Fiddleman

Laura - I wrote a nice long and thoughtful response for you, and then VST crashed. Not wanting to retype it, I will summarize. Consider an abstinence model instead of a moderation model. We all struggle in different ways with our relationship with food. For me, I chose abstinence over moderation because VSG was a game changer and I wanted to be a new person inside and out, essentially no changes were off the table if it would help lead to 100% success. Some people are good moderators like my wife. she can control having small amounts of sweet food. i am not the same way. i am more of an all or nothing personality, especially when it comes to food. You might consider detoxing from the sugar, fat and salt. Eliminate it. After that, consider eating a Mediterranean or Paleo style diet that will help retrain your reward centers (dopamine centers) to release endorphins from something other then sugar, fat and salt. With a good relationship with healthy food comes balance and sense of peace. Just a suggestion. I think your 5:2 approach will still be compatible with this type of abstained eating as you can still eat TDEE -300 and, might I add, way more often with a more consistent impact on your body composition. I eat a little protein (minimum 3 oz) at least every 2 hours, sometimes on the hour and am still maintaining around 180 lb (5'11"). I am actually going to sneak in one more meal daily because I want to bulk a little more, but keep body weight the same. This is possible by reducing body fat percentage more. You know I am not a gym rat. I just give myself about 20-30 minutes of body weight exercises 5 days a week. It is very manageable and does not feel like a drag. I enjoy it.

Yes, I can relate to the working long hours at the computer. however, I can say my posture has really improved in the last few months since I have been doing corrective measurements such as mobility exercises, back stabilization exercises during working out, walking with good posture, sitting in my chair with good posture, using PT roller on my back daily, etc. I am happy with the results so far in reducing the curvature of my spine into a more healthy form. It helps tremendously with feeling balanced and at ease during the day not to have tight back or shoulders from too much curvature developed from a career of computer work, hunched over the keyboard.

I still take Bariatric Advantage citrate caramel chews to the day, six a day. Last week I bought them in 500 mg rather then 250 mg size which translates to taking 3 a day instead of 6 a day. The price per bag is also the same so now I feel like I am getting 2 for 1 on the calcium citrate and that makes me happy. Each bag is about $12 when i purchase it through the WLS Center or 22 dollars when i buy it online through Amazon. Staying healthy with all the supplements really adds up. I do not take any iron in isolation, but there is some in my optimen multivitamin and green drink. Not 100% RDA though, but something small like 20 %. Should I be aware of iron as a man?

Thanks Arts- I will check with the PCP soon. You know what? Now that I remembered, I did have a spinal injury in the middle of my back from doing sit-ups on a cement like surface when using the workout floor at the Marriott on vacation (learned from that of course). I never Did go to the PCP on it, but did stay off it for a couple weeks until the acute pain went away (could still do non back exercises in my cross fit WOD). I think it was a bone bruise on the vertebrae. To this day, it still bugs me in that location on my spine in the middle of the back. It is not terrible, but is tender and feels sprained, if that means anything. My back has much less of a curvature now then it did back in May ( something I have been working on). Could under arm nerve issues also be caused by Vitamin toxity, specifically B6 or B12? It is better this morning, but still present. I put some of that topical prescription NSAID cream on it to numb out the burning sensations a bit so I could sleep. It helped and had a restful sleep.

No, unfortunately. The kirkland calcium chews are calcium carbonate ( unless they have added citrate since I last looked earlier in this year). This does not make them " bad, " but only means they will not absorb nearly as well. Carbonate also tends to be quite a bit less expensive then Citrate because Citrate involves some complex electrical chemical processes to make it. Agree both types of chews are yummy and a treat every day. If you cannot get access to citrate, carbonate should still fill the calcium requirements.

Easiest and most succinct way to explain why not to eat and drink at the same time: it hurts!

170 bucks for 5 lb of fake fat?!?! Imagine the cost in your equivalent excess body fat. For me, 180 lb of fake fat would cost 6120 bucks. I would rather go get liposuction for the same cost and ask for the left overs in a doggy bag to go. Lol. Forgive my macabre sense of humour.

No intention to make anyone feel like a slug. We already have enough of those in our garden. I guess the point of this thread is to suggest fitness can be found anywhere at anytime, not just in a gym. Even walking from the far end of a parking lot into the grocery store is a net negative in your total calorie consumption plus you get the added benefit of fresh air and endorphins coursing through your veins.

