Fiddleman

Eat lean protein first and then veggies. This will fill you up and regulate your insulin response so you are not seeking snacks. Eat low carb. Bad carbs will spike your insulin response. Good carbs should be introduced only when you can be responsible with them. For example, I waited until month 5 in order to focus on weight loss without road blocks along the way. You may want to wait until you have a good momentum of success before trying to eat carbs in order to make eating healthy easier. Make a pact with yourself that losing weight and getting healthy is a way higher priority then eating junk. Reward yourself when you meet key milestones with non food something. Try and meet the bariatric goals of 80 g of protein and 64 oz of water or more. Focus on more. Get out and do some kind of exercise every day, even if you just walk for X distance or Y amount of time. Always remember where you came from and where you are going. Do not let anything deter you from success. Take responsibility for your success. It is hard work. Be real with it. You can do it!!

Quads!!

I annoy my wife with " feel my leg, feel my arm. Isn't it strong?" Or " look at how roomy the size 32 Levi are." Lol!

My wife (fellow VSG) loves them oh yeah bars. Good high protein. If it helps her meet daily protein goals, no one is standing in her way on eating them. She just had me slep off to vitamin shoppe to pick up a new box yesterday. They do look good, but carbs are too high for my taste. If I am going to have a high protein bar like this, it would have 1-3 g net carb max. I think if you can have the control to just eat one oh yeah a day, it should be fine. I just got some cookie dough quest bars for myself yesterday (a concert from pure protein bars). I am not sure how often I will be eating them, maybe once a week or less. I hope they have a long shelf life!! Per above post, I only WISH a protein bar filled me up. Alas, I can eat 2-3 of these and, consequently, they have been demoted in my diet to emergency only. They sssssllliiidddeee right on through. I envy the people who get full on a protein bar.

Nice flat stomach there. Congratulations! Now tell me: how much are you missing your runs?? Also, can you put a picture of before and after (the most recent one) side by side?

Gave me a good laugh this morning. Could totally visualize you doing this!! Lol.

Month 5-6 seemed to be the end of my WLS honeymoon and hunger came back. Hard. I was hungry all the time on 900 calories a day, like a bear. Over the next few months I worked my calories up to 1700. Today I am between 2000-2400 calories and maintain fairly well when combined with exercise. I eat paleo style with some mods that are both more strict and also less strict. It balances out to a way of eating that fuels energy and satisfies hunger. As CGJ states, high protein and lots of water helps tremendously.

Sure. I sheded like a dog between month 3 and 7. I have always had a thick mane of hair. always. Little hairs were piling up everywhere and it was easy to pull out bunches at a time. It has since stopped after that and has not repeated in last 8 months. I ate a lot of protein and vitamins, so that did not prevent my iPad screen getting covered with hair. It will happen to most folks. Just know, it too shall end. I think it is just the weaker hair follicles dieing out. They twill be replaced with stronger, healthier hair follicles as time goes on.

Currently fiber is coming from steel oats. 2 1/2 cup servings a day (Breakfast and afternoon). I drink an ample amount of Water daily. I do eat veggies like broccoli when I can. No issues with bm.

I am taking a vacation next week in AZ, where the sun is forever shining. I think I will get out on the roads and put in some long runs. 5-10k per run. We shall see.

I've heard they serve donuts. Come on. At a gym? They can give away memberships probably because of their publicity for supplying equipment on biggest loser. Great publicity !

Your idea of steel oats is actually a great idea. I eat the steel oats mixed with 1-2 scoops of protein shake 1-2 hours before my daily afternoon cross fit. It works really well to up the stored energy for a killer workout. Yeah, I would do it. I like to also eat the steel oats for my first meal.

Personally I am not much of a cupcake person despite them being all the rage. Now hang an apple fritter in front of my nose and...well, lets just say it won't be pretty.

