A bit bummed out... 3-week stall/building muscle

[goblue9280 481]

So seems like I've hit the 3-week stall as my weight has stayed the same since Monday. My surgery was Oct 1st and the first couple weeks, I weighed myself every few days. However, with the scale not moving, I've been stepping on every morning in hopes it will change. Very depressing way to start the day when that number doesn't move. I feel better though, so I'm hopefuly I'm just building back up some Water weight and still losing some of the fat.

One other thing I did yesterday is start looking around online for local gym/trainer options for when I'm allowed to start lifting weights. I also went to a few exercise forums to looks for info on how to build muscle post gastric bypass (or when on a calorie restrictive diet.) All that really did was bring up a bunch of topics where meatheads got together to discuss how little respect they have for someone that gets weight loss surgery. Very little useful info out there on how to build muscle after surgery. I want to end up in good shape, not just be a skinny fat guy. I'm hoping my NUT/surgeon has some good advice for when I get to that stage.

Anyhow, just needed to vent on those two topics as I'm feeling rather frustrated this morning.

[toasty 371]

I don't really think that building muscle after surgery is any different than before surgery. You just have to wait until your doctor lets you start lifting weights. Until then, you can certainly do cardio exercise (walking, cycling, etc.) so long as it isn't too strenuous.

After you are able to lift weights, then you should be able to do most anything, again as long as you don't overdo it. Get a personal trainer, let them know you had stomach surgery (you don't really have to say bariatric surgery), and you want a routine that builds muscle but that is careful about stomach muscles (also ensure you start with light weights, and only increase them very slowly, so you don't overdo it).

You might want to consider yoga or karate as well. I have started with karate, and after an hour I definitely feel it. It is a whole-body workout. And I have spoken with my sensei, and he realizes what I am trying to do (lose weight and build muscle), so he is very supportive of that.

[Dub 9,922]

Huge respect for what you are doing @@toasty

@@goblue9280 I think you are going do great and are going after a great goal that many of us are very interested in doing, too.

I can only guess that you'll run into little support from lunkheads and there is tons of "broscience" tossed around in gyms and some of it is based on pure bullcrap, too. Even the medical experts have differing opinions on that it takes.

A lot of it is going to come down to your own desires, goals and motivations.

You'll have to safeguard yourself from being over ambitious, I suspect. Injuries could be bad and set you back.

Be careful. Make sure you start off with a legitimate weight training program and take it easy during those critical first six months. Right now your muscles are much stronger than your tendons and ligaments. A progressive program allows for a proper build up that will develop your ligaments and tendons. I highly recommend a 5x5 program.

I tell you this because I made these mistakes a few years ago. I lost 120 lbs and started lifting hard and heavy. Muscle development was obvious and fun.

I also tore up my left wrist and right shoulder because I didn't do so in a slow and progressive way.

Best of luck to you !!!!!!!!!!!!

[goblue9280 481]

@@toasty

@@Dub

Thanks guys, appreciate the support and advice. Baby steps for me right now. I've been taking a mid-day walk at work for the past two weeks. Only 20 minutes or so, but it's a start. Hope to dust off my bicycle in the next few weeks when given the green light from my doctor... it'll be good to go riding with the kids again. I'm not sure when I can start weight training, but I already have a bench and a set of powerblock adjustable dumbbells from years ago. So I'm not sure how I will start... either in the gym with a trainer to get me going, or see if I can get a trainer to come to my house and set up an at home program. Regardless, I'm sure I'm a few weeks away from that as I was instructed to wait 6 weeks to lift anything over 10 pounds.

One of the main things I was trying to research regarding lean muscle growth after gastric bypass was how to get in enough protein/calories to build the muscle. My lower body is plenty strong, so as long as I can maintain that I should be good. However, I know I need to build muscle mass in my upper body. Not looking to be a body builder, but I'd like some definition and overall better strength.

[Dub 9,922]

Awesome!!!!!

You are going to do great.

I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that there will be ongoing low-carb Protein shakes in the diet forever. Small price to pay, I suppose.

One super feature of adding muscle is that it will certainly help to fill in loosening skin.

[winklie 518]

I was thin at one point in time in my life, when I was in the Army, we were all Gym rats. But i'll tell you this. If you want to start out, even before you start resistance training, go the Army way, push-ups, Sit-ups and, Marching (running if you can). I get (at 2.5 weeks post) 7-10 miles a day in walking at just shy of 3 mph. In two weeks supposedly the remaining weight restrictions come off. I have a home gym I built, but I need an elliptical for the winter here in NH, and I am on the fence about buying one, or just getting a membership at Workout World. I walk everywhere, and the problem is the closest gym is about a mile away, getting there is not too hard, but if I hit it hard, and leave it all on the floor, I am worried about the walk home. Although I guess you could call it a cool down. I don't know. But I do know that push ups and sit ups are great exercises that work major muscle groups. Unfortunately you need a partner to really get the most out of it, as, to really "get it" you have to go beyond muscle failure, and you cannot do that alone.

