Maintaining Muscle Mass post-op

So I am pre-op and will be having my surgery on Monday. One thing I have been wondering about is if there is a way to maintain all of the muscle I have or a good percentage of it. Are there certain foods or vitamins that will help in this??

I feel pretty good about what I kept, and am now able to build. I think the Curry's might have an opinion, being more involved in lifting at their surgery they may have noticed loss. I was a couch spud when I had WLS, I was past the point of being abl;e to do anything but work 13 hours a day. I still had a lot of muscle (I am just that way), I have not kept to the recommended protein intake, but even so, the first few months it is impossable not to lose some muscle, you are lucky to get in 500 cals per day. Good luck, read old stuff here, we used to ponder this much in the early days of this board. Stick around Mike

Hey Michael (that's my son's name!) How are you? Earl already posted, that's my hubby...my name is Valerie...nice to meet you. I will say I mostly agree with Earl, except one teeny tiny thing... and if I knew he was doing it I would have b*tched at him about that too ~ hey what can I say? It's in the wife's job description~ DON'T take 4 Flintsones chewables. Two is good. Earl.... You can actually get toxic from too much Vitamin A that's in them if you take more than you need. I know your digestion will be altered, but 2 is sufficient. They most likely will only have you on them for a couple of months. But taking a good multivitamin is a must. You won't be getting any of those with your intake the first few weeks, so they have to come from somewhere. I would make sure you have a good protein drink, some unflavored whey to add to anything you can and get your water in. I lost a lot of muscle mass at first, but I am finding that I am really building it back up quickly. My strength is really coming back like gangbusters. I train 4 days a week (powerlifting) and Earl trains...well...he trains when he is not working or sleeping... so basically all the time!! As long as you make sure you get your protein in, move your body around as much as you can post op...don't over do it that doesn't help anyone, you should be able to maintain a decent amount of muscle. Good luck with your surgery Monday! Go enjoy the weekend, and don't look at it like it's a death sentence and the "last meal" kinda thing... just enjoy what you can, because after you lose the weight, you are gonna enjoy life more than you ever knew possible! BIG HUG! Val