Fiddleman

Ibuprofen (NSAID) is really an issue for RNY surgeries and not VSG surgeries. Regardless, you will want he blessing of your doctor before taking it. Mine said to wait until 6 months post op, which I did. That was 6 months ago. Now I take NSAID whenever it is needed, sometimes the 800 mg prescription variety. Fortunately it is not needed now for chronic back pain nearly as it was needed before. After much thinking about why this would be the case, I think it is about posture and proper muscle support in the back. I have a lot more muscle today and stand with good posture. Another OTC NSAID is naproxen. I found this to be fairly effective and costco sells big bottles of it. Back to your pain and desire for relief. A non drug remedy that worked well for me when not wanting to take pain drugs is a product called Thermacare. http://www.thermacare.com/ It is a cloth wrap that you strap into place with velcro. It provides an amazing 8 hours of pain relief in the back. I have not used it anywhere else, but I am surfeit works well in other places. The application of heat actually blocks the pain signals to the brain. You can buy these anywhere in grocery stores, drug stores, in bulk at Costco and online direct or from places like Amazon. Hot showers and baths apply the same heat principle to blocking pain signals. You might also consider a topical application of Diclofenac (NSAID) called Voltaren gel. This can be applied topically to the location in pain and the NSAIDs are absorbed directly into he skin and blood stream without going through the stomach. This product is fairly strong and only available by prescription. Fair warning that it smells bad though. Another topical NSAID is called the fletcher patch. This is a strong topical application of Diclofenac directly into the skin and blood stream. If you do not want prescription based topical solutions, you might consider OTC products instead. Look in the pain relief section of any drug store and you will find various ointment and patch products for sale.

How about binge eating cookies and cake in a dream. I bet that causes weight gain because the unconscious interprets dreams and reality as the same set of experiences. Just something to pontificate on.

My wife is even talking about running?!?! And hiking?!?!?! She is not far post op out of surgery ( July 2 nd) and she is a professed nay sayer of both running and hiking. Has been since i have known her 13.5 years ago. It is not a negative, just a difference between us. Just this last week she was almost tempted to run when walking on the treadmill. I am impressed. However, most of all I am psyched about us doing runs or hikes together in the future. There is so much enjoyment that can come from both activities, especially when you have someone close to you to share the experiences with. I will have to get her started on the c25k program when the time is right.

Yup - lack of sleep places undo stress on the body, release cortisol(sp?) hormone and causes you to stall or gain weight. Some of the gain is from eating more because of stress and some is from the body going into defend and protect mode. Sleep is very important. I am going to try something OTC so I get knocked out all night. I had really good sleep for many months after the initial insomnia after surgery and now it has come back in the last few weeks.

Really, that is scary!! Side note- I already had a painful staph infection on my head last year in October ( about 4 months post op). Do not want that kind of pain again.

Rox and sunmoon- I think I will see the doctor Monday if the condition worsens. Thanks for the response. And yes, I am outside all the time. Lost of spiders, Mosquitos and other bugs around my yard in the evenings. I think it is more likely a busted vessel. Hopefully not a clot.

Richard- thank you very much for the response. Basically wait a few days and reassess.

