Fiddleman

Hey BTB- how in the world are you running with a broken toe? A few posts (or pages) back you stated you had 2 more runs to do this week. Crazy!

A short 2 miles today split up into sprinting segments of 800 m. Felt like road runner. total: 97.5. The sprints were in between pull ups, double unders and kettle bell sets. A good met-con.

You might also consider l-theanine (an amino acid extract sold at health stores) or simply hot green tea. Theanine increases the alpha wave activity in your brain which promotes a deep sense of relaxation. It is also an excellent antioxidant for the brain to repair damaged neurons and synapses. It is dirt cheap. It counters much of the overstimulation of the CNS caused by stimulants like caffeine, but leaves all the nootropic properties for enhanced concentration, focus and learning.

+3.5 miles of run on my treadmill today for 95.5 total. Felt good to have a relaxing run for about 25 min.

We (my wife and I) hope you find a path to health and well being soon after all these surgeries post VSG. I know you just want to be normal again. Prayers sent your way.

Just the usual concerns about vitamin malabsorption and, more specially, calcium deficiencies. Note that I still take a Prilosec every morning despite whether I have an active concern or not as a preventative measure.

Thanks for the information and link. This is another one of those long term VSG side effects that may not be well understood. Is the recommendation to keep taking a PPI indefinitely? Of course, that too can lead to problems...

How many of you vets still encounter the old binge behavior of pre sleeve? Here I am at 13 months post op and have been maintaining now for 6 months. Yet yesterday, the old binge behavior of eating senseless until discomfort hit me. I had gone on a hike yesterday and that may have triggered a need for carb inhalation combined with some stress from another part of life. And I did carb up before the hike with Protein infused steel cut oats and a couple energy squares. Hike was a joy. I was able to hike to the top without any fatigue. No soreness or out of breath. It felt like the end up a cross fit warm up. I ate about 12 energy squares which would be about 720 calories around dinner time. Fortunately, an energy square is not really that bad for you because it is mostly good carb and good fat. Needless to say that became my dinner. scale did not move too much this morning, but I do feel a little more bloated then usual. I am a little concerned about this behavior because I thought it had been checked at the door even 15 months ago when I started to prepare for surgery by changing my eating habits. My nutritional plan has been really a model of excellence over the last 6 months sticking to modified Paleo, focusing heavily on large amounts of lean protein and veggies to fuel a high level of fitness. I eat healthy day in and day out without to much of a struggle. I like eating this way because of the energy it gives me to take on fitness and other activities in daily life. Fortunately, my wife reminded me tomorrow is another day and I am human. It still depresses me a little that there is still a bridge that can be crossed to old undesirable eating behaviors. The bridge may be old, rickety and falling apart, but it can still be crossed. That concerns me as a vet.

I am relaxed...

At the Labor Day dinner yesterday, I got my first " do not lose any more weight" comment from a SIL grandmother. She means well enough and said it quite seriously in tone and facial exp<b></b>ression, but I do not really know her that well because we see each other about once a year. She has not seen me since I was morbidly obese. The rest of my relatives, especially my parents, are "happy" with my physique and do not comment in the way the SIL grandmother did. They all are very happy with my current physique. It was funny actually. My twin brother has been putting on some weight, but has always been lighter than I, by 100 lb, in that last 15 years or so. The grandmother kept calling me by his name and I kept having to correct her. No, see, it really is me. It took a while for her to believe me. I look at myself and see a pretty fit guy, but still see a few areas to work on which might be 5-10 more lbs. my weight currently centers around 175 and I am 5'11". I asked my wife about this comment from SIL grandmother and she started to say my face did look pretty thin. I just do not see this "thinness" with the same clarity when I look at myself in the mirror. I still see "issues" with it in terms of an attractive male face (comparing myself to what I consider "attractive" face). I guess I am always going to be acutely aware of blemishes or discrepancies in vanity. Am I ok with that? I think so, but am acutely more aware of it now after reaching goal, getting lean and getting athletically built. Do I have slight dysmorphia issues? Perhaps...

