BigViffer

I put this in the Guy's Room only because I don't think the women will care. I finally got to ride my motorcycle today for about 3 hours instead of just down the road and back. I have a 2010 VFR1200 sport touring bike. Don't let that touring part fool you, a VFR is not an "old man's" bike: Anyway... This bike has 170 hp and 100 ft/lbs of torque. Do you know what that feels like when you take off? It feels like someone is trying to push you off the bike. Now imagine that you weigh 120lbs less than when you bought the bike! Now it feels like someone is trying to pull my arms out of my shoulders! But seriously guys, riding the bike is so much easier now than it was just last year. When you aren't trying to force 330lbs through a sharp corner things are a lot less scary. First of all, your tires have better traction. Second, it's like going from 2-up riding back to 1-up. Can't wait to start racking up the miles this year! Oh, and if you ride - post a pic. Doesn't matter what you ride as long as your knees are in the breeze.

I have been taking dicoflenec (generic Voltaren) for at least 10 years. I just take an omeprasole (sp?) once every other day. My surgeon was aware of it and totally cool with it. Over 5 years out and I just have regular appointments with my PCP. The thing about dicoflenec though is that it does not play nice with tylenol, aspirin, cold medicine, heart medicine... you get the idea. It is only available via prescription because of the interactions. I take it for my arthritis and it is nothing short of a miracle drug in my opinion.

That's actually a myth. You body will utilize all the protein that it takes in over time. The part that people stick to is that it can only absorb so much in a time span. See the linked study on optimal anabolic response: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5828430/ Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but GENEPRO is junk protein powder whose owner was sued for faulty claims. If you read the fine print, it should say something along the lines that it is a magically fast absorbing protein that is equivalent to 30 grams of protein. It's bunk. Do a search on this forum for GENEPRO and you will find some really angry people who got suckered.

Look at those deltoids! Kick ass man.

For me personally, Boston Stoker coffee always seem to go right through me. I can't even finish my second cup before I have to head to the bathroom. Doesn't matter the flavor or roast, but definitely the brand. That is the only coffee I tend to avoid for physical reasons. I don't like Starbucks anything since they use Sumatran beans and they just have too much of an earthy flavor. I prefer the "fruity" beans like real kona. Dunkin Donuts coffee is a great bean in my opinion and it is available reasonably priced at any grocery store around here. Maxwell House is too astringent to me, but Folgers is a fine everyday coffee IMO. As for the caffeine levels, I honestly don't pay attention to it since it doesn't appear to be a problem for me. I take my regular supplements with water after I am done with coffee in the morning around 10:30. I'm back to coffee by 4 though until about 7 or 8.

I'm not going to respond to the obviously stupid troll post but I did want to ask about this: Who told you NSAIDs are off the table? I've been taking voltaren since before my sleeve surgery and continue to do so. Fortunately I have been able to cut it down to once a day, but it is still every day that I take them. Both my PCP and my surgeon were totally cool with it since it is regulated and monitored.

Since I am at least a pot & a half a day drinker of coffee, and a 5 year vet, I have some experience. When talking coffee, we all say coffee but we don't all mean the same thing. Coffee to me is regular coffee with cream. My uncle says coffee and it means black. My coworker says coffee and it is this whipped cream covered sundae in a huge cup with enough sugar to kill a diabetic. The first thing to debunk is that coffee is diuretic. Caffeine is diuretic yes, but the amount of liquid present in a cup of coffee is more than enough to offset that. It will not dehydrate you. When coffee is said to be acidic, that is actually in reference to the flavor; not the pH level. Our own saliva is more acidic than coffee and our stomach is far more acidic than that. And our stomach is producing hydrochloric acid all the time. Like, as soon as they close the stomach acid is back in production. https://www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-deal-with-acid-in-coffee-224482 The only things to truly be cognizant of is that caffeine, regardless of its source, attaches to the same receptors that Vitamin D and Calcium bond to. So if you take supplements for those, don't take them with coffee. The other thing is that coffee can stimulate the bowels. Some people have always been like this, a good strong cup can send me to the bathroom relatively quick. That was before surgery and still happens today. Some people never had that issue before and now they do. It's not uncommon.

Collagen should not be counted as a protein at all in our macros. If your nutritionist is saying that it is a bio-available protein, she is going against the FDA and known science. I would not recommend sticking with them. I've not met a nutritionist yet that was much more than a smoothie recipe repository and supplement salesperson, so I have a low opinion of them in general though. If anyone - bariatric patient or not - eats complete proteins, the body makes its own collagen.

