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It probably depends a lot on what your normal diet looks like. If, for example, you normally drink protein shakes and want to continue having those, then you could take protein powder that you mix with water or milk. Honestly though, if this is just a week or two, why worry about it? I'd say go have fun and eat whatever you want on the cruise. If when you get back home you find your weight has creeped up, just reduce your intake a bit for a while until you get back to your current weight (assuming you like being at your current weight).

@SpartanMaker okay I have all my food prepped and ready for this week so I am going to follow up with you next week, once I figure out my foods for the week! Thank you for all the advice and taking the time to go through this with me!

I think the way I'd put it it's best to is nail down your calories first, then depending on your goals, you can tweak your macros to better accomplish your goals. Since you're looking to drop a few more pounds and limited in terms of workouts right now, I'd probably recommend something more like this: 1600-1700 total calories a day. You could go as low as 1400 or so, but you may feel lousy if you do, so don't go that low for more than 2-3 weeks at a time. Target ~1.5 grams per kg of protein, or more. Thus ~115 grams minimum. If you are not struggling to get up to say 150 grams or so, that certainly won't hurt and may help you feel better. Fats around 70 or so should be just fine and will mean you're likely to be less hungry. You can go lower if you're comfortable doing so, but it will likely mean you're hungrier. Don't go below about 50 grams. Whatever's left over, make up for in carbs.

you will loveeeeee them once you get them done! even thought I am mentally struggling with not being able to work out- my boobies are worth it lol The internal bra has been amazing, the first week I was so swollen and in such pain but I am much much better now.

@Mspretty86 did they tell you if it will be a breast aug or will you need a lift too? well I am 23days out and I am not cleared however I think my case is a little more involved. Because I had to have an internal bra he did not want me to work out due to making me swell too much. He said that I have such little breast tissue we are relying on that internal bra to drop them down where they are supposed to go- if I didn't have it I would have implants in my armpits lol I cannot lie, I am slowly dying without it LOL but I love the way they look so its a necessary evil (if that is even the right way to put it) Everywhere online for normal breast aug and lifts said easy walking by week 2. Hard workouts 6 weeks to 8 weeks. So I really just think it depends. I probably will be cleared to do cardio and lower body before I can do upper body.

What struck me here is not really the macros and much as how different the calories are. The thing is, no calculator is going to tell you what the calorie count should be. My suggestion would be to simply track your existing calories for 1-2 weeks to see where you're at now. I assume your looking to maintain based on the fact you are showing to be at goal. If that's not accurate, then we might need to make some adjustments to what I'm about to propose. At this point, you can completely ignore anything a calculator spits out in terms of calories since by tracking your calories at your current weight, you know exactly where YOU need to be to maintain. Let's say for the sake of making the math easy, you determine that 2000 calories is working for you at maintenance. Skip the calculators and do this: Protein should be somewhere between 1 and 2 grams per kg. If you are inactive, 1 gram is probably minimally sufficient, but if you are very active or shooting for body recomposition, then you need to be closer to 2 grams per kg. 1.5 to 1.6 g/kg might be a good target if you are working out, but not super active, or are not really trying to add any muscle. The next thing to determine is grams of fat. If you are just maintaining, anywhere between 1 and around 1.5 g per kg is probably fine. If you are actively trying to lose or recomp, it would be better to be closer to 0.7 g per kg. Carbs is next and really will just be the rest of your calories, vs. a specific number of grams. Here's how that looks in practice: Again, just to beep the math simple, I'm going to stick with 2000 calories at your current weight of 170lbs, which translates to about 77kg. If your goal is body recomp, then 2g/kg should be your target protein, which equates to 154g per day. 154g at 4 calories per g equals 616 grams from protein per day. Fats when doing a "recomp" would be 77 x 0.7 = 54 grams of fat. 54 grams of fat at 9 calories per gram would be 486 calories from fat If we subtract 616 and 486 from 2000, we'd get 898 calories from carbs. This would be roughly 225 grams of carbs per day. A few notes: This is all based on research, but I also am not "carbophobic". My personal experience is that sufficient carbs are needed to fuel workouts. Some people have success with fewer carbs and more fat. I have no problem with that approach if it work for you. If so, feel free to adjust fat up and carbs down. Either way, the protein is the key, since you'll need that to build muscle. If recomp is not your goal, feel free to run the numbers with lower protein and correspondingly higher fat and carb numbers. Don't go lower than 0.7 g of fat per kg. You need a minimum level of essential fatty acids to stay healthy. In terms of how to change this if you are working out more than you are today, it really comes down to both the types of workouts (endurance sports virtually demand more carbs), but also how vigorous your workouts are. If you are trying to lose weight, I would recommend eating back at least half your calories from your workouts. Any less and you're likely to feel too rundown to put the proper effort into the workouts. If you just skate through workouts, then you lose a lot of the benefit of them. If you are trying to maintain or recomp, then you really should eat back all the calories from your workouts.

