11 months post op

[meister 4]

Hello everyone. I just wanted to relate my surgery success. I'll start off by stating that I am not the norm when it comes to surgery. Results vary with everyone. I have many relationship es and friends that range from 2yrs to 5yrs post op. They're all amazed at my transformation. I'd like to think it's due to the extreme motivation I've had. My sister passed away at the age of 42. I was turning 42 in February of 2014. I weighed in at 397lbs. I consulted with a surgeon that month and was instructed to lose 20lbs prior to surgery. I lost 51lbs prior to my surgery date on 4-25-14. To say I was motivated is understating it. I was scared I was going to die like my sister did. She was overweight and had a massive cardiac episode during her sleep. I didn't want to leave my wife and children. I am truly blessed. I had the surgery and started walking the hospital halls non stop 3hrs after recovery. The nurses thought I would wear a path in the floors. I didn't sleep well and I had an issue with my blood pressure dropping too low. I was taken off my BP med while still in the hospital and never went back to them. My BP was around 98/50. It has stabilized now. Normally around 108/64 or so.

I was released after 2 days and went home to start my new life. I was and am very strict about my diet. I followed everything my doctors and nutritionist told me. The surgeon stated that I would lose 100lbs in a 100 days. I thought, sure buddy. Well the pounds just started melting off. I was exercising religiously. I started by walking 6 minutes twice a day for the first week. I quickly realized that I could do more. I started increasing my time every walk I took. By the end of the first month I was walking 45 minutes twice a day. The length of the walk was lnt the only thing increasing. My rate was too. I started walking faster and faster. I then started to enjoy yard work. I used to hate to mow the lawn even on my riding mower. I went out and purchased a simple walking mower with manual controls. No self propelled wheels or anything. The rider sat abandoned in my yard. What used to take me a half hour on the rider took me 45 minutes walking but it was great exercise. Every week that time went down until it only took me 23 minutes to cut my lawn. Well that's no work out I thought so I brought it over to my parents house and started cutting their huge yard too. So now I was upto 2hrs of lawn cutting and I was itching for more. I st at yed doing all kinds of landscaping jobs in my yard and theirs. Still not enough. I would pack up my mower and drive it a half hour down the highway to do my younger sisters yard. She needed more than mowing too. I did field clearing in her yard as a full acre was covered in brush.

By July all of this was easy. I was down the 100lbs my surgeon said I would. At 245lbs or so all things became easier. Especially breathing!

That's when I decided to ask my surgeon if I could go to the gym. I got clearance from him and I was off. I started a little shy because I was still that fat guy in my head. I quickly got over myself. I set goals. One goal was to be able to run a 5k this spring. I started on the treadmill but just walking at a 3.5mph clip. I increased that speed to 4.0 by the end of my first week there and went for 3 miles. Then I st at Ted really challenging myself. I started to increase my walks 1 mile a day over the next week. I kid you not, by the end of the week I got on the treadmill and walked 10 miles. It took me just over 2hrs but I did it. I had the bleeding nipple to prove it. I learned my lesson there. Always protect the nipple. Lol. I then started running at a 5mph clip every other day. 1 mile then 2 then 3. Of course I was elated to have hit my 5k goal so soon. I have increase the distance over the winter to a 10 mile run so yes I will be running a 10k next month instead.

Now I have cut back on the running as I've developed a major addiction to weight lifting. The last day I took off from the gym was Christmas morning and that was only at the kids request. I only work out with low weight exercises as I'm not looking to bulk up. I've been bulked up all my life. The gym is my second home now though. I do know my limits though. I've been studying the science of exercise and am using the OPT techniques. I also know when to say when. Some days are easy days and some days I flat out get after it. I listen to my body.

I am now working towards my certification to become a personal trainer. NASM certification was my choice. I have multiple job offers already on the table and I'm deciding which to take. My ultimate goal is to work with post op patients or people that were in the same situat I n I was in.

Ok, I'm sure you're wondering about my stats. If you've taken the time to read this long winded diatribe then you deserve to know. This is no B.S. either. I started my journey at 397 lbs on 2-6-14 at my first weigh in at the surgeons office. I was 346 on 4-26-14 at the St Elizabeth's Hospital on surgery date. It's now 3-28-15. 11 months later and my weight is 186. I went from wearing 52x30 pants to wearing 30x30 and they are a little loose in the waist. I was wearing 4xl shirts and now wearing mediums and smalls in some cuts.

Here are some pictures of my journey. IT CAN BE DONE! Be healthy, your life may depend on it. Mine did.

[angelface811 100]

That's amazing meister! I am also coming up on 11 months but am female. I am so sorry to hear about your sister. My first husband died before my very eyes in a horrific accident. It definetly makes you put things and life in general in a different perspective. What a wonderful opportunity to become a personal trainer. I am currently mentoring new patients and while I encourage them to go to the gym I tell them to be very careful if they decide to go with a trainer very early on. Most trainers aren't trained to work with new post-bariatric patients and while they have the best of intentions they could cause some unintentional damage. I think your knowledge will be priceless. One question: What types of ab exercises did you do to get them to respond so well? I have made my weight loss goal but still working on toning and getting my body fat percentage down.

[meister 4]

Thanks for the reply. I do core work 2-3 days a week. I started with just seated upright crunches on a machine. Results were good but didn't start really getting tight until I started doing floor work. I do a routine that includes straight leg flutters, bicycle kicks, leg raises and leg lifts held as long as possible. I'd do 3 sets to muscle failure or basically until I couldn't lift my legs anymore. That would happen quick in the beginning. Now the routine is a lot longer. I love to plank and I modify them daily. I plank everyday, even if it's only a few minutes. I now use a Swiss ball and have added to the routine. I do leg pull ins, pikes and arm roll outs. 3 sets of 15 for those. I also do weight work. A 15lb between the feet and a 30 over my head while lying on a bench. Lift the legs, arms and shoulders until the weights meet. 3x10 on those. I do side bends with dumbbells. I use a 50lbs now but started with a 25. I do cable crunches while standing 3x10 then do it again while kneeling. Of course there's also leg and knee raises while upright 3x10. I've now started doing balance exercises. Headstone also handstand work. It's tough but fun.

All of the exercises can be modified for any experience level. I have learned that the most important aspect of Ab training is diet. I eat very clean so my body fat has become very low. It has to be low for the abs to actually show. They don't need to show to have a strong core but damn does it feel good to see them for the first time in my life. Good luck in your workout. Do all the planks you can and look for different positions to hit your entire core. The results will speak for themselves. Even the loose skin gets better. To a point of course.