I wish you the best of luck with whatever you decide.

[goblue9280 481]

@@winklie

Great advice! Congrats on the walking accomplishment, that is very impressive. Having a desk job and then spending most evenings driving kids to various activities, it has been tough to do much walking. I'm only getting in 4k-5k steps per day. One thing I found out too is that my iphone (6s plus) overcounts my steps by 1.5-2 times when I keep it in my pocket. I think it has to do with the bouncing around. Anyhow I fix that by carrying it in my hand when I walk in the afternoon at work. Push-ups and sit-ups are a great place to start for me, but I don't know if I'll be able to do push-ups starting out at my weight. Last time I was able to do more than a pushup or two was when I was south of 300lbs.

[winklie 518]

That is the great thing, you build on what you can do. So if you can do 1/2 a push up, do it. And do it a couple times a day until you feel the burn in your pecks. Same with sit ups, do whatever you can, a couple times a day and build on what you have done. When I got into the Army I was capable of doing, ready, 13 push ups. That was it. When I graduated basic training, 8 weeks later, I passed my PT test, and did 80 push ups, and > 100 sit ups. The run was the hardest for me, I was road running 3 miles a day every day for the last 2 weeks of basic. When the PT test came along, we ran on a track. And let me tell you, running on a track has NOTHING to do with road running. They are completely different and I have no idea why. I made the run, by like 40 seconds. I will say this, pull ups were never my thing. We had a pull up bar right outside our chow hall. And everyone had to do 10 pull ups to move ahead in line. I don't think even at the end I could do 10 without help. You can cheat at a push up too, Start from your knees, Put a pillow (like a couch cushion) under you and just get through one. After you get through one, build on it. One leads to two, two to three etc. Great workout, easy and not time consuming, but you will feel it. I'd say, when you can do 20 military push ups and 50 or so military sit ups, look for a gym and continue to build, but at that point, you will have a good base to work from. Your major muscles will be used to working out, and adding new exercises will be easier. Get a book, skip the trainer in my humble opinion. Trainers are frequently not certified, or even educated in what they do, further, the reason they exist in a gym is to act as salesmen. I avoid them like the plague.

Oh and walking. Here are a few tips, anyone can do, and they make a huge difference. First, if you drive somewhere, you park as far from the door as you can. Seriously. Go to the mall, park in overflow parking 1/2 a mile away and walk it. Second, never wait, walk. I am a New Yorker (well until I moved back to NH) and had no need for a car. I walk everywhere. Pro tip, don't wait, walk. If I get to the bus station 10 minutes before my bus, I do laps around the bus station until my bus is ready to go. When waiting for a bus, I take 50 paces to the left of the bus stop and 50 paces to the right and pace back and forth. Get to an appointment early, walk around the building until it is time to go in. In practice never sit, always stand and if you are standing you are moving. There are a million ways to increase your step count, and that is SOOO important. Your leg muscles are the biggest muscles in the body, you WANT to work them, everyday as much as possible. I do it because I can, and secondly I hate leg workouts in the gym. No idea why, I just always have.

I am no pro, but I have been in very good shape in my life, and I was a gym rat for a long time, before I let myself go. Actually before I got married. But THAT is another story.

Good luck!

[winklie 518]

Oh and if I may offer another suggestion, get a Fitbit, I like the Surge. Use the GPS to track long walks, or just let it count your steps all day. It is more accurate than an IPhone (I too have an IPhone 6S +) AND you can track your food with the desktop or cell phone app! It's one stop shopping.

[Madtownsunshine17 42]

@@goblue9280, I'm working with a trainer and worked out with him prior to surgery. Since I already had a relationship with him, I was honest about my surgery. I didn't want to take things too fast and get hurt. I did walking and elliptical prior to 6 weeks, and at 6 weeks (and my PA's approval) I started training again. We did lighter weights and more reps. He was shocked when I told him how much I was eating and wanted me to check in with my NUT. When I asked her about it Water and Protein were the biggest answers I got. That's what I'm still doing. Water, water, water and at least 2 Protein Shakes a day (now at 3 mos out).

[winklie 518]

@@Dub

I did the math on a single shake a day, (I double the recipe, so a single shake with skim milk provides 50g of protein), using unjury, with shipping, excluding the cost of the milk the powder alone works out to $2.90 a day. This is partially offset by the fact that I eat less food, and even when all the restrictions are off, I see me eating a lot of meat. In fact if I can work it out I'd like to get back to low carbing it, that year was the best I have felt in my adult life, say what you want, but I was as healthy as a horse, worked out in the gym 2 hours a day 6 days a week and was never tired.

Edited November 1, 2015 by winklie