Depression can definitely impact motivation, so your husband may be on to something? That said, there is a difference between clinical depression and situational depression. Clinical depression is generally a lot more serious and long lasting, whereas situational depression tends to be less severe and tends to get better over time once you are further out from the triggering event. I'm not a mental health professional, but it certainly seems more like situational depression to me if you're really stressed about the work/funding situation. I think if you are concerned, the best course of action would be to talk to a mental health professional. We all go through some rough stuff every now and again, so if you need help, please get it. With that out of the way, I do also want to give you my thoughts on general overall motivation to exercise when you are struggling with that. What people often fail to understand is that humans are literally designed to conserve calorie expenditure. This is a key survival instinct, or at least it was back when food was a lot more scarce than it is today. I mention this because sometimes people think there's something wrong with them when they are not motivated to workout. Actually just the opposite is true. That feeling to want to do just about anything else other than workout is instinctual. So what do we do about this? well, since calorie conservation is such a strong instinct, we need even stronger things to overcome that feeling. Below are some ways we can do that. These are roughly in order of importance (at least in my opinion): Probably the single most important thing is to really understand your why. By that I mean if you don't really know why you want to exercise, or if the reason is somewhat vague (such as just feeling like you're supposed to), that just may never be enough. Really explore what caused you to want to make this change. If the reason is sufficiently important (for me it was not wanting to die an early death), then it makes everything else a lot easier because you can always refer back to the why when you'd rather just do something else. Make it a habit. Let's be honest. There are certain things you do in life that are just habits and you don't really need motivation to do them. They may not even be things you enjoy, but you do them anyway. For me that's things like laundry or dishes. Showering or brushing my teeth might be more examples. I don't really need a lot of motivation to do them, I just do them because that's part of what I do day to day. What we want to do is get to the point that exercising is just another habit. This could be a pretty long post in and of itself, but one tip I have is something called "habit stacking". I blatantly stole this idea from a book by author James Clear called "Atomic Habits". (I Highly recommend reading it by the way.) The idea here is to attach the new habit you want, such as working out, to an existing one you already do like eating dinner. It might look like this: "After I eat dinner, I will go for a walk around the block" Set realistic goals and update them as you progress. Realistic is the key here because I often find that people either set too easy of a goal, or much more likely, too hard of a goal. If your goal is to workout 5 days a week for 30 minutes at a time when right now, you're basically doing nothing, that's simply too much at once. A much better goal would be something like "I'm going to go to the gym once this week". For some people, just getting out the door and to the gym is the hardest part, so if the goal is just getting there, it overcomes the biggest challenge. Most likely, once you're there, you'll at least do something (you won't just turn around and come home). The same can be true if you're goal is walking around the neighborhood. Often just getting out the door is the hardest part, so instead of saying I'm going to walk 30 minutes a day, simply make the goal getting out the door once this week. This one is a little harder, but you need to explore your feelings and determine what your intrinsic and extrinsic motivators are. Some people are motivated almost exclusively by one of the other, but my experience is that most people are motivated at least in part by both internal and external things. When you know what these things are, it makes motivation a lot easier. As an example, I really love the way working out makes me feel, which is a strong internal motivator. That said, I also really enjoy looking fit. (I'm vain, sue me). I use these two things to my advantage. Put it on your schedule. Way too many people say they are just too busy to workout, but most of the time, that's just an excuse. If it's important, then you'll put it on your calendar just like anything else that's important. "Pre-prep" for your workout. This can vary depending on what you do, but a lot of people that workout in the morning (or immediately after work), find that if they lay out their workout clothes, or pack their gym bags before they go to bet the night before, it takes away one of the biggest challenges they have to getting the workout started. This removes an excuse not to do the workout, and in addition, serves as a reminder to actually do the workout. These are the biggest ones that come to mind for me. There are other tricks and tips I could give (like finding an accountability partner), but this post is already pretty long. One final thing I wanted to mention. A lot of people have found (and research backs this up), that regular exercise can actually significantly lessen symptoms of depression. While I do still recommend talking to a professional, you may find that working out actually helps you feel better. Best of luck!