Nutritionally speaking, collagen is a junk protein. It is an incomplete protein that our own body produces as a by product. The reason it is enjoying any success right now as a supplement is because of the loophole that supplements are not reviewed by the FDA. Collagen rich foods however are reviewed and labelled as "not a significant source of protein". If you would like to increase the amount of collagen you eat, you can just buy jello or pork rinds. Literally the same thing at a fraction of the cost.

I may buck the trend a little bit here. I personally wouldn't say you are truly in the maintenance phase yet. Maintenance is more than just hitting a body weight and staying there, it is continuing on with an established lifestyle. At one year post op, most people are still in the honeymoon phase. It is easy to get complacent and even easier to break newly formed habits. I'm betting you haven't bottomed out yet. Then after that is the rebound gain (which is normal) and that's when maintenance truly begins. Don't get me wrong, I completely understand the desire to get strong and do things that our bodies previously could not do. However there is a price to pay when you start training yourself to eat to a caloric surplus for muscle growth. You still have stiff scar tissue that gives you the restriction with your sleeve. A year or two of being the strongest you can be AND the leanest you can be would better serve you long term than a race to get big muscles and lift heavy things. I am now 5 years out myself and I ate to fuel my lifting. I usually only hit 2500 calories a day. Now I have some old injuries rearing their head and typical age related limitations forming, but my established routine of 2500 calories does not fit with my reduced training. So now I am contending with head hunger again and I almost forgot how insidious that really is in regards to my goals. I've actually gained 5 pounds in the last 2 months and I don't think it is muscle! I could recommend all kinds of ways to get your calories up and do it an a relatively healthy way, but I would strongly encourage you to nail down the tracking of calories and macros. truly determine what size/weight you want to be, and then make a long term goal. I know it is exciting right now, but this is not a race to the finish and then done. This is a marathon that lasts the rest of your life. If you still want high calorie ideas, then here goes: Avocados - learn to love them. Substitute them for butter, eat lots of guacamole, or eat it with an egg. Nuts & seeds - cashews, pecans, and peanuts are very high in calories because of the fat content. But it's a good fat! Beef - there is no substitute for high protein and fat content. Hamburger/Meatloaf are good examples. Sausage - I still tend to go for the chicken sausage links or turkey sausage patties. They just taste better to me now. But old fashion pork sausage is high in both fat and carbs. Full fat milk/cheese/yogurt - And I don't mean any of that yoplait or velveeta crap. Eggnog Ancient grain bread - not the fluffy "wheat" bread that is just brown Wonder Bread, I mean the dense stuff. Good carbs and high fiber. Dried fruits - dates, figs, apricots... high in fiber and natural sugars. Helps keep you regular too with the all the fat and protein listed above. I wish you the best of luck and I envy you the time period you are in right now.

Lengua is another super lean meat! Though I will only buy it prepared, I can't bring myself to handle it otherwise!

Just to be clear - collagen is a junk protein for anyone, not just bariatric patients. As long as one eats sufficiently our bodies makes it's own collagen. And lots of it! All of the marketing hype and celebrity endorsements for the wonders of ingesting collagen to smooth skin and repair bones are lies passed under the loophole of supplements not being reviewed by the FDA. However, collagen itself has been studied and review and was deemed to be an insignificant protein (i.e. incomplete). If anyone really wants to use collagen, I'll save you $20. Buy a box of jell-o. Or eat pork rinds. It's literally the same darn thing.

That's not true for any gastric patient. Whey is the far superior protein when it comes to bioavailability, but there is nothing "wrong" with soy. The only protein you should not count towards your protein macro goal is collagen as it is an incomplete protein. Other than that, the best protein is the one that you will consistently use.

I actually find all the reaction pretty funny. Don't get me wrong, I personally cannot handle tripe, the texture literally causes a gag relflex. My mother in law chuckles every time she talks me into trying it again. However, if you really think about it, every country has delicacies, comfort foods, or snacks that the other countries consider repugnant. Caviar? Who in their right mind would ever look at that and actually want to eat it? Foie gras? Sick SOB's to eat that morally or based on flavor. Fried chicken livers? (I personally love them!) Gross! Tripe and a lot of the so called sweatbreads (internal organs) were long considered peasant foods. Now they are considered trendy. Tripe is a source of complete protein and is low in fat. While I find the idea of eating or drinkings a puree of it, nutritionally it sounds like a winner. By this time (3 weeks post op according @Raquel M. info) it should be fine. But of course, the last word must come from her surgeon.

