male only Male Before and After Pictures

[NJDad 173]

Pic on the right was January 2015. The one on the left was this afternoon.

Two things I notice in your pictures.......

1. You are looking great.

2. Your after picture is taken in a gym.

The reason I mention this is that so many people think they can have the surgery and the weight will magically slip off. It takes hard work to make this happen, including spending time in the gym, to achieve our goals.

Ron

[NJDad 173]

DM,

We all were nervous before we started. It takes a lot to finally make the decision to make changes in our lives to help ourselves. You are on the right path, investigating what this process is going to be like.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask any of us here. We are all on here to assist others.

Ron

I just found and signed up for this site. I am considering the sleeve, but a bit nervous about the whole thing. Not so much the surgery, but can I do the liquid diets. After looking through this thread I want to thank you all, these pictures are incredibly inspiring. Seeing what you all have done I feel more confident that if i force myself to get started and start seeing results it will still be a difficult process but with great reward. congrats to you all..

[dmedic72 130]

Thank you. I owe a lot to my trainer and my nut both before and after surgery. I gave up 50lbs before surgery with their help and started building muscle and conditioning my body to be ready after surgery. It truly made a difference.

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[fly-high 84]

You know I worked out religiously 4 days a week with weights and aerobics for almost 20 years, I ate like a horse eating any and everything. I just looked like a big man like Hoss on Bonanza.

After realizing that my body wasn't going to change and my health was deteriorating I got the surgery almost 4 months back worked out in exact same manner with 40 lbs. down since then I look like you do.

People are like wow do you work out twice a day. It is amazing the damage too much food and beer can do to you. Slowly but surely it was taking me out.

As we all see Moderation is the Key! I'm trying to stay aware and tell myself why I did this... The best decision I could have ever made!

[BigViffer 3,544]

I find it funny that it has been over a month since I said I was going to post a picture after hitting my goal. This stall has lasted way too long. Hopefully it won't be much longer.

[BigViffer 3,544]

Quick and minor update! Went to the gym and did my weekly weigh in. 222! I don't know if the stall is broken or if my regularity has helped, but it doesn't matter. The needle has moved and I'll take the success.

[OneDollarBill 371]

Awesome. I am getting close. My goal weight is between 215 and 225. I'm 228 right now. I signed up Wednesday for a last min 5K at Angel stadium this weekend. I am enjoying these running events. Looking forward to the Star Wars race at Disneyland in Jan.

[goblue9280 481]

Damn dude, you're looking awesome. Very inspiring!

How long after surgery did you start hitting the gym? I'm two months out today, my NUT wanted me to wait at least until then to start lifting any weights. All I've done so far is walking, but I'm starting to feel a lot more energetic like I can up my effort.

Pic on the right was January 2015. The one on the left was this afternoon.

[dmedic72 130]

Damn dude, you're looking awesome. Very inspiring!

How long after surgery did you start hitting the gym? I'm two months out today, my NUT wanted me to wait at least until then to start lifting any weights. All I've done so far is walking, but I'm starting to feel a lot more energetic like I can up my effort.

Pic on the right was January 2015. The one on the left was this afternoon.

I continued doing cardio after 2 weeks. My surgeon ok'd light workouts as long as I didn't do anything heavy and didn't create too much intraabdominal pressure. So, barbells and seated exercises mostly. My trainer was very good about that. I'm at 6 weeks and cleared to do anything that feels good.

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[dmedic72 130]

I've continued losing weight and my trainer is confident in making good progress. I'm making good gains in reps and weight. As long as I take in a minimum of 100 to 120 gms of Protein / day average, I feel good about it. I'm by no means a hard core gym rat. But, I do enough to keep up and build some extra muscle to help keep off the fat.

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Edited December 1, 2015 by dmedic72

[goblue9280 481]

I feel like I have the energy to start lifting weights 3 days a week. I have a weight bench at home and a set of powerblock adjustable dumbbells that go from 5-50lbs each. I've been poking around online for a beginner dumbbell workout.

I'm worried about being able to build muscle due to the caloric restriction. I've asked my Doc/NUT and have not received much feedback. Online resources regarding building muscle after gastric bypass are scarce. Furthermore, my Doc actually encourages adapting a vegan/vegetarian lifestyle... which further complicates things if I go that route. Currently I'm eating meat, and getting around 80g of Protein a day.

