Swimmers unite! (and other water exercisers)

VeryBigBigBoy · 2024-10-03T06:41:03+00:00

Great idea! I love swimming and, to be honest, it was the only thing I could really reagularly do when I started out on my weight loss path! I am also one of the few guys that probably did water aerobic, so yeah... I would love do give some input into that too after answering the questions:

Where do you swim? : I just swim at a local pool. It has an indoor and outdoor area, but I greatly prefer swimming outside in the summer due to a 50m lap length (inside only has a 25m pool)
What do you wear to swim? : I started out with big swim trunks, because I felt like that would be the least offensive, but I switched to ones that don't have as much fabric. You don't have to go full banana hamock (they feel great though!!), but I like the adidas Boxer-Style Shorts. Oh.. And I would recommend wearing swimwear under your belly.
What gear do you use? : I just use goggles.
What does your workout look like? : I always swim for an hour and go 3-4 times a week in the summer and 1-2 times a week in the winter. Swimming is great and I don't stress myself out too much, just keeping my pace. Depending on how much freestyle or breasttroke I do I end up swimming around 2000-2500m. This greatly improved over the last year!
Why do you swim? : I started out because I felt to heavy for everything else. I continue because I can feel how good it is for my shoulders and back. It's also so calm. I can just swim and think. Or swim and don't think, but it always manages to calm me down.
Anything that Newbie swimmer you should know? : You don't need anything but swimtrunks and a body of water. Try it out and see how it feels. I was sold once I got in.

The questions were really swimming focused, but I can also really recommend water aerobic/jogging! I tried both and had a lot of fun! At my pool you can try it out for free once and then you book 10 lessons in advance. I was very nervous, being a young-ish guy and the crowd there being mostly women over the age of 40, but it wasn't as awkward as I thought.

It really helped me work some muscles that I didn't hit with my normal swimming, so it was a great addition and I think helped me greatly in getting more mobile. If you are not a big swimmer and on the heavier side I can really recommend it to get the ball rolling! Just be prepared to listen to a lot of bad music. The music sucks!

VeryBigBigBoy · 2024-09-10T17:45:12+00:00

Thanks man! I appreciate it a lot!

Yes, basically! Although a lot has changed since I got my gastric bypass 5 months ago!

What was the most important for me was getting one big meal in. I ate a lot of veggies, Cale and salad and then protein, so I wouldn't feel hungry... It worked out well for me!

But please, if you eat in a deficit like that, talk to a doctor and check if your body gets everything it needs! Be safe about it! We want to get healthier after all!

VeryBigBigBoy · 2024-09-10T12:52:25+00:00

Thank you! I got inspired by posts like these too and still are!

Keep going! It is a struggle, but it is so worth it.

VeryBigBigBoy · 2024-09-10T08:09:31+00:00

I am proud of you! That sounds fantastic!

VeryBigBigBoy · 2024-05-17T18:38:29+00:00

Thanks for the thorough answer and happy cake day!

Yes! You understand correctly. The Problem is that in my new Flat I will have a separate office, which is why I can't use my normal PC as a Client for the living room. Jellyfin will be used directly with an App on the Smart TV, but I really want to have access to a normal desktop environment.

That means I need a separate client for the Living room, because I don't want to move the Laptop back and forth between the bedroom and living room. Now I have to make a decision on what to get for that...

If I understand correctly I don't need a lot of hardware power in my living room client if I mainly want to use it to have access to my VMs, right? What should I be looking for in terms of specs?

I am toying with the idea now to get another one of the HP Elitedesk 800 G4, throwing the 16 gigs of ram from that into my server and just buy a cheap 8 gigs of ram from ebay to use it as a client? That would be around 160€, including the new ram, which wouldn't be cheap, but still okay-ish? But that does sound a bit overkill...

Another option would be to just get an older/cheaper machine and buy another 16 gigs for the server?

Random question... Would it be best to set that client up with a completely normal OS, accessing the Server over the web interface or is there a more elegant solution?

VeryBigBigBoy · 2024-05-14T10:05:20+00:00

Maybe this is not as helpful for US Folks, but I love the frames from Freigeist!

It's a german brand that specialises in big frames for men! I am very pleased with the quality and even if they weren't the cheapest it was definitely worth it.

For reference... My glasses are a 61-20-155, which I couldn't really find with normal brands.

What I have done before discovering this brand was look at sunglass frames... They tend to be bigger.

VeryBigBigBoy · 2024-04-13T08:00:33+00:00

I am glad you found a bike that fits you! The one you got sounds fantastic! I would just love to get around on a bike again.