Yes its a very common symptom. Drink slow, tiny sips. Its a real chore until your internal suture line calms and water can trickle through better. Hot drinks thankfully worked better for me. Maybe a chat with your team might be beneficial. I was an outlier, I really struggled. It took me 3 months to get all my required water allowance in. You should hopefully feel a difference next week. Keep struggling through, its worth it. Once you can master this you will feel so much better.

As someone who also has PCOS, my periods have never been normal (maybe 3 a year!), but since having the surgery they've been regular - like every month, pretty much the same time - which was a shock!

I’m a week post-op and I’m up to 32 oz of water. My issue is I get gas pains no matter the water’s temperature. Has this happened to anyone else??

The first week of the pre surgical diet is hard @Skewiff especially when it’s as restricted as yours. Much of what you’re experiencing is withdrawals from carbs, sugar, caffeine (though you said you’re drinking coffee which is unusual). Not being able to eat solid food adds to the challenge as your cravings (for textures like crunch, flavours like salty or sweet and for specific foods) are still there. The second week is always easier. And after the surgery when you’re still on the liquid diet, you won’t be all that interested in eating or food. All the best with your surgery.

chiming in to say i had a similar start to running like AmberFL. (note though that i am a track or round-my-600m-neighbourhood-block runner, and not a follow-my-nose-runnner lol). started off walking around the track/block, then jogging one side of it, to jogging 1/2 of it, to jogging every other lap to full on jogging non-stop, then doing the same progression, this time interspersing with running. then longer and/or faster runs. by the end of my running heyday, i was running at least 5K every day (sometimes twice a day) with a longer 10K maybe once a week. then...i hurt my foot. didn't run for 3 months, and never went back to it with the same intensity. these days, i probably get a 5K in 1-2 times a week (less when its too cold). but i do get my exercise in other ways, so its all good. as for fuel, its been a while, but i do remember feeling quite hungry after runs and would actually eat food before noon (not my usual M.O.), could also be because i always ran on an empty stomach (by choice, i hate - and still do - the feeling of something in my stomach when i exercise). to the OP, its effing awesome that you are discovering a fondness for exercise...it really does make a world of difference, for your health, your sleep, your body's ability for recovery, your mental clarity....your overall well-being! plus, it makes you feel grrrrrrrreaaat and look hawt. ❤️

i actually thought i was in menopause at the time of my surgery...i hadn't had a period for almost two years just prior to that. about 2 weeks after surgery, i got a period, omg. and lasted for like 8-10 days. which is weird, cuz when i was regular, my periods lasted 4-5 days tops. and this one was HEAVY. after that, i got my period like clockwork, every 4 weeks, lasting 4-5 days again. guess i wasn't in menopause after all, i was just fat. which sucked (the period part not the fat part) cuz i really hate getting periods. then about 4 years later, i truly went into menopause. and haven't had a regular period since 2022. yay! but yeah, i as i understand it, hormones are stored in some level of fat, so when there is rapid weight/fat loss, your hormones are released back into your body (bloodstream?), and you are effected by it. so if hormones are the cause of your spotting, this could be why. but to be safe, pls have a visit with your doc or gyno. don't mess with reproductive health: if you can catch something early, catch it early. good luck! ❤️

