Exercise, Nutrition, WLS, and Cooking Q & A - 2/13/2014

This has been a very popular topic lately. Good questions too. So if you have questions about Exercise, Nutrition, WLS, or Cooking...Let's Hear It!

Physiologically what happens around 6-7 months post-op that results increased hunger? Is it the increase of Ghrelin or some other pathology? I have noticed some increased hunger in the mornings but I stick to my plan of protein. Just wondering what is happening within the body. Thanks

I think it is a combination of things. Whenever you talk to a plastic surgeon or someone who has has plastic surgery they always say something to the affect of it will take about 6 months for the swell to go away completely. I have to imagin that this is probably also the case with our stomachs post-op. I think while it returns to function after 2 to 4 weeks that it takes a good 6 months for it to fully heal and all the swelling to go down. I also think you become more comfortable with the things you eat and usually by then the quantity has started to go up and it gets harder to stick to that 600-800 calories. I do think that Grhelin returns a to some degree. Ghrelin is not solely produced in the stomach it can be produced by other organs as well. I also think by the time we get to 6 months our lives are pretty much back to normal, you have settled into a routine and normal stress comes back into our lives and I think that if you have a stressful life cortisol levels increase and that can cause some hunger. 

I noticed that my weight goes up the morning after I lift weights. Does the "worked" muscle hold onto fluid?

The short answer is yes but it could be a couple of other things. After my workouts I am a whole lb less than my weight will be later after I re-hydrate. My wife on the other hand is typically a lb heavier. She drinks a lot of water during her workouts. Water is very heavy. I small 16 oz bottle weighs over a lb. So it may not be in your muscle but your stomach/colon. If you do not drink before or during your lift my guess it is muscle swelling and yes when you pump your muscles like they they fill with blood and water keeps your blood pressure up when that happens.

I am curious what others have to say about caramelized onions.  Assuming you like them, have you been eating them during your weight loss phase or staying away from them?  And do they really conatain more sugar than raw onions?  I was told carmelizing them increased their sugar content but not sure how.

I haven't tried caramelized onions since surgery, but I can answer the sugar question.  When you cook the onions, water evaporates, concentrating the onions.  So, a cup of caramelized onions has more sugar than a cup of raw because you can fit more onions into the cup.  Also, some people add sugar when cooking them.

Well you can't actually increase the amount of sugar in something without adding it, so that is not exactly true. What that process does is release the sugars in the onion. They are already there. Onions are a higher carb (nothing crazy to be worried about) vegetables. The cooking process releases the sugars (so think burns them off) and reduces water (thats why they wilt up) and they taste sweeter just because of that process not that the sugar has increased.

So you are fine, eat away. Now that being said I wouldn't go crazy and just eat a bowl of carmelized onions. Protein First!

Should you lift weights and do cardio on same days .....? If so which is first ?

I have always been told to follow up weight lifting with cardio if you plan on doing them in the same day.  I was also told if you do not want to lose muscle mass then do not do cardio first thing in the morning before breakfast.  The reason for this is that your body goes into a catabolic phase after sleeping for 8 hours and you will burn muscle as fuel.  Also if you do not do the cardio right after lifting then you need to wait 8 hours between workouts.