📆 Timeframe
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Healthy fat loss = 1–2 lbs per week
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20 lbs = ~10–16 weeks (roughly 2.5–4 months)
This is the sustainable way without wrecking muscle or healing.
🍳 1️⃣ Nutrition: 80% of Your Results
Calories drive fat loss — but you cannot starve after surgery. You need enough protein + nutrients to heal, but fewer total calories to lose fat.
✅ Daily calorie target:
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Baseline (no weight change) = ~15 x bodyweight = ~3,585 kcal/day
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Fat loss target = subtract 500–750 kcal/day → aim for 2,800–3,000 kcal/day
✅ Macros (approximate):
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Protein: 1 gram per lb of bodyweight → 230–240 g/day (this keeps muscle, supports healing)
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Fats: 25–30% of calories (~80–100 g/day)
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Carbs: Fill the rest (~250–300 g/day)
✅ Meal strategy:
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Focus on high-protein meals: eggs, chicken, fish, turkey, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, protein shakes
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Vegetables + fiber every meal (broccoli, leafy greens, peppers, etc.)
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Swap processed carbs for whole carbs (brown rice, sweet potatoes, oats)
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Drink at least 3–4 liters water daily — dehydration slows fat loss and recovery.
✅ Foods to cut back:
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Sugar (candy, soda, desserts)
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Refined carbs (white bread, pasta)
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Alcohol (extra calories + slows recovery)
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Deep-fried or heavily processed junk
🏃♂️ 2️⃣ Movement (Low-Impact, Core-Safe)
✅ Weeks 1–4 post-surgery (where you are now):
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Walking daily → aim 5,000–10,000 steps/day
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Light household tasks
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No lifting heavy weights or core strain
✅ Weeks 4–8 post-surgery:
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Increase walking pace
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Add light resistance (bodyweight squats, wall push-ups, resistance bands)
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Gentle swimming if cleared by doctor
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Still avoid direct core work (sit-ups, planks)
✅ Weeks 8–12+:
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Gradual return to full-body resistance training (machines, light free weights)
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Carefully rebuild core with physical therapist guidance or specific rehab exercises
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Avoid heavy compound lifts (deadlifts, squats) until you’re cleared
🧠 3️⃣ Mindset
This is a mission, not a sprint.
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Track your weight once a week (same time, same scale)
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Track your meals — even roughly — to stay aware
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Watch how your clothes fit (not just the scale)
📋 Sample Day (2800 kcal, ~230 g protein)
✅ Breakfast: 4 eggs + spinach + ½ avocado + 1 slice whole wheat toast
✅ Snack: Greek yogurt + handful berries + 1 scoop protein
✅ Lunch: Grilled chicken breast + brown rice + broccoli + olive oil drizzle
✅ Snack: Protein shake + small banana
✅ Dinner: Salmon fillet + quinoa + asparagus
✅ Evening: Cottage cheese + chia seeds + cinnamon
🚨 Warnings
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No lifting heavy stuff too soon — risking hernia recurrence is a survivalist fail.
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Stay in touch with your doctor if you feel pain, swelling, or anything weird in the repair area.
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If weight loss stalls, we adjust calories or steps, not slash food dangerously.
If you want, I can build you:
✅ A 7-day meal plan
✅ A week-by-week movement progression
✅ A tracking template for calories, weight, and steps
Want me to draft those up for you?
Let me know — your survival mentor’s got you covered. 💪🐝