405 deadlift is a pipe dream for me. Between the arthritis and nerve damage from a car accident I just cannot exert the necessary force to deadlift more than 260. I'm not complaining at all though, prior to my gastric surgery I was not supposed to lift anything heavier than a milk jug! Treasure these days of a young body that still works as it should!

Looking at your stats, we aren't too dissimilar. You had a higher start weight than I, but our height and goal weight are damn close. I eventually got down to 198 before I started heavy lifting. Well, as heavy as this broken down body will allow. My original goal weight was 220, the weight when i met my wife. I blew past it no problem! The hard part came (and it always does) is the rebound weight and also the muscle mass weight gain. You might be conflicted when the scale goes back up. It is very important to have a good relationship with your surgeon or qualified dietitian that you feel you can trust. I don't say nutritionist because they are nothing more than smoothie recipe repositories in my experience. I have held steady at a 225 lb weight for 3 years. I have seen it fluctuate as much as 5 lbs depending on how bad I was over a weekend. Bad in my case turns out to be eating ham. Not lunchmeat ham, traditional easter/christmas bone in hams. I swell up so bad the skin splits around my fingernails! I only bring this up because while I weigh in every day at the gym (Monday thru Friday), but I only worry about my monthly average. I keep a log of my lifts, my eating, BM's, and weigh. I can usually deduce if I am gaining weight from over eating, water retention, or constipation. Didn't mean to be so long winded. I haven't really talked that much on here in a long while. Keep doing whatever you are doing now if it makes you happy and fuels your passion for exercise. Enjoy the honeymoon phase and do as much as possible to cement the routine in your mind. You look great, best of luck to you! *edit* Forgot to mention - this past Christmas break, I weighed in at 232 and almost shat myself right there. Upped my water intake to flush out the ham's sodium and I was back to 227 by weeks end. So don't freak out if the scale moves the other way once in a while. Just take the steps you know you need to.

Since I am at least a pot & a half a day drinker of coffee, and a 5 year vet, I have some experience. When talking coffee, we all say coffee but we don't all mean the same thing. Coffee to me is regular coffee with cream. My uncle says coffee and it means black. My coworker says coffee and it is this whipped cream covered sundae in a huge cup with enough sugar to kill a diabetic. The first thing to debunk is that coffee is diuretic. Caffeine is diuretic yes, but the amount of liquid present in a cup of coffee is more than enough to offset that. It will not dehydrate you. When coffee is said to be acidic, that is actually in reference to the flavor; not the pH level. Our own saliva is more acidic than coffee and our stomach is far more acidic than that. https://espressocoffeeguide.com/low-acid-coffee/ The only things to truly be cognizant of is that caffeine, regardless of its source, attaches to the same receptors that Vitamin D and Calcium bond to. So if you take supplements for those, don't take them with coffee. The other thing is that coffee can stimulate the bowels. Some people have always been like this, a good strong cup can send me to the bathroom relatively quick. That was before surgery and still happens today. Some people never had that issue before and now they do. It's not uncommon.

Eh, close enough I guess!

6 weeks? I've been married almost 20 years, have 2 teenage daughters, have frequent visits from our parents and the kids friends - 6 weeks sounds perfectly normal! In regards to post op though, it's the jostling that they want to keep to a minimum. Acrobatic newlywed sex would not be a good idea, but "mom & dad are upstairs so keep it quiet" sex would be totally cool.

Bulking up in general, whether male or female is hard unless you have a substantial caloric surplus. Lift heavy for few reps for strength or light for high reps for definition, either way bulking is hard to do.

5 years post op and It's literally all I see when I look in the mirror. Everyone tells me I look great or that they cannot believe I was ever morbidly obese, but I still cannot get the fat guy out of my head. You are definitely not alone.

Thank you for the kind words, I try to only reply when I have something worth saying instead of just talking to talk. At this stage, I am far enough out that the trial, tribulations, and emotions fresh from surgery have faded. I am not able to give pertinent advice other than "this too shall pass". As for the pictures, I don't do the gym selfies anymore since the weight loss and strength gains have tapered off. Now I am maintaining at pretty much everything, so the allure of showing progress was waned. I no longer need that validation that the camera can provide. However, I no longer shy away from a camera or insist on being the one to take the pictures as an excuse to be in them. Here is a recent Christmas picture (sorry no beefcake!)

I need to hit my macros and protein bars help immensely. Here is something that will give the food police an apoplexy; I eat on average two protein bars a day. Can't stand shakes, never have. If I don't have the protein bars, I'll do the protein cakes. Once you get to maintenance and if you have an active lifestyle, your carbs and protein intake should be about the same.