Weight-loss Questions. (Post Surgery)

[kestal_kayden]

Hello everyone,

Its been a while since I wrote on this, but thats because I have been in recovery and since that I havent had much motivation until now. My chest surgery wasnt that big of a success and has left me with 2 really noticible scars along my chest, starting from an inner part of my pects to the top of my obliques.

In the past 5 years, I have had 3 surgeries, and during these 5 years I have gained a lot of weight along with a few other problems. Im currently 19 so this was ever since I was about 13-14.

14yrs: 180lbs, 6'3"
17yrs: 200lbs, 6'4"
19yrs: 285lbs, 6'4"

Most of the weight that I have gained has been within the last year after my surgeries. I tried going back to the gym and I am starting off slow at first, however I am unsure how to approach anything right now. (a lil rusty since I left). I am also left with massive ammounts of stretch-marks all over my body, that of which are a dark reddish colour. Along my legs/thighs/stomach/chest. This is another reason why I wish to ask in this forum because I want to be careful on how I begin to lose this weight.

Should I just do cardio and diet? or should I weight-lift too? Im guessing I should do a lower weight with more reps at first? (I do not wish to bulk up for right now I am pretty big just through fat and I have a fear of looking bigger)

My energy levels have gotten really low aswell, I feel fatigued after the smallest things. Also, after gaining about 80lbs in about a year or so, my face has obviously grown bigger and in my eyes thats not so very attractive, how would I go about by fixing that? My face is a bit blotchy and my skin is bad. It has also left my acne scars a bit bigger aswell (I am currently using proactiv though, which seems to be somewhat alright for my acne - dont know whether its recommended or not)

Also, what type of things should I eat throughout the day? I've already started to drink as much water as I can throughout the day but even with that I always seem to be hungry. What would the best times be for eating? (I get up at 5:30am-6:00am). What things should I avoid?

Anyways, I apologize for the long post and rather general questions. Its been a while and I just wanted to get a few answers. Thank you for your time.

[waynis]

since you have been mostly sedentary with the surgerys you want to avoid trying to come back too quick and overtraining. moderate weight/ higher reps are good to start out again just to develop some strength and burn cals. Cardio start off slow too. Walking.. then slowly progress to run if you can. Just make sure you don't get ahead of yourself and feel like your not doing enough. pace yourself.

Diet wise.. the 5-6 meals a day would be great. You don't have to wake up very early like 5-6 but you just want to make sure you space your meals out so your eating every 2.5-3 hours up untill bed. This will keep your metabolism going and keep your energy levels up. Eat your good fats, your complex carbs and plenty of protein. avoid junk foods, high sugar liquids and foods and limit saturated fat. Don't forget to get atleast 8 hours of sleep!

btw good to have you back.. you did disapear for awhile.

[kestal_kayden]

btw good to have you back.. you did disapear for awhile.

Yeah, it has been a while. Thanks for helping me in the past too. also thanks for the quick reply. Sleeping 8 hours isnt an issue, I just like waking up in the morning so it works for me.

Hmm.. I'd hate to get you guys go into specifics but I guess this may have been my confusion before. Two things really..

A) Best time to go to the gym
B) What should I exactly eat?

I have been eating between 3-4x daily but bigger meals. I will fix that asap. What should my total cal intake be?

Also, whats the safest amount of weight to lose per week?

Im gonna try to go to the gym once daily, just work on something different each day.

Anything else that would be helpful for me to know? What will happen to my stretchmarks after I lose the weight?

[waynis]

It doesn't matter what time you go to the gym. What matters is if you have enough energy to perform that activity so you get the best out of your workout. Also sometimes working out close to bed time can affect you trying to sleep at night.

Eat what I mentioned before as welll search the forums for what a bodybuilder eats.

Your total cal intake depends on your goals. What are u trying to do exactly? Lose fat and build muscle or just mainly drop weight?

weight can come off in a few ways. Muscle loss, fat loss , water loss. You will want to weigh yourself in the morning after the fasting from sleeping 8 hours for a more accurate weight. A pound of fat a week is a healthy amount to lose. sometimes a heavier person might drop a lot of weight quickly but it's healthier to drop weight slow and let your skin adapt to the change. As well as pack on lean muscle to keep tone.

stretch marks fade. Depends on the person on how noticable they will end up.

[kestal_kayden]

right now I want to drop quite a bit of weight before starting to bulk up. I have a bit of muscle on me as is but after the surgeries and gaining all the weight its hard to see at the moment.

I asked about the time question because there was some article in a magazine I read about weight-lifting before you eat. anyway though, thanks for the help in that area. I will look at other posts about what everyone eats sometime today.