I have no STRENGTH at all!!

I have very limited strength, it seems like I cant grip things like I used to, I had have my son open up a jar for me the other day.  Is this common with WLS, I am getting worried!

I know for a fact that I was able to bench over 300 before surgery, and now 3 months out, I can barely bench 110 (it was sad.....) I know I have a lot less strength.  It all depends on how much protein we eat.  Protein is key to retaining muscle and building more.  Which I apparently really need to do. Since my wife can now kick my ass....

See I am the same way I cant lift nothing!!! I feel like a girl.

I’ve had the opposite change since WLS. Stronger now than before. Are you getting all of your vitamins? Supplementing B1, B-12, and such? Getting in all of your protein needs? When losing weight, some of it is muscle. Exercise and Protein will allow you to hang on to more of it But there is always some loss. Once you hit a stable weight though, there shouldn’t be any reason That building muscle should be a problem. Are you doing something about it, like adding workouts? My knee jerk response is – Check your blood-work/labs To make sure you aren’t malnourished. No problem with using the sons to do the heavy work either! Hell, you may be like me and just be getting old! Best Wishes- Dx

 

I guess I get 300 grams of protein a day. Half of that is protein powder, half really finely food-processed chicken salad (about a lb of chicken meat per day).

Dave

 

Exactly!!!!! I feel the same way. I too dont' seem to have the "heft" behind my hand muscles anymore either. Coffee jar? A pack of AA batteries? A new headphone?  Almost anything in packaging is now very very hard to open....my hands DO look somewhat thinner but the real surprise is how HARD things are to open now... Er...wait...maybe that's cause I'm 58....dunno...but I do now also call my youngest (6'2" 220 lbs linebacker) and ask him to help Dad.... IS this a problem after WLS or ??? Jim

Aw but you don't look like a girl!! Dude,....the protein intake is huge. If you aren't getting it, your body cannabilizes your muscle tissue for what it needs,...resulting in weight loss but not a long-term beneficial way to go.  Your body cannot convert protein to fat or stored energy. it either uses it or passes it through,..if you are drink your 60+oz of water a day,...otherwise you set yourself up for kidney stones. I found the 60 gms a day presribed by the WLS diet is an absolute minimum for guys.  Most health and sports magazine and internet articles will prescribe 1 gm of protein for every pound of desired weight,...that would be more like 180-200gms a day (how you doin??).  Plus some exercise to keep the body realizing it wants that muscle tissue for work and not lunch. I hit an energry wall when I started walking 4+ miles a day.  I learned about increasing my B12, for energy, (I take a sublingual 2500 mcg tablet and a 1000 mcg liquid B Complex every morning plus another 1000 mcg of B12 in the afternoon).  I now take a (pre-natal) multivitamin with 28 mg of iron twice in the morning and if it is a heavy strenous day (manual labor or workout), I;ll take two more in the late afternoon.  The iron improves the oxygen carrying ability of the blood to the muscle tissue for metabolizing energy.  And lastly, I take a potassium supplement and try to eat 1 or 2 bananas a day as it helps to build muscle tissue and it keeps me from feeling weak-kneed during the day.  I also take a potassium pill or eat a banana after going for a 6 mile jog/walk (its a part of the good stuff in Gatorade without the sugar and carbs of Gatorade). You are experiencing a standard aspect of Post-op recovery.  How you deal with it has long term health impacts.  Step 1 is to get your vitamins and supplements balanced as work best for you and step 2 is to keep pushing the envelope and you will have great results as the body responds.  I started walking 5-10 minutes a time once to 3 times a day and that took effort to get out there but they promised it would make  me feel better.  I can now go 6 miles in 1 hr 20 minutes (slow athleitc wise but vast improvement for me).  I'm down from a 60 pants to a 40 and down 176 lbs form 408 to 232 and losing.  I have never felt better and been happier about my health.  I am just getting cranked on regular upper body weightlifing and trying to increase my jogging to jog an entire 10K without having to walk.  It is an amazing transofrmation way beyond the results I had hoped for after surgery but I am loving it.   I tell you this not to brag but to enusre yo that you can do at least this good and probably better yourself as you stay with the program and get some exercise in areas that you enjoy.      Just hang in there so you don't become a punie flabby girlie-boy!!! Joe 

P.S. I'm 50 yrs old if that makes a difference.  I felt like 100 yrs old before surgery and now I feel more like 25-30.

For a while I was pretty feeble when it came to grip strength after surgery--don't know why. But I kept up my protein, lifted weights and made a point to hold small weight plates, say 2.5 or 5 lbs by the finger tips a few times a session and gradually restored some grip power--but I still have to use scissors or pliers to open some packages. Also, I have a gel-type hand/wrist/forearm exerciser, a thing you hold in different ways a squeeze. I find it relaxing and it has been helping my grip and my forearms. As Dx suggests, I'm also scrupulous about vitamins and protein. Hope this helps.

Doug,

Fingers are really skinny, here. Look almost like animal hands. When I put my fingers together, I can see space between the knuckles. But the grip has gotten better from dumbbell work.

Dave