ouroborous

You have to find the workout that works for you; it's not that your muscles will respond any better to heavy weights, but if you don't like the workout or can't (or won't) stick with it, then even a more scientifically "correct" workout will be a poor choice, because the most important thing is to find a routine that you will stick with. Like with losing weight, consistency is far more important in the long run. Be safe, challenge your muscles, and stick with it.

You're welcome. It's very, very important to counteract folklore with science and knowledge. Here's another clip, from a (HUGE) professional bodybuilder. One of his last sentences is key: your muscles don't know weight, it knows failure. In other words, your muscle just doesn't "care" if you're using a giant stack of weight or not, it just "knows" when it's being worked to exhaustion.

As an adjunct, for men: using too much weight can be counterproductive. Why? Because even though it may look impressive and wow the other guys in the gym (which, realistically, should be the LAST thing we care about, but still...) it leads to more pain and likelihood of injury, which can temporarily or permanently sidetrack our bodybuilding routines. In the shorter term, higher weights can lead to a faster "cardio" failure (where you end the set because you're out of breath and sweaty, instead of because the muscle you're targeting failed). In this scenario, you've done very little to encourage the muscle to grow, you've just huffed and puffed a bit and impressed the other gym bunnies. And higher weights encourage poorer form, as we do things like rock our body to add enough lift to a standing biceps curl -- but this risks our lower back and actually reduces the intensity of the workout on the biceps. I'm really glad to see my suspicions confirmed with studies; it's far more important that you are consistent and safe and use good form, than that you use big weights.

Just another note on this topic: the combination of lunges every morning plus leg-intensive cardio every morning is already making a noticeable difference. I still do leg work at the gym (although I've switched from smith machine squats to the leg press machine). I'm discovering that for me, high rep count is arguably more important than big weights; I just don't get that wobbly-legged burn with low rep, high weights exercises, and I don't bulk up/tone up without the burn. I'm starting to think that a lot of the "accepted gospel" of weightlifting (go heavy or go home, etc.) is just a fairy tale. I think I'll look for some sports medicine research instead of relying upon what "everybody knows" (which is almost always wrong).

Actually I think getting rid of your scale wouldn't be a bad idea. If you're like me, you have other places you can weigh yourself -- at the gym, at your doctor/nutritionist's office, etc. And getting rid of the scale at home will help you kick the habit of obsessing over tiny, normal fluctuations.

Sounds about right -- post surgery until about 8-12 months out, it's VERY common to have a "foggy brain." It has more to do with surgery and general anesthesia than anything else; there are numerous studies documenting it. It would be the same if you had your appendix removed or a tummy tuck -- it ain't ghrelin. No worries even if you WERE disagreeing. I was just trying to make sure nobody saw this thread and panicked. From what I can read of the science, there's simply no cause for concern right now. Yes, if you ask a big enough group of people about a broad enough set of poorly-defined symptoms (and, let's face it, who HASN'T felt "fuzzy brained" sometimes?), you'll get some people saying "yes, by golly, I've had that happen!" The problem is that I've seen on forums like this where that can lead to people getting all worked up over nothing. There are REAL issues with the sleeve, including things like scar-line problems, C. difficile infection, and so on. But as far as I can tell, losing your memory isn't one of those issues -- if it's gonna happen, it's not gonna be the sleeve's fault!

So, my reading of this parallels with yours: the ghrelin-related neuron mediation seems to be specifically in the hypothalamic areas regulating feeding. It's like my pituitary adenoma; it's sensitive to dopamine, but only locally so -- I cannot infer systemic dopamine effects just based upon the one neoplasm. In short: if I'm reading this study correctly, it doesn't indicate generalized memory loss from ghrelin loss. Relax, folks. And one more time with feeling: the negative effects of obesity, including the negative mental effects of obesity, are far more dangerous than anything they've found from the VSG yet. I'm not saying they won't ever find some serious side effect, but this isn't the smoking gun. To all those saying "ever since the surgery, I've felt foggy!!!!" -- beware of self-diagnosis. My guess is that you're far "sharper" than you think you are, and you're just anxious about feeling foggy. And if you really are foggy in any way, there are far, far, far more likely causes -- from sleep deprivation to mild water/nutritional imbalances -- than ghrelin issues. So again, folks: relax.