I sort of think of it as 2 to 3 "rest" days, because that's how many days I don't run. While my lifting is still a good workout, I don't really accumulate a lot of systemic fatigue from it. Keep in mind too that I take a deload week about every 4th week. In those, I drop down ~25%-30% in mileage and typically also don't do any lifting. That means I truly do have 3 full rest days during those weeks. As far as how long my long runs take, It obviously depends on the overall length, the terrain, and the pace I run it at. This can vary as my fitness changes. but also varies based on the weather and how I'm feeling that day. Right now, they probably last around 1.5 to 2 hours, but I have done a few that were in the 2.5 hour range. I would typically advise folks that are training for a first half marathon to work up to long runs that will take about the same amount of time as they expect it will take them to complete the race. In other words, if you expect to be about a 2 hour HM runner, then you should be doing long runs leading up to that of about 2 hours. It will obviously be a shorter distance because you'll be running slower, but for this, it's time on feet that really makes the difference. For someone training for a marathon, it may not make sense to try the same thing unless you're pretty fast. For example, I think the average marathon finish time is around 4 hours and 30 minutes. If you're a 4 to 5 hour marathoner, doing long runs that long would just be too fatiguing, so 3 to 3.5 hours would be about the max you should be doing.

Spartan Maker thanks for the feedback. I am doing my best to increase my physical activity every day. I am weight training with the a trainer 2x a week and I’ve been trying to get in 30-45 minutes of cardio 2-3 times a week to. I do agree I probably need to do my best to up the intensity. I think I’ll start couch to 5k and start jogging. Lately my protein has been variable. I always get 70-80 but I know I would like to get more like 150. On a good day I get 110. My calories have been anywhere from 900-1300 depending on the day and if I work long hours. My hunger is generally fair. I do get hunger cues and what not but it’s not terribly overwhelming. I have been feeling great overall. I would say as far as processed foods the main thing I eat processed is the shakes otherwise I have been trying to eat Whole Foods. I am a nurse and work 12 hour shifts and I do need To do better about getting a little additional physical activity after my shifts. This is a journey but have been blessed with feeling good and generally have good energy.

Well, it's highly dependent on where I'm at in a training cycle, but it might look a little like this: Monday: Rest Day. Tuesday: This is my speedwork day when I do intervals. What that specifically looks like is different depending on my current goals. For example, If I'm training for a shorter race like a 5k, I'll probably do more intervals at a faster pace, but the intervals will be shorter in duration. For example, I might do 8 total intervals at RPE 9 for ~2 minutes. In between each interval, I'll rest for 2 minutes. On either side of the interval work, I'll do a 10 minute warm up and a 10 minute cool down. Thus the entire run takes roughly 52 minutes. If I'm training more for a half marathon, I'll do more like 3-4 intervals but they may each be as long as 6 or 8 minutes. Rest periods will probably be ~2-3 minutes. Note that these are done at a slower pace, so more like an RPE of 7-8. Regardless of what the intervals look like, I always warm up and cool down for at least 10 minutes each. Wednesday: This is typically a strength training day for me. Sometimes I may run 2-3 miles afterward, though more often than not, I cross train on the bike, or sometimes do some rowing. Thursday: This is what I call my "Distance Run" day. It's typically going to be between 50% and 80% of my long run mileage, so if I'm doing 30 miles a week, it might be somewhere around 5 to 8 Miles. This is almost always done at an easy pace, but I do tend to add in strides toward the end. (Strides, for those that don't know are short 20 to 30 second accelerations followed by a minute or so rest. Because they are so short, they don't tend to add a lot of extra systemic or muscle fatigue or increase injury risk like you'd have for normal speed training.) Friday: This is when I do Race Specific Pace Runs, Hill Running, Tempo Runs or Threshold Runs. Again, this is highly dependent on where I'm at in a training cycle, but an example leading up to a half marathon might be a 10 minute warm up followed by 40 minutes at my half marathon goal pace, followed by a 10 minute cool down. Saturday: This is my other strength training day. Here, since I've accumulated a lot of weekly fatigue by this point, I'm a lot less likely to run afterward, meaning if I do anything after the strength session, it's going to be on the bike or rowing (or nothing at all if I'm wiped 😄). Sunday: This is my long run day. As a general rule, I don't want this to be more than about 30-33% of my overall weekly mileage. Thus if I'm at ~30 miles for the week, my long run won't be more than 10 or at most 11 miles. Most of my long runs are done at an easy pace, but I do sometimes add in some faster pace work toward the middle or end. It's all dependent on my goals. Overall, 30 miles per week is really not that hard for me at this point. Keep in mind, I'm retired now and my kids are grown so I don't have to worry about fitting this in around work or my kids needs. Now as I increase my mileage working up to 50-60 in prep for my fall marathon, I'm expecting that will be a lot more challenging. Physically I think it will be fine, I'm more worried about my ability to dial in my nutrition. It will be a lot of extra calories burned in a week and my fueling strategy has to be really dialed in for the 18 or 20 mile long runs I'll be doing toward the end. I have a tendency toward hypoglycemia if i don't get my fueling perfect. It would not be good to pass out when running!