Actually I think it gets easier after 3 months, but that is just me. Best advice I can give you is keep showing up, don't miss an appointment. Improvement comes from always trying to better yourself. Don't directly compare yourself to others in the box. There are people who are super fit and people who are just starting out. However, it might be good to have a role model. If you can afford it, get a trainer. This was key for me because we come from a non athletic background and need the help to catch up, so to speak. Again, that holds true for me but may not for you. An hour before the workout, eat a balanced meal or a good Protein shake that balances the macro nutrient ratios. For food, I like to have 2 apple slices with nut butter and 1-3 ounces of lean protein or a Protein Shake and 2 energy squares from nuts.com. 15 minutes before the workout, take your amino acids. I like to take catalyst, but you can really take any form of the complete set of amino acids. Recently mark! gave a good recipe for an amino acid mix he prepares by hand on a response to one of my fitness threads on fat %. The amino acids make a huge difference in your stamina and response during the WOD. Really, it does. I do not know the exact science behind it, but it was recommended by my trainer many months ago. In fact, at the end of my first session with her. Always do a warmup. Always. You do not want to hurt yourself during the WOD. Spend time to work on mobility after warming up. Stretch, stretch and stretch. My biggest weakness is mobility, but I have been working on it for 6 months. In the last few weeks, I have just started to make huge gains in my lifting stamina, technique and strength because mobility is finally improving. Form is everything. Repeat. Form is everything. Do not curve your back on dead lifts. Always keep your butt back, chest up and back flat or slightly inverted. Do not get cocky and lift too much in a WOD as that is only going to hurt you. Do not show off. you are not in cross fit to impress anyone, but yourself. stay super focused. Push yourself. Turn off any negative self talk. It is only you and your workout. if you need a preworkout drink to help with concentration and focus, by all means take one. I take c4, Hyde and no explode 2 at different times. You have to cycle on them for your body to remain effective with them and not to intoxicate your liver or kidneys. I have been good so far, but will be getting blood work done soon for my 1 year post op. knock on wood. After the work out, cool down and stretch. Stretch, stretch and stretch. You do not want sore muscles to bite you in the ass the next day. Drink a high quality recovery protein shake. I drink synth 6 now and it is high calorie for 40 g, but complete worth it. The extra calories (400) mean nothing in scale weight, but mean everything in building lean muscle. My weight is dropping and body fat is dropping daily. You want to eat as clean as possible to support your cross fit workouts. Cross fit is like Paleo fitness so it is best to eat Paleo nutrition to optimize your efforts. There is a careful balancing game when calculating how much to eat to hit the sweet spot of leaning out while gaining lean muscle, not losing lean muscle. It has taken me months of trial and error, but think I have a natural eating flow that is easy to maintain and also supports goals of leaning out and gaining lean muscle while being active intense workouts 5 days a week. Others can help you put together this eating plan, but it is really individual based pong your body composition, weight, height, etc. Take some BCAA and creatine with your shake after working out to optimize muscle repair. Always take large amounts of Omega 3 to combat stiffness and soreness. I have not felt sore once the next day when taking the BCAA and omega 3 supplements. This week I just started experimenting with 10 g creatine monohydrate before and 10 g monohydrate afterwards and man, it makes a huge difference. Some guys in the box are loading with way more creatine, but it is not really worth it to go above 20 g. Creatine monohydrate is cheap. And most important, have fun and always look on how to improve during every workout. I promise you that cross fit is going to add a new dimension to your life and your presence around others. Stick with it. Push through the pain as long as it is good pain. Do not push through bad pain as you do not want side lining injuries. Talk about your successes and challenges on VST. VST continues to be a problem solving atmosphere for fitness because there is a lot of existing experience ( like aroundhdk, mark, btb and mike ross) and new experiences ( like me and others). Hope this helps. It is a bit of a mind dump, but these tips have paved the way to my success. Sorry for the long verbose length of this post, but there are truly a lot of balls you need to keep in the air to optimize your success at Crossfit. Next year, I hope to be competing with the big guys at regionals. Can someone pin this post? It is good information.

Really awesome to hear this!!! You will not regret it. I think you live near me close to Snohomish right? Which box?

Is it even possible for a post op to develop a six pack of abs that rival those of normal fitness folks? I do not see how with the excess skin around the stomach area. I have been eating clean , working out effectively for many months and still do not see the abs. However, I can start to see the outline of where they should be and I have veins everywhere on my arms and legs. Chest and back are very strong and powerful. I am wondering if others have had more success with popping the abs. If you have picture proof it is possible, please post a photo and what you did to bring them out. Maybe my body fat % is still too high at 15 %. Maybe I need to be more diligent about core workouts. I mainly do full body workouts.

Yup - my sleep has been wonky lately. For example, felt like I can get up and go at 3:45 am this morning. I take melatonin before bed and it does help me fall asleep, but I would love to sleep naturally all the way through the night and never wake up. Always wake up 2-3 x a night, sometimes more, and tonight I am up for a bit as evident by this post. 1 year post op myself.

I went to my groups under profiles and it said I am not part of any groups. Nor did I find any way to add groups. I had to do this on the web app because the iPad app is fairly limited in profile options. A little help?

I have been really studying how to properly stretch for maximum flexibility lately. I have picked up a book by Bob Cooley about Resistance Stretching. http://www.amazon.com/The-Genius-Flexibility-Stretch-Strengthen/dp/0743270878/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1373549509&sr=8-5&keywords=resistance+flexibility It is a phenomenal read (have not put it into practice yet) and I believe it is cutting edge in the fitness world. A lot of Olympic athletes have been successful with these techniques so it is bound to help even us. Essentially, maximum flexibility comes from both contracting and elongating muscles at the same time. It is the contracting from resistance (pushing into floor for example) that "magically" gives a stretch the optimal result. For example, stretching with legs apart at a 45 degree angle, straight leg, hands on feet, pushing into floor with heals and lower leg and forehead on ground in front of you. Another is to sit on your feet, bend backwards, push into ground with legs and back on ground. Impossible right? Nope! With the proper amount of resistance, the muscles contract and allow for this type of seemingly impossible flexibility. The author reveals that these are really Hatha Yoga moves, but it is really good to read about the "science" behind how it works. He has fine tuned his research into a consolidated set of 16 exercises i am excited to learn about and put into practice. Good flexibility has always been my nemesis in both Cross Fit and Yoga. My flexibility has improved from a few months ago, but it is slow going. Application of this knowledge will really take your exercises, lifting, sport and yoga practices to another level. You might find resistance flexibility just what is needed to excel at your fitness.

Glad you all enjoy this approach to improving flexibility. Feel free to post any results of using this approach or even your own stretching strategies that are working for you.