It must be something in the air (or maybe I just slept well) because I've been "frisky" all day. Even during my fitness walk (which is usually an oasis of peace and tranquility in my otherwise-busy software developer's day) I was scoping out all young moms who were out in the middle of the day. Jeesh...

Then you stop losing weight. You can't lose weight forever; eventually weight loss becomes unhealthy. However, given your current weight, I'd wager it's going to be a while for you before you get there yet. There will be stalls and plateaus, sure. But if you keep coming back to that core of discipline, you'll get there. And the "diet" shouldn't have to be a diet; it's just the way we're all supposed to eat all the time. It's not about denying yourself or berating yourself, it's about sane, sensible eating. Check your portion sizes, eat your Protein first, then your complex carbs (leafy, green vegetables, etc.), then your simple carbs (potatoes, rice), and THEN, if you have room, you can have dessert -- but a SMALL portion. If you're like me, you wanted to skip the meal and go right to dessert! Plus, drink your Water -- make sure you're getting around 60-80 ounces per day in one form or another (a bonus is that you won't feel so hungry). And finally, you have to move -- I understand how limited your mobility is, but the point is to keep pushing yourself, move as much as you can, as safely as you can. If you still feel like you're too heavy to walk, see if you can find something like an aqua aerobics class (great exercise, and very low impact -- good for the joints). Try a yoga class -- pretty good for the joints and good sweating! We all have our own unique problems and limitations, but what you CAN'T do is give up and decide that you're doomed, because that will become self-fulfilling. I assure you that no matter what your age or weight or physical condition, there are people who were older, fatter, and sicker than you who have lost weight and led healthy, happy lives; the key is making the decision to do whatever is necessary to get there. Sorry if I sound like an infomercial, but sometimes I think that's what we all need

What are the odds that I'll be able to get to a point where I'm comfortable with my shirt off WITHOUT surgery? For the record, I'm 39 y.o. male with a BMI of 42. I have a big tummy, but it doesn't droop down over my waistband. I have some stretch marks from a rapid weight loss/regain in my teens. What I'm HOPING is that with sufficient exercise (and eventually weight lifting) I can avoid most of the super-invasive plastic surgeries. However, I'm trying to figure out how realistic my hope is, or if I should set my sights a little lower... The odds of me having tens of thousands of dollars for plastic surgery any time soon are... slim to none.

There are electroresistive scales (usually at gyms, but you can buy them on Amazon for less than 100 bucks) that do a fair-to-middling job of measuring your body fat percentage. Skin fold calipers are a bit touchy for folks like us with (potentially) lots of loose skin. It can throw off the readings a bit; that being said, ALL measurement techniques have a degree of error. Even the dunk tank can be thrown off by excessive gas (I kid you not!) As to the "obsession" -- well, it's not an obsession. It's more like a combination of health monitoring (just like a diabetic takes their blood sugar reading regularly, I have to make sure my weight is healthy) and a personal challenge (just how strong, fit, athletic can I really BE?) And yes, like Diva says, it's for life; either you commit to that or you're not going to have the best results (you'll still lose weight with the sleeve, but you're just not going to "be the best you can be").

I'd recommend supportive underwear. Gals have to wear supportive bras, it's just nature evening things out a little bit...

Ideally, we should only really weigh ourselves about once a month (not even once a week). But I'll be the first to admit that it's hard to be patient when you're hoping against hope to hit some "magical" number (onederland for a lot of us, although I strongly doubt I'll ever get below 200, and I'm really okay with that...) Best is to just not focus on the numbers on the scale too much, and focus on other measurements like body fat percentage or skeletal muscle percentage or waist diameter, etc. Better yet, focus on all the good stuff -- how much better you feel about your body, how much more energy you have, how much better your clothes fit, etc. The scale will just drive you nuts!

Indeed! And even though I've lost a humongous amount of fat, I want to look GOOD, not just like a deflated balloon! Some of that loose skin isn't going to go away without yet ANOTHER visit to the good doctor (sigh... tummy tuck) but with work you can "fill out" most of the other problem areas.