Thank you! I have to agree, I noticed when I was making myself eat less, I cannot even work out well, I am lifting lighter or running slower because I am lethargic and fatigued. I do have to admit I am on the straight struggle bus with not being able to work out. I feel like I am eating too much however I am not eating near the calories I was. I do think it has to do with the dietician from my program shaming me into how much I was eating at my 6m appt. She told me that I needed to stick to 800 calories max, 100g protein, 140g carbs and 40g fat. I told her that is just not possible with sustaining my activity. She got into my head and I have been avoiding my 1yr check up for this reason because now I eat even more but I weigh 25lbs less. I wanna be you when I grow up! I was running 15ish miles a week and that was insane to me but 30miles? wow!!! how do you break that up? I would love to do a mini marathon though I am very intimated. I ran 5miles at once ONE time. The next day I couldn't move hahah

You are killing it! Your point about calories is really on point as well. I recommend any bariatric surgery patient read up on Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S). The simple explanation is that if you work out a lot, you need to eat more. If you don't, then you are a lot more likely to start having a hard time with things like fatigue, various injuries, getting sick a lot, lack of concentration and depression. At its worst, you can get really sick, leading to heart issues and worse. My personal experience is that women tend to struggle with this more, though anyone can be impacted. Some people here might think it doesn't affect them because they don't consider themselves athletes, but if you are working out multiple days a week, it is a risk, especially considering how hard it can be for us to get more calories in. Over time, you'll hopefully learn where your personal limits are. For example, I've found that right now I can maintain my weight reasonably well up to about 30 miles a week, but beyond that I lose weight whether I want to or not.

I have always spotted for a few days before my period; I look at it as my warning that its coming. It has calmed down some now, but for the first 3-4 months after surgery, my period was like when I was a teenager again. I had terrible cramps and a heavier flow; apparently there is estrogen in your fat cells and when you start losing weight, it releases the estrogen so it can make your periods worse.

So just wanted to pop in and give you my short experience. I never ran, until 6months ago, I started out with walking outside, then stair master, then walking on incline a little faster to a short jog. I too would jog for 2-3min at a time then walk for a min and continue that pattern for about 15min. Now I can run 3.5miles on my lunch break and it takes me about 30-32min to do so. I started really slow but running really helped with my body composition, my mind is more focused and overall has really helped my moods too. I also lift weights 4 days a week so that has helped. My only thing I noticed with all the working out is that I eat more LOL however when I was only eating 1200-1500 calories I was not building the muscle I wanted, and not looking how I wanted. So if you start eating more remember its the working out and your muscles is burning off all that fast! Now that I am not able to work out how I like due to PS I am slowly dying LOL but soon enough i'll be back to it. Enjoy this journey its so fun!

I think it's fantastic you're thinking about this now. Unfortunately a lot of people don't really think about that until it's too late. My goal is not only to increase my lifespan, but possibly even more importantly, my healthspan. By that I mean I want to remain healthy and capable as long as I can. Changing topics a bit, as you continue jogging, I wanted you to be aware of something that not a lot of people realize. This is a bit of an oversimplification, but you can break up the parts of your body that are involved in running performance into two big buckets: The first is your cardiovascular system. We're talking about heart, arteries, veins & capillaries, as well as the intracellular components that deliver oxygen and glucose to your muscles. Interestingly, this system tends to improve faster than the next system. The second is your musculoskeletal system. Obviously we're talking about your muscles, bones, tendons and ligaments. All of these will improve over time, but tend to be a bit slower to get stronger. I mention this because not understanding how these components react is probably the top reason new runners hurt themselves. As they start running, they find they're able to run farther/faster fairly soon as their cardiovascular system improves. Unfortunately, their musculoskeletal system (especially their bones, tendons and ligaments), aren't quite ready for the extra stress. In short, take your time pushing farther and faster and make sure to take an occasional deload week, just like you would for your strength training.