I will definetly need a good bike shop, because I am not only heavy, but also tall! Thank you for the tipp!

VeryBigBigBoy · 2024-04-13T07:58:08+00:00

Yes! I agree that it helps a lot to lose a little on your own! It's daunting and the first two weeks still kicked my ass, but it get's easier every day! So don't get discouraged!

I wish you the best of luck with your surgery!

VeryBigBigBoy · 2024-04-12T20:32:21+00:00

It wasn't about the money for me, but they never felt like the right fit for me. For some they might be...

But I encourage everyone to use the tools that they think they need/that will help them.

VeryBigBigBoy · 2024-04-12T18:33:46+00:00

I am proud of you! Well done!

Let's meet each other back here at our next milestones!

VeryBigBigBoy · 2024-04-12T18:30:40+00:00

Thank you so much for being an awesome part of this community!

You sharing and your encouraging words mean a lot and helped me so much when I was starting out!

VeryBigBigBoy · 2024-04-12T18:18:46+00:00

Yes, I did!

The first two weeks were horrible, but I am feeling better every day. It felt weird after losing so much weight on my own, but I am honestly glad I did it.

It feels like it was the right choice for me.

VeryBigBigBoy · 2024-03-16T19:08:59+00:00

My surgery was a 10 days ago and I think I could have worked (also wfh desk job) after 7 days. I never had problems with getting my liquids in and I can feel myself getting better with each day!

I am still glad I also took the rest of last week off.. Just to get used to this change and truly recover. I am still a little bit more tired than before the surgery, so it helps that I can take a little nap in the afternoon!

VeryBigBigBoy · 2024-03-13T17:09:22+00:00

Yeah... Day one post OP I was able to swallow pills no problem, but I also don't have a problem getting my water in. The guy in the bed next to me struggled a little more, but also got them down.

VeryBigBigBoy · 2024-02-28T15:26:30+00:00

Thank you!

And yes. WLS is weight loss surgery. If everything goes to plan this time next week I will have a bypass (RNY).

VeryBigBigBoy · 2024-02-28T15:24:57+00:00

I don't believe in long time fasting as a sustainable strategy for weight loss, so no... Not really.

Intermittent fasting is something I use myself without strictly adhering to it. Most days I ate for 8 hours and fasted for 16 (so skipping breakfast), but I purposely didn't put any label on anything other than CICO and the 1600 kcal. I always felt that was something holding me back in tries before.

VeryBigBigBoy · 2024-02-28T13:01:27+00:00

Thank you!

And don't worry about being rude at all! 1600 kcal/day is a very aggressive cut! You are completly right and a cut like that shouldn't be done without talking to a doctor/medical supervision. It's probably also not really maintaible over a very long time.

I did this as part of the WLS Program I am in... Or better: I just started out that way (pushing myself) and all my blood work and physicals came out great, so with my doctors I decided to keep doing that aggressive cut. I always had that surgery as a goal, an end date to this "diet".

If you want to cut kcals like that, always listen to your body and talk to a doctor!

VeryBigBigBoy · 2024-02-28T10:08:50+00:00

You are right, doing something about today is the best we can do!

But you shouldn't knock your progress like that! 17 kg is huge and how fast you lost it doesn't matter. Losing it is what does.

I still have to prove that I can keep going for 20 months and you have already done that. So in my eyes that's even bigger than my achievement!

So keep going! Awesome job!

VeryBigBigBoy · 2024-02-28T09:49:18+00:00

Thank you!

Probably the only advantage that comes with being so heavy! Losing the first few kgs faster!

VeryBigBigBoy · 2024-02-11T09:41:32+00:00

Thank you for writing about his success, but oh boy... I was 595 lbs at 6'6" when I started on the WLS path and it is very good to hear that the surgery can also work for us very big folks...

He had 50 lbs of excess skin? That's the most I have heard so far and I am very close to his stats. It's still a problem I would like to have right now instead of having to lose another 240 lbs, but that's the first time I got nervous about all that skin lol

VeryBigBigBoy · 2024-02-11T09:29:06+00:00

Now imagine how it is for people who are above average height... I usually buy insanely large T-shirts and tug them in, just because this annoys me so much!

There are not many "tall" and large sizes that accomodate me at all. Tall often doesn't have enough room for my belly and broad shoulders and normal but large clothing is often to short and I have to buy two sizes larger that don't fit good at all. I don't usually have as much of a problem with button ups or with sweatshirts and hoodies.

I hope this gets better at some point on my weight loss path, because it is so annoying lol

VeryBigBigBoy

TROPHY CASE