Oh no doubt, a lot of women seem to carry weight in their hips and thighs and caboose. But here's the unpleasant little secret; once we drop that fat, we're all in danger of becoming 'saggy butts' or 'no butts' (more common for men, but still). For men, working on your butt and legs gives you that powerful lower body look, with thick, strong legs and a tight, firm butt (jeez, I sound like a porno advertisement here, but you know what I mean!) For women, y'all just don't bulk up as much (sorry, ladies who claim you do, but you don't -- unless you have abnormally high testosterone, you're simply NOT at risk of "bulking up") -- instead, muscular butt and thighs produces that classic "hourglass" shape, but instead of being based upon fat deposits, it's based upon strong, lean muscle. And it looks amazing

Thanks for the good advice. I think that there's only one thing that I wanted to comment on: "muscles will only grow ... when we push them to failure." That's absolutely true, but I wanted to point out that there are different kinds of "failure," especially with the legs. There's the "okay, three sets of eight reps with near-max weight" kind of failure, which produces a very short-term wobbly-leg feeling, but almost no "burn" or "pump," and then there's the "two or three sets of twenty five reps with sixty percent of max" kind of failure, which produces not just the wobbly legs, but also a good burn (well, a hell-on-earth feeling burn, but you know what I mean with "good" ) and a good pump. And I haven't been focused on it long enough to be certain, but I'd be willing to bet that -- for my legs at least, the latter, higher-reps, lower weight, types of sets are doing more long-term good with regards to adding mass and strength and endurance. I definitely know the difference in feeling between an anaerobic and an aerobic workout, and it's still an anaerobic workout, but the lower-weight-higher-reps sets seem to produce more anabolic side effects for me. I'd bet it varies for different people, and I'm not skimping on the max weight stuff (my low weight, high rep stuff is lunges and cycling and so on, but I still do leg presses on the machine with 250 pounds or more), but I really have to focus on what seems to produce the best effects for me. That's one of the weirdest things about bodybuilding; it seems like you just can't find a one-size-fits-all solution, since everyone's body and muscles react differently.

Guys, lemme say, if you're significantly overweight like I was, you're going to be THRILLED with the results. Your only regret will be not doing this sooner!

Yeah, sadly, squats with any kind of weight are out of the picture because my sad little gym only has a smith machine, and apparently those just WRECK your body with squats. I can and will do walking dumbbell lunges (my balance is kind of iffy, but hopefully that will improve) at home every day and the leg press machine at the gym three times a week. As you say, it's hard to know "when to say when" with legs stuff -- I've discovered that I need to go a little lighter on the weight and do enough reps for a burn if I want to feel it the next day. If I go heavier, to where I hit failure before I hit the burn, I'm not sure I'm actually doing my legs much good.

I have to say that figuring out what size I am since surgery is really challenging! Before surgery, I really thought of myself as a "big guy" -- not just fat, but huge across the chest and shoulders. Well, I'm sad to say that a lot of that was just plain old fat. Now since the surgery, I'm finding that I don't seem to fit cleanly into a particular size range. In the shoulders, I'm slightly larger than a large but probably a tad below extra large. I'm also starting to notice how almost all of the guys I see browsing extra large ("Big and Tall" -- what a lovely euphemism for "obese and tall") are, well, fat. I certainly was. In the stomach, aside from this stupid, stubborn pooch of fat and loose skin (I WILL get a tummy tuck this year, dammit!) I'm a medium, if not smaller. That is a BIZARRE problem for me to have; I'm starting to have that stereotypical male "wedge" shape, and I'm discovering that clothes for the American male simply aren't tailored for that body type! Stuff that fits me in the shoulders is huge and billowy in the arms (despite my rather impressive "guns," if I say so myself ) and just VAST in the waist. Also, because of that "pooch" I mentioned, my pants don't... fit right. They ride a little low, giving the impression of a saggy butt when really the opposite is true, but my waistband isn't where it should be! Last but not least, I'm discovering that different brands seem to have vastly different definitions of sizes! I've been used to wearing Eddie Bauer and Old Navy stuff, and I'm suspecting that they are VERY generous in the cut, because when I went into the Gap to try on a sweatshirt that looked nice on the mannequin -- size large -- I looked like the bloody incredible Hulk in it! Not only was it VERY unflatteringly tight across my tummy, but it was so tight across my chest and arms that I swear, if I'd "flexed" I would have ripped out of it like a stripper in the Full Monty! And yet a size "large" from Eddie Bauer is loose and billowy! SO either the Gap is drastically undersizing things, or Eddie Bauer is (more likely) doing "vanity sizing." This is all so new to me; before I lost the weight everything I could wear was only one size "vast and tent-like." The thought of ever fitting into a medium ANYTHING would have made me laugh out loud!

