Exercise, Nutrition, WLS, and Cooking Q & A - 3/25/2014
Glad I can help! On question #1 definitely lower sugar. Do not eat fat free or even reduced fat foods. If you are going to eat fat, eat it. You need fats for fuel when you reduce your carbs. Just stick to you program (i.e. 600-800 calories, 70g+ of protein, 40g of carbs or less, and 100+oz of water).
2. I typically drink a protein shake before my workout, it gets processed much more quickly than food and its a load of protein that your muscles can use immediately. Then after my workout I will eat another protein dense "meal" that does have whatever carbs I am going to eat for the day in it as well (or most of them). As for protein bars, they are NOT all created equal, even within the brands I like not all of their products are the same. My personal preference for bars is Quest, but even then I do not eat them pre-workout. I want a liquid that will pass through my stomach/pyloric valve more quickly. Turkey and cheese is actually a pretty good pre-workout snack/meal just have to consume it more like 60 mins before your workout so it can get all digested before you start exercising. As for running, yes arthritis is painful (I have it in my knees too) but certainly tolerable, just takes some getting used to. Actually I would say over the long run my knees have improved. I do spend a lot of time massaging them before and after exercise which seems to help too.
#3. I cannot take credit for that post, that was Frisco, but I do refer to it periodically. With VSG it is more likely you would just vomit up the liquid if you drank too much. You might get some stretching because of it. So drinking after eating is definitely worst than before. The food is essentially under the liquid. So I typically wait at least 30 mins, but I do drink before I eat as that liquid pretty much goes right through. Drinking and eating is all about avoiding stretching your stomach. It also pushes the food through the pyloric valve more quickly emptying your stomach more quickly making you hungry sooner. So the idea for those of use with food and eating issues would like to feel full longer.
