exercises-00100000067997/index.html

Love Gaelic, I've been trying to pick it up as much as possible, but it's pretty tough when there are limited resources outside of some websites. Very awesome saying.

I've read in the past that 30-40% of people don't ever have symptoms of a clot until it's progressed further along. If you have signs of a clot, I would definitely be making a bee line to the ER to get that sucker checked out ASAP. In my medical experience, the most common forms of tests are MRIs and Ultrasounds. A Venography is an option, but sucks from what I hear. They'll inject a dye in to your vein and watch it move through and detect flow patterns.

I never really had restrictions on water. I started slow, and when I rushed drinking I could feel it start to back up in the throat, so I'd just let it slide down. Now, coming up on 4 weeks post up, I don't have that feeling anymore. Eating things like pudding, yogurt, and such don't bother me as long as I take it slow. Beef has been the only thing that causes an issue, it just seems to take forever to go down and get through, so I've laid off beef for a while longer. If you're getting your calories, and your nutritionist has allowed what you're eating, just keep doing what you're doing. Have patience and just relax while eating. That's been the hardest part for me. My entire life, I grew up in a military family, we ate, put our dishes away and went back to work on the land. We rarely ever got to just sit and relax while eating.

I got down a few days after surgery. You'll get back up there though, just takes a bit. There are so many changes going on with your body right now. And for the record, Kirk has been my savior more than once.

My pureed stage right now I'm getting 2-3oz of pureed stuff, like tuna and chicken salads. That's about as solid as I get. Most of my meals are around 3ozs. I'm 4 weeks out today. Gotta get some veggies in too!

Lyle McDonald has several great books out regarding refeeds and carb cycling. I've worked with him a few times and made great gains and lost a good amount of weight. I'm anxious to get back on normal foods to start running through his programs again. Most carb refeeds you see these days are branched off of what he started.

I'm always on Gmail, and was just wondering if anyone uses gmail chat? I think it'd be pretty sweet to have some chats with other folks. Of course, we could chat here and such, but the interface is smoother on gmail, in my opinion at least. If anyone wants to chat anytime and you're on gmail, just send me an invite, I'd be more than happy to chat it up, especially on long nights at work with nothing to do. mark.russell1984@gmail.com

My favorite show has been extreme weight loss makeover edition. Loved that freaking show.

Respect. You hit the nail on the head. Too many people walking around like they don't have to respect anyone because they don't personally know them. The whole I'm not gonna respect you until you earn it instead of I'm going to respect you until you give me a reason not to.