Apologies in advance if post is a violation of any forum rules. My cross fit box is participating in a fundraiser to help raise money (and awareness) to help fight breast cancer by funding research, mammograms and other screenings for women who do not qualify for government programs or other forms of charity. You can donate here: http://fundraise.barbellsforboobs.org/fundraise/team?ftid=26682 I have donated already and hope you can help too. You will feel good knowing you have helped these women in a small, but very meaningful, way. You may do it in the memory of someone or you might do it if you know someone that is currently going through a fight with breast cancer. Or you might donate knowing that it is a way that you can give back after benefitting from what VSG and fitness has given you. VSG has given me a lot and I am thankful for the opportunity to help others. Any reason makes you a winner in many ways. Will you join in? Cheers!

*smack* smart alec... However, given FYE follows 5:2, there is something slightly more intelligent to say here. Only slightly. As long as the calories in said cupcake are sub 500, it should be compliant with a fast day on 5:2 diet. Ignoring the nutritional value of said cupcake for a moment, I cannot imagine how many food cravings that will give you for the remainder of the day. Munch, munch, munch. That would be super hard to not want to eat something else - again and again and again - if it were me on a 5:2 fasting day, following the consumption of said cupcake. It better be good. German chocolate frosting or something like that. How about exercise an extra 30 minutes, intensely. That should help break a stall. If you want to break a stall with food, just eat more calories of a good balance of healthy options. Hard to do on 5:2, I know. Just for 1 day. Maybe do it on your feast day. Give your body a little change of scenery that is not going to lead to other eating issues (as a cupcake may do). Good luck!!

Spoke too soon. 5 hours last night and interrupted 5 hours at that. Should I go to the dr and get a big hammer to force sleep?

Great job everyone! Let's finish the week strong. It is hard for me to take a rest day today, but, have to. I will be waving from my lounge chair as you guys run by.

Starting around month 3, I was mega cold all the time. Had to wear gloves everywhere and constantly cranking the heat in the car, in the home office with a space heater, etc. Gloves walking around the mall or grocery store. must have looked like I moved from hawaii to wa in the middle of winter. lol. this lasted until about month 10, now I feel adjusted to a normal temperature. I am not freezing, but am not too warm either. Just right. There are occasions when I feel cold, but it is more the exception then the rule. I like feeling comfortable in most temps. It usually takes me a while to warm up and sweat when working out. As I get more fit, I am finding out I do not sweat like a pig any longer. That is a positive. However, it was not necessarily weight related. At month 7, I had lost most of my weight and was 185 (down from 360) . However, I still was a sweater when pushing myself in the workouts or running more than 20 minutes. In the last few months ( month 11-14), I stopped sweating so much, even when doing cross fit. I think it has to do with a better and more efficient cooling system as lean muscle increases and fat dissipates. Dunno. Chalking that last part up as a theory. I am about 172 today.

14 months out here. I can eat about 5 ounces of lean protein and 2 ounces of veggies at a time, it has pretty much stayed this way since month 7, Eating fast brings down the capacity a little. I stay away from starches, bread, sugar and dairy. Protein bars do not fill me so I have to only eat them in emergencies or I might have 2 instead of planned 1. Generally eat when hungry which is about every 2-3 hours. Sometimes I get too wrapped up in work and I will delay eating by an hour. It is weird at how I do not have to eat as often as I do, but should in order to keep metabolism happy. Eating too few calories will reduce the efficiency of the ability for your body to process food. Each meal for me is 300-500 calories. Oh and I can chug the water. It is easy to make 32 oz disappear in 20 seconds. I do not drink at meals (new habit from WLS), but do drink immediately before and about 20 m after. I go through a lot of water. I have a 32 ounce water bottle and a 20 ounce. I fill the 32 ounce about 8 times a day (flavored) while working or watching some tv. I fill the 20 oz 2x, once before and once after working out with bcaa drink. I did not think I would be able to drink like a horse, but hey, I do. Keep in mind, it took a year to work up to this. I was unable to drink anything day 1-4, then up to 60 ounces end of month 1, 90 ounces end of month 3 and then 120 by month 6. Then it shot up from there as my body needed more for working out.

Good luck Russ. I know you have prepared and waited a long time for this day. It will be worth it. Oh, it will be worth it! Before you know it, you will be waking up in you hospital room and think to yourself: "is it over already? It was not that bad. " Just remember to walk when you are able to (helps with the gas) and relax. See you on the other side!

Don't forget washing down the movie popcorn with a large coke and milk duds.