Gastric Sleeve/Bariatric

July 22, 2017

Workout Update!

So, since HeroesCon and all the jackassery from that, I’ve fallen off my workout schedule. This week, I’m back on. OWIE! I’ve changed up what I’m doing a little; here are the deets:

Treadmill 30 min programme, about 1.5mi (that FitBit Alta NEVER gets right)
Jog at 4-4.2mph for 5 mins, about .34 mi (ditto^^)
Leg Extensions, 70#, 3 sets 15 (not hard enough, going to add 5# more)
Need to add leg curls back, 35#, 3 sets 15
Shoulder press, 10# hand weights, 2 sets 15, going up to 3 sets
Need to add rows and triceps back, 3 sets 15 with 8#
Bicep curl, 8# hand weights, 3 sets 15, going back up to 10# soon
Need to add squats back in, 70#, 15 reps
Sit ups, standard legs bent, 50
Sit ups, pedaling, 25
Leg lifts, lifting bent legs for lower abs, 25
12# medicine ball side lifts from sitting/legs bent position for obliques, 25

I’d like to point out that most of this is done with simple hand weights. You don’t need to have a bench to get a good workout with weights. Rather than the extensions, do lunges with 10# in each hand. You’ll feel it, I promise! I try to avoid lunges since I’ve got weak knees. I have to be VERY careful with squats, too, or I’ll blow out my trick knee, which I did a couple of months ago. Get creative! You can do most weight training w/out fancy equipment. I also recommend Kathy Smith videos if you’re just getting started. She is just fair at weight lifting technique, but it’s a good place to start – the Staying Strong one is good for a beginner.

I do this big workout 2x week and I do cardio 3x, but I need to up that to 5x/wk. More challenging cardio (JOGGING! GAH!) will help me lose this last 10-15# I need to lose. As will beefing up (no pun intended) my weights. What I do is divide this workout into 2 and alternate arms/legs. I do the abs and squats every workout. That way I can get it done in 45 mins or so. I get VERY bored and 45 mins is about my limit for boring workouts. :)

July 21, 2017

Perspective!

Something just occurred to me.

I complain about “only” losing 70#, but that is 28% of my starting body weight. Which is SIGNIFICANT. (250 x .28)

If you started at 300#, the equivalent is 84#. (300 x .28) 90# lost from 300 is 30%, which statistically not much more than my 28% loss.

So for me to reach an equivalent %, I will lose less, if you just look at the number of pounds. 75# will be my 30% mark (175# weight). Which is pretty fucking stellar IMO.

Perspective. It matters. :)

July 15, 2017February 8, 2026

Looking for VSG/Bariatric info?

Hi there! If you’d like to see ONLY my extensive research on Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy, bariatric diet and managing GERD (reflux), you can filter out all my other posts and see just those by clicking HERE. You can see my vlogs about my VSG journey here.

To see any category (recipes, for instance), use the drop down menu to the right labeled “View Posts by Category” and select the category you’d like. Thanks for stopping by!

May 17, 2017

One Year VSG Anniversary

Sorry this is a day late, but I did get the VLOG posted yesterday over at youtube! Please subscribe! I think I’m going to do some cooking vlogging over there…

May 16 2016, right after surgery:

So, one year has passed since I made the best decision I’ve ever made – aside from marrying my best friend. :) And this is what I look like now:

I’ve not met my goal of 80# gone, but 65# ain’t too shabby. I am goal oriented, so I’m not giddy with the 65#, but I’m glad I’ve lost it. I’m hoping that the new exercise routine will help me get past this mid-180s plateau.

I’m still wearing a L top and 14 jeans, but the jeans are a little loose. I think my waist has gone done another inch or two. Even if I don’t lose weight, I know the weight lifting will change the way I look, so whatever. I guess we’ll see!! Muscle weighs more than fat, so the numbers may not move much.

I’m still taking the same supplements, still taking Nexium. I tried to get off Nexium again and failed, so I guess I’ll keep taking 20mg in the morning and 10 mg at night. I can’t even go down to just once daily. Ugh. I just hope they’ll come up with a better class of drugs than the -azole PPIs (esomeprazole, omeprazole). I kind of like my kidneys and want to keep them for a few more decades. Sigh.

VSG is the best thing I’ve ever done for myself. The weight loss is great, but it did so much MORE for me than just that. The experience of having surgery got me over some of my worst phobias – particularly needles. I still don’t LIKE getting stuck, but I don’t pass out any more, which is a fucking MIRACLE. This has also helped with my dental phobia, too. And of course, getting tattoos, which I can do without any fuss now. The awesome nurses in Mexico were SO GOOD at their jobs. Even the multiple sticks for an IV line were not too bad. MIRACLE, I tell you.

VSG also “cured” me of ALL my inflammation issues. I quote cured because I don’t think it was VSG at all, I think it was changing my gut flora that did the trick. When you have any gut surgery, you disrupt the flora by the antibiotics and the fact that you don’t eat for a week. I think this is a very important part of why VSG ended my inflammation. There is SO much research regarding gut flora right now. I’m sure that it will be linked to all sorts of chronic conditions – especially the ones involving inflammation.

VSG also empowered me overall. I finally did something for myself and it paid off. This has given me a new feeling of being in control that I had not had for a very long time.

So when you hear me preach the gospel of VSG, what you’re really hearing me preach is the gospel of empowerment.

If you are tired of being sick, fat and tired, then DO SOMETHING about it. I sat around whining for about TEN years. FUCK THAT. I’ll never do that again! I let myself get fat and unhealthy because of my fear of medical procedures. I really can’t say it enough: FIND A WAY TO DO WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO MAKE YOURSELF FEEL BETTER. If it’s the gym, a shrink, a doctor, or a medical procedure, make it happen. Don’t waste 10 years like I did!

March 25, 2017March 27, 2017

New Workout Progress

Or: how I made myself crippled AGAIN. Oy! [UPDATE: This workout cured the soreness! So for me, it appears that doing a lighter workout when sore is the key to getting through it! Yay!]

So I started doing the Kathy Smith weight training (Ageless with Kathy Smith: Staying Strong) on Tuesday and did both the 15 min arms and 15 min legs after a mile or so on the treadmill. OOF. I’ve been doing the arms one for a while, so that was not too horrible, but the leg one kicked my ass. Ha! Leg kicked ass! As with most of Kathy’s stuff, the actual exercises seem pretty simple when you do them, then the next day you are DEAD. OMG. It was not as bad as The Tabernacle Incident™, but OW OW OW.

I rested for a couple of days and just walked on Thursday, which was fine. Today I did 1.5 miles on the treadmill (jogged a little and didn’t die!!) then I did a modified version of both the arms and legs workouts. Hopefully I did not do too much, but I’m sure I’ll be sore again. ARGH.

I don’t know how bodybuilders put up with being sore all the time. ARE they sore all the time?? I just know that I MUST get my strength back. And I’ve still got at least 20# more to lose, dammit. I’m stalled at around 190 and it’s really pissing me off. I think that I’m going to have to work to lose any more weight. Since I started off relatively light compared to most people who get VSG, I think my overall loss is going to be less. Which means I’ll have to work for the last 20#. One of the youtubers I follow had the same problem. UGH. I still won’t diet per se, but I’m hoping that upping the calorie burn will do the trick.

So that’s what’s going on in my world. Lots of OW OW OW. :)