Fiddleman

Super !! Where did you go hiking in Hawaii? I like hiking on Kauai on the Alaka'i Swamp trail, Nepali Coast trail and sleeping giant trail.

It is a fairly minor inconvenience to pay for the benefits of the sleeve. It also forces you to eat low sugar / low fat and slower. For me, I succinctly rember it occurring after eating some ham from a diner that was too fatty at month 2. It caused about 30 minutes of "why did I eat that ham." However, it is easy to trigger also a related issue with the vagus nerve if you overeat or eat too fast. For me, this forced me to eat slower when getting used to dense proteins. However, eating slow is something I need to continue to work on even if there are no longer negative physical reactions from eating too fast.

Hey guys- what is the lowest pants size I can expect to fit in post op? I am 5'11", 180 lb and can comfortably fit in a Levi 34" today (so far from 46+ pre op). When I say 34 fits comfortably, I mean they are pulled up around my waist where they are supposed to hang, no belt. Think of how jeans are supposed to hang ala Abercrombie and Fitch ads where there is a dude in jeans without a shirt on. With body shaping workouts, I think 32 inch is possible. Is this a good size to target or should I be thinking about 30 or 28? What size is considered attractive in today's society?

No, cannot say I do. There are 105,000 employees and each team operates in their own little ecosystem. I will look that name up in the employee directory tomorrow and see how many vertical and horizontal degrees of separation there are from my position.

I got this probably 6 times post op from either eating something too early ( for me) or eating something too fast. It is quite an experience and feels slightly disorientating with the blood rushing out of the head, ears ringing, fading to black, sweating, shaky, etc. It does not happen any more. It occurred most from month 2 to month 5. I am month 9 now.

Syntrax Nectar and Unjury powders are usually the popular ones here on VST. If you are like me and really get into cookie dough, oreos and chocolate, the Nectar Sweet product line will be your treat for every one of those 9 days. It can be mixed with milk or water. If you are more of a fruity person, there are also a ton of Nectar Fruit flavors to choose from starting with banana and ending with naval peach. There is a lot of variety so try their sample pack out. I like that they mix really well in those blender cups and the consistency is fairly decent. Good luck!

Cool, is this the model they are always demoing at Costco?

Sorry in advanced for my frank and blunt response, but that sucks. Your doctor has no right to make disparaging remarks nor remarks that are not going to encourage you. You have done well and do not let this doctor's careless flap of the mouth ruin your success.

WebChickadee, your analysis is so refreshing. Thanks for posting.

Vitamins and minerals are very important as a deficiency found at month 6 or month 12 or later are very hard to correct and silently can sneak up on you. It is better to be safe then sorry to take a daily Vitamin and mineral supplement, considering the limited amount of food we eat. You should try and get 200% DV during the first few months and can back off to 100% after month 6. I would say to ask your doctor, but it sounds like they do not believe in vitamin and mineral supplementation. There are many different brands you cab choose from as a WLS post op. A few that come to mind are Bariatric Advantage, Celebrate, trader Joe and costco brands. BA and Celebrate did not sit well with me and caused me to throw up. I settled on Trader Joe Adult High Potency Tablets. I still take these at month 9, but might switch onto pill form following 12 months. I found the GNC extreme athletic vitapaks to be really good once I started getting serious about daily exercise and increasing the intensity. However, they are expensive and not rated very high in a list another member shared recently so backed off of them. I am looking for a good daily men's vitapak that is top rated for athletes.

Today I had my month 9 follow up with the WLS Center. Here are some of the key results: Height: 5'11" July 2nd, 2012 Weight: 360 lb BP: 148 / 102 SP02: 98% Pulse: 64 BMI: 46 Body Fat %: 37% Pant Size: 46 April 9, 2013 Weight: 182 BP: 110 / 71 SP02: 99% Pulse: 44 <~~~~~~~~ BMI: 26 Body Fat %: 20% pant size: 32 It has been quite the experience. In a good way. My life is so much fuller now and I really enjoy staying active and making good nutrition decisions. The nurse gave me a "gold star". Happy dance. YAY! She also wants me to get my heart rate checked out because it is so low. Wants to rule out some things. Take a look and let me know if there is any reason for concern. I have a lot of energy daily, but do fade to black on occasion when standing from a seated position. I am thrilled with what WLS has given me. It is also a joy to help others here on VST.

I was a microsofty in the early 1/2 of last decade and end of previous century. Loved the free pop. Did not love the culture so much after 4 years (I know, not a long time). After that 10 years with RR Donnelly and now loving my time with Oracle creating great software.

OK gym / cross fit guys, my cross fit coach recommended taking catalyst 15 minutes before exercise or training to lean out more as well as increase reps, speed and weights. Have you used this? Does it work for you? I bought a bottle and will try it out today. Looks like it is basically amino acids you can only get from supplements. Reviews on Amazon seem to praise it. Let me know your thoughts.

Excellent! This is such good wisdom. I will have to soak in this information after work today when I can really focus on it. You are right, my cross fit PT had me do very rapid squat sets 20 seconds per set, 5 second rest, for 12 sets. I could do 15/16 a set. This was after I completed the WOD. Phew!

Thanks for the information Mark! I like asking about supplementation here on VST because I can get a clean answer without having to wade through all the information out there online and even in store with regards to supplementation. You have been spot on in your characterization of GNC employees being more interested in retail then being good sources of knowledge and wisdom in terms of customers fitness goals. i really am noticing that now. Vitamin Shoppe is better as I have had decent conversations with them and feel like they know what they are talking about more then the GNC guys. I am also going to subscribe to men's fitness and men's health. You read those? Being a new user of supplementation I want to make good safe decisions; specifically because we share the common experience of WLS. You have also been helping me focus on identifying products that are going to work so I am not wasting time and money with respect to achieving specific personal fitness goals.

No, this is what you are looking for: http://www.advocare.com/products/trim/T2010.aspx It really helps me get in more reps stronger and faster during cross fit. Love it so far. It also helps with cardio. I take 4 capsules 15 minutes before a training session. A single example of how catalyst helped me yesterday: I was able to do a mile farmers carry ( a jog essentially) with 45 lb dumbbells in each hand as part of my WOD. That works every single muscle in your upper and lower body. And I am feeling OK today; a little sore overall, but no doms. I also take a super fish oil supplement (3000 mg) and just started on creatine yesterday to help with faster recovery after hard cross fit workouts. Catalyst is before the cross fit session and creatine / fish oil is after the cross fit session. Probably 101 stuff for you guys, but the information will help future readers of this post. I just signed up for a long term PT cross fit commitment (6 months) with a goal of building confidence and experience so that I can own every WOD when I eventually switch to open gym format. Not there right now. I need the encouragement and coaching from my PT or I would just wimp out. Being on a pre paid plan also will help me push through the days when I just do not feel like doing the training. As with all things, I need to get in "the habit" of cross fit 2-3 x a week so that I love it so much that there is no reason I would skip a session, on my own motivation. For now, having a PT set of prepaid sessions will ensure my commitment to success. She will not let me give up nor wimp out during a session.