Techynerd

I agree with the above comment on protein. Yes you are going to feel tired as you are going on a severe calorie restrictive diet. You will eventually adjust but in my experience things were up and down until several weeks after surgery. My doctor would not let me hit the weight seriously until about eight weeks after surgery. I am one year from surgery and have lost 175 pounds. I find it hard to put on any real muscle due to the calorie restriction. I tried lifting heavy for a while and all I did was get sore shoulders and knees. Now I stick mostly to toning and high intensity training. I have put on some muscle, but it is mostly just toning and tightening. I would really need to increase my protein to try to add muscle and that would have to be by drinking shakes all the time because my stomach couldn't take the solid protein. I'm happy though with my development. Can see muscles I haven't seen since I was a teenager.

Hello Guys, I just hit the 1 year anniversary of my gastric sleeve surgery. I thought I would drop in and say "hi", as well as post a few comments on my experience. I do not post often, almost not at all, but I have really enjoyed reading others comments and posts and have found them to be helpful. If anything, it has been nice to read about other similar experiences and concerns. First, I would like to say that I am very happy that I made the choice to have weight loss surgery. I don't think I could have lost weight without it. I did not have any serious health issues before having the surgery, but I was over 400lbs, so issues like diabetes were probably just around the corner. Things have not always been easy, but I am very pleased with where I am at this point. 1 year from my surgery and I am down to 241lbs from my pre-surgery weight of 411lbs. That's 170lbs lost. What has that meant to me: Blood sugar, cholesterol all in great ranges. I am very active now (no more couch potato)I've become a gym rat and am going twice a day most days, in the morning and after work. I bought a bike and go trail riding often, on weekends I will tally around 20-25 miles of riding in one day. Ran my first 5K ever on Halloween weekend. Plan to do more as I want to improve on my time. Resting heart rate is in the low 50s from all the cardio. (Down from the high 70s before surgery). Love Tabata and HIIT training. Great for short intense workouts that really work up a sweat. Look it up on the internet. Started doing Muay Thai kickboxing again. Loved this 20 years ago when I was younger and lighter and am now getting back into it as the old guy. Much more sex with my wife Can now buy clothes at normal stores and don't have to go to the Big Mens store or sections anymore. People look at me differently and first impressions are much better. Not that I really cared about this before. Just generally feel better and less tired. What have I had issues with over the last year: Vitamin D keeps coming up just a little low, so upping supplementation. Still eat too fast at times (about once a month or so). This causes a very full feeling, sometimes causing me to throw up (or throwing up on purpose to give relief). Some joint issues in shoulders and knees from fitness activities. This has caused me to scale back on weight lifting and adapt some of my cardio routine. No more heavy lifting and have moved from treadmill to rowing machine. Still miss being able to chow down on a big sub sandwich. Going out to dinner isn't as fun. Extra skin. Gonna have to get a lower body lift at some point to take care of this. All this being said, the positives far outweigh the negatives. I got through my down times where I get sick of logging food in MyFitnessPal, or just don't feel like going to the gym. I've had to discover new ways of relaxing as most of my previous activities involved food. Now I bike ride, go to the gym, I even like to just go to a mall and window shop. I'm still trying to figure these things out. I feel great though and love the fact that I don't get out of breath going up stairs. I take a little pleasure when I see people who are thinner than me struggle with activities that I can do, like the 5K I ran recently. I also like that fact that while my kids have always loved me, I know they are proud of what I have done so far. I fit in better with me wife and kids because thankfully non of them have weight issues. Well, that's my one year story. I appreciate you getting this far in my long post and hope this helps some of you as your posts have helped me. I am still a work in progress and have about 30lbs to get to my goal weight. The weight comes off much slower now, how I miss the 5-10lb drops from early on after surgery. Now there are long plateaus and 1-2lb drops. But for the last 5 months I have averaged about 1-2lbs a week. Take care and I will post again when I hit my goal weight. Best advise I can give is not to dwell on the food you can't eat anymore (or the amounts), cheating every now and then is okay, just pick yourself up and keep moving. Be active, Techynerd

Camarolegend- Great work, keep it up. I am 5'11" and was thrilled when I didn't have to shop at Big and Tall stores anymore. As a matter of fact I have gone a little clothes shopping crazy. I am in between a 40 and 42 waist. 42s give me a little slack, but 40s are just a hair too tight. I am wearing an XL shirt, which is down from the 5XL shirts I was wearing before surgery. Your doing fantastic for 5 months out. You'll be wearing those 38s in no time.

Hang in there. The cravings are definitely in your head, but that doesn't make it much easier. My advise is to stick strictly to the diet your doctor has given you. I've heard some horror stories of people who haven't followed doctors instructions. I was just a week post op this time last year. Thanksgiving doesn't make it any easier. You'll start adjusting soon and when you can start eating heavier foods you'll wonder why you even wanted to because you can take in so little. I don't have much of a sweet tooth and all the Protein shacks are sweet. If you are allowed, try some beef or chicken broth. They were a nice craving killer for me. As you see the weight melting away you will feel better and that will be your motivation. Take pictures to track your progress, they help to give you visual motivation. Lastly, I know it's cliche-ish, but when you get the cravings then take a walk and sip some Water or clean protein while doing it until the cravings pass. Your on the right path and this forum was a great help for me too.

I start my pre-op diet tomorrow and my surgery will be on November 12th. I am currently 411 and would like to get down to 210. I am not nervous about the surgery, but I am a little apprehensive about the major lifestyle changes. I am getting great support from my wife and kids, and they are my inspiration to do well. I am confident all will be good and I look forward to being able to participate in more fun activities with my kids (like riding roller coasters). Wish me well.

I am still a few months pre-op. My insurance company requires at least 90 days of education and counseling before surgery. Since I have around 200 lbs to lose, I have asked the same thing about extra skin. Doctor, nutritionist, exercise specialist all say pretty much the same thing and that it varies. They've seen some people who have lost hundreds of pounds and you couldn't even tell now, and then others have extra skin. The one thing the exercise specialist said was to make sure to do resistance training and not just aerobics. The resistance training has a positive affect on skin elasticity.

I want to get back into Thai kickboxing. I used to train and fight, but when I started teaching I wasn't getting the training in. That's when the weight really started to pack on. Running 6 miles a day turned into 3 miles, then 3 miles every other day, then nothing. I miss the endurance and energy I had then (this is like 15 years ago). I also would like to start weight training again. It would be nice to be thin enough to actually see the results of the hard work. I used to be able to move some pretty heavy poundage. There was always a layer of fat that got in the way of seeing any real definition. I sound like the old guy who pines away for his old football days. Actually, I guess I am the old guy pining away. I don't care though. I'm not afraid of the hard work, I just need some more energy and the knowledge that there will be results from all the effort.