Coconuts have a good amount of potassium in them. I like to drink coconut Water and have centered on the VitaCoco brand because it is the most highly rated for health benefits and nutrition. VitaCoco does not have a lot of potassium at 18% RDA, but it helps. costco sells it at about 14 dollars for 12 11.1 ounces containers. Each container is about 100 calories. I do not know if this is good or bad, but it has no affect on my goals and is really a refreshing way to get real hydration. Each vitacoco serving has 640 mg, so it would take approximately 5 of these to hit 3000 mg. doable in a day, sure, but the calories would add up to 500. I suppose if you take pure potassium supplementation, it would be easy to hit 3000-4000mg. I am going back to Vitamin shoppe today ( home away from home. Lol) so will see what the supplementation options are for potassium out of a bottle.

Everyone has a different TDEE and it depends on a number of different factors from weight to height to activity level. Laura has a link to a good calculator she likes to post. Please repost Laura. For example, my TDEE is 2054. I end up eating between 1600-1900 calories daily.

Really psyched about progress in the last week. I have been going through this transformation challenge starting in mid may. Just this last week body fat % has gone down 2% and 1% from yesterday to place me at 13.1% Additionally, weight has dropped a few pounds from last week. Today at 178 pounds. Exciting stuff. I like also that my presence has really improved. The way I hold myself, strong, relaxed, shoulders down. It provides a sense of power and strength when interacting with people or just walking out and about. I think progress is picking up because I have moved onto the intermediate body weight workouts and have really stepped up the workout at cross fit. And I feel great afterwards. I just renewed with my Cross Fit trainer for another 18 sessions. After those run out, I am going to transition into open gym to lift with the real power cross fitters. I am so glad to be doing this one no one with my Cross Fit trainer because it is progressively moving my technique, agility, mobility and strength to where I want to be. In two weeks, I will be moving into the final phase of this 12 week challenge and will start the advanced body weight training program at home until the end of the challenge. These are such good functional exercises and always leave me with a good workout. They always feel within my capability which makes doing these exercises fun. I look forward to 20 minutes of these 3x a week at home. I added 2 additional core workouts this week based upon use of my PT roller. They are challenging also and am counting on them to help my abs see the light of day and pop. I am eating a lot of calories and my recovery shake has switched from GNC Amplified Wheybolic 60 to synth 6. The synth 6 tastes way better, but does have more carbs and more calories. Two scoops is 400 calories, but if my weight is going down along with my fat %, all is well. Hope everyone else is doing well.

I just wanted to update on a good Water enhancement brand that is a little less expensive then my other favorite Water Enhancer, Desani drop bottles.. The Dasani drop bottles have been about the only water enhancer I can stand for long periods of time, day after day, week after week and month after month. However, they cost 4 dollars a bottle and it is easy to use one up in a day or two of drinking water all day. I have been drinking SF Hawaiian punch for the last few days and it does not cause any throat irritation after long term use nor does it cost very much. Grape flavor is my favorite. Each box has 8 servings is about 1.25 dollars. I have found a single packet flavors 32 ounces very well. Just thought I would pass this along to my fellow water drinkers.

I think super low calorie (e.g. 600-900) works well for first 6 months. The stomach is still healing. If you start out eating low cal at month 1 then eating low cal just becomes something your body gets used to. However, your BMR goes underwater, so to speak, with too few calories and you do want to work on a plan to increase calories gradually when the stomach is done healing (eg 6 months). I can see how 5:2 would be harder to eat low calorie without being very hungry because the body does not know if to be used to a normal day ( for discussion, let us just say it is 1200-2000 calories depending on person) and fast day (under 500 calories). This fast oscillation between calorie days is going to force the body to rev up metabolism (yay!) because it never gets used to one way of eating. However, it leaves you seriously hungry on fasting days (darn it all!) The same principle sort of applies to carb loading on a low carb diet where you could eat whatever you want 1 day a week. It will essentially reset what your body is used to, but you have to be disciplined to only do it for 1 day or the extra calories will get you in the end. I think BTB said it quite nicely a while back in that both type of calorie oscillations (5:2 and low carb, low calorie) are still just keeping the total calories down over the long run. It might also explain why an individual would need to look at long term trends while following 5:2 instead of analyzing results daily. As for me, I got quite used to eating low carb, low calorie until month 6 ( no planned cheat days during this time). After month 6, I gradually increased my daily calories until around TDEE - 300 after reading the success of Susan ( our moderator). Her post on eating TDEE and the increased state of well being (mood, hunger, etc) inspired me way back when. From then on, I spent a few months ramping up the calories until where I am at today, post op 1 year. It is very very very important that you graduate your calorie increase over a relative long time period up towards TDEE. If you do it too fast, your low BMR will store the extra calories and you will gain. This clearly is not desirable. My calorie trends look a little like this: Month 1-3: 300-600 calories Month 4-6: 600-900 calories Month 7: 1100-1200 calories Month 8-10: 1400-1600 calories Month 11-12: 1600-1900 calories. My body is perfectly happy eating in the last bracket and rewards me with a high metabolism and leaning out process. I need this amount of calories to fuel my fitness plan day after day, week after week. In reality, I should be eating about 1000 more calories a day, but the sleeve can only handle so much eating on my high Protein, low carb, Paleo variation diet. I eat every 2 hours or so a mix of healthy Paleo meals and shakes. It may seem like a lot of work, but it really isn't after you get used to the natural flow of it.