Laura - I definitely can relate. My down fall sometimes is beef jerky. It is a great protein source and "healthy", but has super high sodium levels. Last week I had a two serving bag of beef jerky as my "dinner" meal (300 calories). I did not plan it that way, but it was filling enough that I didn't need any thing else until bedtime shake. Usually I like Ro eat some jerky before dinner in the afternoon if I am out doing grocery shopping . The problem is I gained 4 lb water weight the next morning. Gosh darn it! So, moral of the story is to not be left alone with a bag of jerky around or before dinner time as it is easy to finish it. Extra water weight is gone now but not worth it to get the blast of sodium.

For the record phoenix 79 wanted to do 8 laps at 3am. . I do not know if I was sleep walking or what. Today we are going to go for 12 laps.

My wife got me thinking about sleeve names. I am also a July sleever, but from 2012. My sleeve will be known as sir sleeve mix o' lot! I think it is named appropriately.

As for reported rebounds after your 5:2 losses, maybe it just takes some time to the tune of 6 weeks or more. Most dieting takes time to gain momentum, but losses of 4 lbs here and 3 lbs there overnight reported on this thread is really good. Keep up the great work!

Nevermind, too far off topic.

Just an update for my wife phoenix79, all is well and she had a textbook sleeve operation. The Dr said she had the perfect anatomy for a sleeve surgery which I think translates into a successful post op experience. I think we will get to go home from hospital tomorrow. This is a much better experience then my sleeve, exactly 1 year ago. Two days in ICU and the 2 more days recovery from small complications before allowed to go home. Thanks for wishing my wife well.

Agree the dessert flavors are very yummy and a good distraction to eating something sweet. My current favorites are root beer and raspberry cupcake. Mmmmm,.....cupcake.

Yeah Amy, I have those days especially on a cross fit day or two. Not every time of course, but there are days when I am not super excited to go work out. If my inner voice got the best of me, I would not be there on some days. I get tired. Not just from working out day after day or even from post op eating, but I have a job with long hours and sometimes, well, I do not sleep enough and it catches up to me. However, I still fake my motivation when I feel like this to get my butt to the training sessions whether that is with my personal trainer or at home. After warming up, I am usually pumped enough that the inner voice of tiredness is replaced by Thor. I am then on a mission to get the most out of my short workouts. And I have a good workout. Just showing up is like 80% of the work when you do not feel like it. Be consistent. That is where real gains will come from. Same applies to eating. Be consistent and the gains will show up over time. One session or one day of eating well followed by 5 days of not working out or eating crappy is not going to result in noticeable gains. Not trying go be harsh at all, just trying to make my point of being consistent and showing up. After a while working out becomes like a ritual where motivation comes naturally and purely within. If you look at my transformation thread in vets forum, I wrote some notes about different forms of motivation and the connectivity between the stages. Go check that out again if you like. As for Jillian DVDs, you are right. My memory did mix up you two girls on this. Sorry about that!! you two are very alike in your cheerful personalities.

Great, we are now likened to crack addicts... For the record, my box o' pure bars are in hibernation.

Didn't mean for it to be so verbose Amy. It just sort of came out like that. Fitness is something I really enjoy now and like sharing with others. I hope you find some good ideas in any of the posts above. Like you, I was never focused enough at the isolation lifts in a gym like 24 or LA fitness. Don't know why. Perhaps I get bored easily when doing something like that in a gym atmosphere. I found full body exercises as a post op to be much more fun. This also includes weighted exercises like kettle ball swings and olympic lifts. Even lifting tires looks like so much fun and that, my friend, is a killer full body exercise. I also like working out with someone to keep me going, whether that is an instructor on one of my DVDs or a personal trainer. They always keep me interested and the end of a workout feels well done. For this reason, you might still like to do a workout with, say, Jillian because I know you have and enjoy many of her exercise videos. She probably does full body training videos like pdx90 or insanity. Those are all going to be fun when compared to isolation lifts in a gym somewhere. Hope you find some information that is helpful here, even if I am rambling a bit. Lol.

Maybe this thread should be deleted as it is too tempting to keep the women off it. Lol!