@Mspretty86 The healing is going great! They look fantastic, I am definitely a full DD which is what I wanted. I still have scabs on my under boobs where they placed the implant, I still wake up swollen but it goes away in like 5min of getting up which is great. I still cannot work out which sucks but hopefully today when I go see him he clears me at least start walking or something. No new bras yet I am still in my post op bra for 8 weeks minimum he said. I have shopped for lingerie and actually wore some for the misters bday and man oh man was that fun LOL He is very much liking them however he's more looking than touching HAHA! He's nervous that he will mess something up, but he's been amazing this entire experience.

Sorry, wanted to make one other comment here. Please don't approach your weight loss as something that will inevitably stall short of your goals. Plenty of us make it to goal and below, and have maintained this lower weight successfully. There are two things that will really up your chances here: You need to eat better and move more. If you slowly start making better food choices, you'll find you'll lose weight more steadily and be a lot less likely to regain. By making better food choices, I mean eating less ultra-processed foods and focusing instead on: Protein: High quality legumes Lean dairy Lean meats Carbs: Mostly veggies Some whole grains Some fruit Fats: Try to make this primarily monounsaturated fats This is not to say you can never have a treat, or have to eat only the above, but the more you focus on less processed foods, the better off you'll be. I also recognize that you can't make changes like this overnight. Take your time by just making small changes here and there until they become your new normal. Once those small changes are the new norm for you, it's time to make another small change. Keep at this process of making just small changes and eventually, your diet will be a lot better. In terms of movement, we now have lots of data to show that people that are successful in maintaining after weight loss tend to be very active. Once again, I know you're not going to be running any marathons tomorrow, but you absolutely can start small and focus on doing more and more over time. The CDC recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per week, which works out to 30 minutes per day for 5 days. They also recommend 2 days of strength training per week. Some data suggests that formerly overweight and obese people need to do even more than this, so my personal recommendation would be to shoot for at least 300 hours of moderate-intensity physical activity or 150 hours of intense physical activity, or some combination of the two per week. If you are over 65, the CDC also recommends you do some sort of regular training to improve balance since this can have a dramatic impact on fall risk. I know that sounds like a lot, but again, if you start slow (even 5 minutes a day 3 days a week), you definitely can get there. For reference, moderate intensity physical activity is walking a brisk pace, or similar activities such as a slow bike ride. Intense physical activity is more like jogging or riding a bike up a hill. If you didn't work up a sweat, it definitely does not count as intense.

6 days Post surgery update! Feeling great! 🥳 no problems tolerating fluids *touch wood* I have had some delicious home made soup which I strained, red lentil and veggies made on home made bone broth is delicious! I had prepped a large amount of bone broth and soups for Post surgery, but we had a Natural Disaster level storm through, which took out our power for 3 days!!!!!!!!! Lost everything, so have had to make more. Tonight I thought I would try Thai flavours and a bit of spice to see how my tummy reacts. Had a few sips whilst making it, and no dramas! Red curry soup with powdered peanut butter and coconut milk. 141 cals for small bowl. Taking it very slowly in case my tummy rebels.

I get what you mean about the New Year’s resolution bunch. I had a couple of people ask me if I want to walk with them since they know that I have been walking and I’m getting healthier. It was funny because one of them tried to make it sound like she was doing me a favor because I have slowed down a bit with my chemo but I still exercise almost every single day. Just nit 6 miles plus a group class like I was doing. Anyways I let that idea fizzle out because I didn’t want to rearrange my schedule or be on a schedule for a few weeks until they start making excuses to not go time after time. I’m sorry but if you calling me in November saying you want to start on the first of January you most likely are not serious about making a change. When we make up our minds to change our lives, most of us want to start NOW!!