[dmedic72 130]

I feel like I have the energy to start lifting weights 3 days a week. I have a weight bench at home and a set of powerblock adjustable dumbbells that go from 5-50lbs each. I've been poking around online for a beginner dumbbell workout.

I'm worried about being able to build muscle due to the caloric restriction. I've asked my Doc/NUT and have not received much feedback. Online resources regarding building muscle after gastric bypass are scarce. Furthermore, my Doc actually encourages adapting a vegan/vegetarian lifestyle... which further complicates things if I go that route. Currently I'm eating meat, and getting around 80g of Protein a day.

Have they mentioned a rationale for pushing a vegetarian lifestyle? I've never heard of such a thing.

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[defibvt 348]

I agree... how do you get all your Protein in, on a vegetarian diet?

[goblue9280 481]

I feel like I have the energy to start lifting weights 3 days a week. I have a weight bench at home and a set of powerblock adjustable dumbbells that go from 5-50lbs each. I've been poking around online for a beginner dumbbell workout.

I'm worried about being able to build muscle due to the caloric restriction. I've asked my Doc/NUT and have not received much feedback. Online resources regarding building muscle after gastric bypass are scarce. Furthermore, my Doc actually encourages adapting a vegan/vegetarian lifestyle... which further complicates things if I go that route. Currently I'm eating meat, and getting around 80g of Protein a day.

Have they mentioned a rationale for pushing a vegetarian lifestyle? I've never heard of such a thing.

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Well, my bariatric surgeon (Garth Davis) has become a big vegan advocate as a means to curtail the obesity epidemic in this country. He became a vegan a few years back, saw health benefits and has since looked into deeply and feels it's the best diet. He has a book that just came out called Proteinaholic which (my understanding is as I have not read it) goes into detail about the science behind us eating too much Protein and instead moving to a plant based diet.

That being said, he is not pushy about it with his patients. His dad is also a bariatric surgeon at the same practice. The handouts they give and the nutrition class are not vegan/plant based but rather focus on eating protein first (getting 70-80g per day.) In fact when you walk in the front door, they have an entire storefront of Bariatric Advantage protein powders and Meal Replacements. I don't recall seeing a single vegan Protein powder in there. I eat meat/dairy everyday, but not every meal. I always have a premier Protein shake per day as well (30g.)

I'm not entirely sure how to get in 70-80g of protein per day on my restrictive diet of 3-4 small meals of 1/2 cup if I were to go vegan. It might be doable when I'm up to 1 cup of food per meal, but not right now. I've asked my NUT that exact question, but did not get much of an answer. I'm going in for my 2 month followup next week, so I'll be sure to ask. Based on his book, I'm guessing his response is that down the road when I'm maintaining, I won't need that much protein. Again though, I wonder how I could possibly build muscle on a caloric restricted vegan diet with little protein... doesn't seem scientifically possible. I've visited his Facebook page, and he often posts links about vegan fitness buffs and bodybuilders... but I suspect many of them became vegan well after the muscles.

[OneDollarBill 371]

Since we are on the subject of protein/veggies. I brought this up with my surgeon during my 6mo appointment. I made the comment I wish I could eat more veggies, but find that hard when I am trying to get 100g+ of Protein in. There just isn't that much room in my new stomach for both. He replied with "Well I never told you that you need to get a certain number of grams of Protein a day. If you want to eat more vegetables than do so. I only needed you on high protein the first few weeks to help the healing process."

Since then I have cut back on the amount of protein and added more vegetables in my meals. Instead of 4.5 to 5oz of chicken/beef I will only do 2.5 to 3 and add a lot more vegetables. It certainly helped in the bathroom department if you know what I mean. Now I feel like I am eating meals that are more balanced. It hasn't effected my weight loss at all.

I'm only sharing my experience. It seems from reading this forum there is no "right" answer as every doctor and/or nutritionist has different recommendations. For me I know what I should and shouldn't eat. Lean meat and vegetables if I am eating more of one over the other aren't going to make be fat again.

I track everything good and bad in MyFitnessPal under OneDollarBill. On average I consume 1000 to 1200 cal a day and my protein is 70 to 90g

Edited December 1, 2015 by OneDollarBill