I guess you were infringing on their turf. They were probably a little less than altruistic with those comments and were probably being a little defensive in a passive aggressive manner. Just say thank you for your comments and move on. Not worth it to fuel their insecurities. You can be who ever you wish to be and not require the approval from peeps like these. There are always going to be these types of people who get nervous when their social standing is threatened.

By the way, I am still smarting from 5 dime sized popped blisters on my hands from Thursday (same day as your broken toe BTB?). I am unable to do pull-ups with these, but still managed sprint rowing and cleans / jerks on Friday with lifting gloves. Apparently this happens to everyone. I have been lathering on Neosporin several times during the day and even did the tea bag and vitamin e oil application trick. Any idea on how long these will take to heal and callous over? They are mighty big craters in both my hands. First time I have ripped my hands like this.

For what it is worth, I think 18 days is very early to even be thinking of a program like insanity. Your stomach needs the TLC of at least 6 weeks to complete initial healing. Some say that most healing is complete by month 6 and, consequently, that coincides with the date when many exit the so called honeymoon phase (it was the case for me). Insanity is a lot of jumping, twisting and general stress on the body. Think low impact exercises for the next few weeks. Walking, walking and walking with perhaps some low impact exercise like elliptical. nothing too strenuous. Additionally, it is also worth considering a gradual ramp up of physical activity so your body has a progression to work through. Slamming into insanity without building up your general physical response to intense exercise may be like slamming into a wall and only be setting yourself up for failure. This is just the way I look at it; you can take this opinion or leave it. It is great that you are pumped and ready to go, but remember where you just came from. It takes time to change all those habits for the better and to reverse polarity of physical level activity.

How is your toe (foot) feeling today? The injury looks mighty painful and I can only imagine the psychological setback when you are having to put your running (and walking) to the wayside. How long did the doctor say before you can run safely again?

Hope it heals fast BTB. Is the toe like any other bone where it takes 6-8 weeks to heal?

+4 for 92 total. 2 miles running and 2 miles sprint rowing for time and max calories burned (if that means anything on the concept II rower).

Muscle milk RTD was hard on my GI tract, especially at the beginner of being a post op. No idea why. I think I was a little lactose intolerant. I wsd drinking the lite version. Now I can drink both muscle milk RTD regular and lite, but do not care for the flavor that much. Not the banana or vanilla flavor, but the base milk / protein flavor. It is still strange because I do like muscle milk lite protein powder mixed with water at home. Came batter is my flavor of choice and I get it off Amazon.

Hi Frank - You can try focusing on HIIT exercise combined with anaerobic exercise. Lifting is essential for leaning out and building lean muscle in a healthy way. You need to shock your body out of homeostasis and the closer you are to healthy BMI, that more intensity this is going to require. You might check out my 12 week strength challenge in vet forum from earlier on in the Summer or any number of my posts that talk about cross fit WOD (workout of the day). Hate to tell you, but pure cardio does lead to fat retention after a while. I hit that wall too when purely running for exercise before busting through it with said strength challenge and cross fit workouts. I now eat over 2000 calories a day, have a good muscular physique and still have to be careful about losing body fat weight versus lean muscle weight. It is a careful balance of eating enough to offset calorie deficit from working out hard. Eat clean and add anaerobic exercises combined with HIIT and you will reach goal in no time. I try and keep my weight between 175-180 for my 5'11" frame (started at 360 and hit weight goal at month 7) and really push fitness, clean eating, 1.5-2 g protein per kg and water daily. If I am not eating, I am drinking. Going on month 13 now.

As Lynda stated, a tbsp of omega 3 fish oil in the morning might help you with cravings, metabolism, brain activity and inflammation.

You are very welcome.

Eye of the tiger or rocky theme?