Questions.....

1) does anyone know if quick cooking oatmeal (the kind you microwave) has the same glycemic index as the slower cook version?   I was reading an article on weight lifting, and it was talking about needed good carbs on days you lift to get the "pump".   It said that you should have a slow acting carb like oatmeal first thing in the morning, and a simple carb within 1/2 an hour of the time you work out...to help maximize the work out.  I already eat a whole grain cereal in addition to my eggs on most mornings, but I would like to try oatmeal as it gets colder......but the microwave one is would be the best for me....if it's ok.  2)  I had my body fat tested at the gym (on one of those expensive scales...the same type as my doctors office used for me preop).  Anyway.....it showed that I was 15 percent body fat...at 196 that means I have about 29 1/2 lbs of "other stuff" or fat.   I KNOW THIS NUMBER ISN"T 100 percent accurate...but lets say for arguments sake it is accurate...does this number take into consideration my excess skin that needs to be removed by plastic surgery?  What i'm asking I guess is that the 30 lbs left...is it just body fat or is it body fat and skin, or is the skin part of the 166 lbs that is suppose to be lean muscle mass? 3) considering the excess skin issue (i do have a lot), should I be trying to lower my body fat percent?  I'm not asking for medical advice, just opinions.    When i was a bit over 200 lbs and getting plastic surgery consults.....they were telling me then (4 or 5 months ago) that I had about 20-25 lbs of skin to remove....i've lost about 20 lbs since then....and so I'm guessing that part of the 20-25 lbs that they were going to remove was lost.....but  how low is too low to go on body fat preplastics? 4) For body builders...... i know we've discussed this before, but how many grams of protein are you eating per lb of lean body mass (or weight...depending on how you do it).  This article suggested 1.5 grams of protein per lb of body weight to build muscle.  So i'd have to eat (according to this article) almost 300 grams of protein a day....that seems like an aweful lot....even with 1/2 of it coming from shakes...it still seems like a lot.  (if anyone cares they recommended 1 gram of carbs per lb of body weight...most of which should come from complex carb sources).  ....any thoughts on this subject? Thanks for the imput guys. Scott

Damn Scottie.... you are all over the place.... 1-I think the oatmeal should be the same....I don;t see why not....(lets see if anyone else says anything 2-no, the machine does not know you have the excess skin..so the number is not accurate...it is porbabely lower 3-Ok give me more info.....how tall are you...if you weigh 196 and you are 5-10 and you have 30# of skin you may be under weight...I think at this point you want to put on muscle....of course this is differet if you are a midget like me....I think you want to be a a good healthy weight for you....I had to put on 5#, that was the weight I felt good at, and didn;t look like crap in the face....I could go lower but it was good for me.... 4- I think that high a protein value is for the big muscle builders....so here again what are you going for...I can;t do shakes...so about 110 of protein is all I can do....remember we are different from the gym rats, and you DS people are different from RNY Ok I think I know where youare going....my suggestion, if you feel like you need to lose fat, you know your body...but know know more about your body and nutrition than any trainer at the gym....this is your body and your surgery....( a guy told me I had to have 400 grams of carbs a day to work out with him....I said hit the road....I let them show me the exercise, and I do the nutrition suff...they don;t understand...) Hell you got a DS, we may not even understand.... What are you looking at with PS....get some ideas form the surgeron...I think the most important thing is that you are healthy before surgery....some of the chicks rush surgery....It doesn;t seem that you are doing that....if anything maybe a little too thin....it depends on how tall  you are..... sorry to be so wishy washy if I can confuse you more let me know Russ

Yeah i'm not a midget....i'm 6'1'' ...and my goal?  I'm not sure.....I really don't want the number to go above 195 (ok i'm a numbers *****).....but at the same time ...i want to start building muscle so that I may avoid arm surgery.   If I have surgery right now.....(sorry for guys on here that don't agree with getting plastics...i'm not asking for opinions i'm saying what i need)....to look semi normal (with scars)...i'd need a lower body lift, thighs arms chest and a chin lift (yes I have a turkey gobbler at 35).   My goal is to avoid arm surgery....thigh surgery is probably a given at this point...because how big can you make your thighs and still fit into a size 32 pants (my goal in life)? lol.   But if I can avoid arms, and minimize the amount of chest work that needs to be done by building up muscles then thats the route I want to go. OK so now I'm probably the one confusing  people...but I guess at this point my goal is to build up  muscle...maybe even gain a bit of muscle mass even if it makes my weight go up slightly....ok typing in that last line was a hard thing to do....lol...i don't know how well i'd handle a weight gain..even if it was a muscle weight gain. As far as the nutrition goes....even with a bottomless DS stomach....it would be hard for me to eat 200 grams of protein a day...let alone 300 grams...and forget the expense of trying to budget in that much quality protein in food....it would break the bank.   I would need to do the shakes...unfortunately the only shakes that agree with me are egg protein shakes).    As a DSer I malabsorb about 50 percent of the protein I eat.....I think it's a general number, and I dont' know if that number is the same for protein shakes which tend to come in liquid "predigested" forms.  I suppose I could take an OTC digestive enzyme with the protein shake to help absorb moe of the protein...if necessary....in order to hit my target absorbtion amount.   Ok i've rambled enough..... Scott

I specifically recall a study where instant oatmeal had a greater insulin response than the slow-cook stuff. I've repeatedly said that muscle mags and supplement companies way overstate protein needs.  Almost everything I read says most people need about 1g per kg (2.2lb) of mass (of ideal or normal weight).  Weight lifting may raise that a bit, and serious endurance training could make it go as high as 1.6g/kg.  Anything higher is baloney, IMO.

See I thought instant oatmeal might have a greater insulin response....but i'm not sure.  I hate to think of cooking oatmeal every morning...esp for 1/2 a cup.... As for the protein intake .....I thought it was a bit high.....Cards says he didn't see results until he got up to 175 grams a day..and I'm thinking that i might be about 200 because of malabsorbtion....but 300?  I mean i dont' even know if i could get that much in. scott

I never thought about adding 10 lbs just for bone mass.  I wonder if anyone elses surgeons have said that to them? Part of the issue for me (at least mentally) is that I want my waist line to line up with my weight.  I know lots of other men that weigh 190s and they are in 32 and 34 pants..and yet i'm still in 36s...because of excess skin.  I just want a narrower waist..and I know logically it will happen after plastics, but part of me wants it befoer.  Thank you paul...it does make me feel better about my weight....now just to figure out this whole muscle building thing. Scott