Amy- I still think that sledge hammer idea sounds great. I almost was going to do this, but got hooked on full body workouts instead. There are also a billion full body strength training exercises you can do and you do not need any equipment at all, just you!! These are a lot of fun and you can do them anywhere. The following is a beginner workout you can do with just your body and should keep you busy for 3x a week for about 3-4 weeks until you are ready to move onto intermediate body weight workout. You can start a warmup with 5-15 minutes of running. this is not meant for speed, just to get the blood flowing before the next set of warm up exercises. You should run between 1/2 and 1 mile. when you come back, start by doing push ups, planks, sit-ups, air squats, lunges, etc. These kind of exercises suck at the beginning, but after a while they are a lot of fun and you can increase intensity by just varying the exercise a little. Do 10-20 reps for each warmup. You should have a light sweat going by the time you are done. If you have a roller, spend a few minutes rolling out your muscles: hamstrings, calves, back, etc. One exercise I like also doing as a warm up is like a push up but you hold the top and bottom for 10 seconds at a time before switching to up or down position. Repeat for 10 reps. It will give you a great upper body warmup, a little fatigue but not much. Do your stretches. I like doing arm shoulder rotations, forward circles, backward circles, full body circles, forward in place lunges and plank variation that involves starting in a push up position, dropping to elbow one at a time and raising to full push up position, repeat 10 x. A beginner body weight exercise is the dynamic sumo squat where you start with feet together and then jump into a sumo squat with butt back, flat back and hands on ground. Jump back and repeat for about 20 seconds, rest 10 seconds, repeat for 4 sets. A second beginner body weight exercise is combination backwards lunge and 4 count ladder. Start standing up straight, do two deep lunges backwards with back straight, chest up and hands together on back up head. Next go directly into a 4 count. A four count is 1. Drop down with knees bent, 2. Jump directly back into push up, 3. Jump directly back onto feet in dropped down position and 4. Stand up straight. Repeat up the ladder 1 rep, 2 rep 3 rep and 4 rep. Then repeat down the ladder 4,3,2,1. Go up and down the ladder 1 more time. A 3rd beginner weight exercise is combination pointer and thumbs up ladder. The pointer exercise starts with you on you hands and knees. In a controlled movement, lift you right arm and left leg up, keeping both straight with shoulders and hips parallel to the ground. Hold for 1/2 second. Lower. Repeat with left arm and leg. This is a great back stabilization exercise. That is 1 rep. For thumbs up, lay on the ground with you arms perpendicular to your body, out to the side. Now lift both arms up and squeeze your shoulder blades together with your thumbs in the up position. Really feel the squeeze as your chest and chin come off the ground. Bring your arms back down to complete 1 rep. Complete a ladder of pointers and thumbs up from 1 to 4 reps performing first pointer and then thumbs up in each set up and down the ladder. Finally, do your cool down stretches to reduce lactic acid and make recovery far easier. Always eat a lean meal after your strength training workout out. It can be a recovery shake or it can be a good balance of macronutrients including lean protein, good carb and good fat. I like to have a few teriyaki meatballs or a chicken skewer, a 1/2 banana or apple with a spread of 2 tbsp nut butter. If I have a shake, I like to have something that is high whey percentage with BCAA chain and creatine hgc. There are a lot of good shakes out there if you want to drink a shake post work out. Again, there are a billion different body weight exercises you can do. When you want more, just ask. I find these enjoyable and the workouts are short. Each exercise is slow and controlled so you never feel rushed. Yet, it is a really challenging way to build up your strength that you can get real results from in a short amount of time. In as little as 3 weeks, I promise you will like the results. It would take months of isolation exercises to achieve the same results, maybe years. And then you might not get there because free weight exercises are non functional a d generally not natural movements for your body. Body weight exercises are functional exercise and feel natural to you. That makes them much more enjoyable to perform once you get the basic movements down. As an aside I like to have 6-7 small meals a day focusing on protein to hit about 1 G protein per ideal body weight 180 for me). I do workouts like these 3 x a week and cross fit 2 x a week. The core of these workout is 20-30 minutes ( does not include warmup or cool down). That is over before you know it, but you will get an excellent full body strength training workout. Keep all movements controlled and in good form. Make each move deliberate and in clockwork. It may feel a little slow. that is ok as you are aiming for good form and activation of many muscles groups for each body weight exercise. I promise you will get a good body strength workout after these. Your shirt will be soaked. The important thing is to keep showing up for every workout 3x a week. These body weight exercise will be a very effective use of your time and your wallet. I find these to be fun workouts.

Not too many guy responses, so I'll put in my two cents. I have been an apple shape most of my life. Even after losing the weight, I was still a smaller apple. However, after a few months of focused strength training, I am getting the triangle athletic shape of broad shoulders, big delts, lats and narrow waist. It is possible to change your fundamental shape with the right type of strength training. It takes a lot of focus, high intensity and consistently showing up to workouts though.

Everyone has been super thoughtful in their advice. Thank you!

Oh man, it is hot out this morning at 9 am. 84 degrees F. So I drove down to my favorite barista stand in the area and ordered a 24 oz iced SF mocha with NF and white coffee beans. It hit the spot and got me all perky too!! I am also being Careful to drink a lot of water today. Sitting in my chair can feel the sweat dribbling down my chest at 60 % humid and 85 degrees f. I mean, damn, the sweat is dripping off my body just sitting here. I am sure it is hotter where you at, but herein Seattle this is hot.