Well, I don't want to give the impression that I'm some god of Adonis-like proportions; until I get rid of the tummy "pooch" I still think it would be embarrassing to have a made-to-measure shirt fitted. But I could definitely use that after I get the tummy tuck, so thanks for the advice... in the meantime I'll probably stick with the huge, billowy Old Navy shirts just because they're cheap and while my proportions AREN'T "classic wedge" yet, I don't want to spend a ton of money on clothes that I'd be too embarrassed to wear. I also want to avoid the "older guy trying to wear a young kid's clothes" effect.

So, back story. An embarrassing bit of trivia about me: I'm a hypochondriac. I mean, a major hypochondriac. Any little ache or twinge, and my mind immediately jumps to "it's the cancer!" I've learned how to combat this, in two primary ways. The first was just knowledge -- part of the reason that I'm a walking encyclopedia of medical knowledge is that I've learned that by training my brain about the things that REALLY go wrong with the body, and how likely they are, I can talk back to myself (often with a touch of humor) and tell myself "yes, it's possible that that twinge in your gut is cancer. But given that you literally have no other symptoms whatsoever, it's far more likely to be be gas." And lo and behold, it's gas! The second way that I fight my hypochondria is just by being as healthy as I can be; I don't smoke, I don't drink to excess (well, not very frequently anyway) and aside from an occasional (and I DO mean occasional, like a couple times a year tops) hint of the chronic (mostly to help me sleep -- I don't much care for the effects, but I'm a chronic insomniac), I have essentially no vices except coffee. According to my doctor, since the sleeve I'm in stupendous health, so I have absolutely no rational reason to be afraid for my health. But unfortunately, that doesn't stop my monkey mind from seizing on every little ache and pain and worrying about it incessantly. Lately, I've been noticing a couple of things. My hands ache -- especially my knuckles, especially in my right hand. Now, before I lost the weight, before I got my sleep apnea treated, I used to have horrible problems with stiff, swollen joints in the morning. It used to be that my hands would be so stiff in the morning that I couldn't bend my fingers; I discovered that by running them under hot Water for a few minutes, I could at least bend them, but they still hurt -- all day long. After I got on the CPAP for my apnea, that went away pretty much overnight. My sleep doctor explained that the strain of trying to breathe through a collapsed airway caused the body to retain Fluid, leading to joint swelling, so I guess that makes sense. Lately, I've been sleeping without the CPAP because after my last sleep study, where I was 100 lbs down from the previous one, my sleep doctor basically said "you're cured; it almost never happens, but as far as we can tell, you don't need the CPAP to get into REM sleep anymore." SO, I've been wondering if my stiff fingers have been a symptom of apnea creeping back in, and I've been experimenting with using my CPAP but it doesn't seem to make much of a difference. Also, my hips and lower back have been sort of sore (and of course, my hypochondria tells me that it's the colon cancer, which is pretty damn unlikely given I have zero other symptoms). It occurred to me on the way in to work today that I may be simply over-training. I lift weights every single week day -- in the mornings I have a dumbbell routine, and in the evenings I go to the gym where at a minimum I do crunches and lat pulldowns (I've been really trying to bulk up my back). Plus I've been doing a LOT of leg work lately to try to bulk up my legs... I may be overdoing it! My sore fingers MIGHT actually be the result of doing weights almost every single day. And my sore back and hips might be the result of bad form doing squats at the gym; I recently switched to squats from the leg press machine to try to get more intensity, but I don't think it's helping and it might have been the trigger for the pain. It's a little surprising to me because I've been so excited about actually seeing progress in my weight loss and body toning (for the first time ever) that I just want more, more, more... but there may be a point where it's too much! I'm thinking that a condensed routine three days a week might be a good start. The trainer at the gym seemed to think that maybe even two days a week, but intense, might be best. Has anyone else had this experience, where in order to keep making progress you have to work out less frequently?

Yeah, I just got the uric acid numbers back from the doc; they're perfect. So I don't have gout or arthritis (thank god, I'm only 41!) -- my sore muscles and joints are pretty much 100% due to overdoing it with weights (for the sore hands) and probably bad form with my crunches (for the sore hips). Good news, of course, is that both are easily correctable.