How much are you exercising?

I am walking 1 milein 20 minutes daily. I have severe pain in my back/hip that by the end of my mile, my right leg is numb. I have lost 34 lbs in 6 weeks. I think I could do better if I was able to exercise more. Howmuch is everyone else exercising and how much have you lost? Maureen 264/230/130

Hi Maureen, I admit I'm the biggest procrastinator on the planet. The word EXERCISE gives me the hibby jibbys. I keep saying because my incision is still open I can't exercise. However, my surgeon told me last week that is no excuse as I am more than capible of exercising. YUCK! I managed to hop on my eliptical all of 5 minutes twice last week. That's probably why the scales are staying dead for the last few weeks. My total loss is 60lbs. However 20lbs of that was before the surgery. Today is my 8 week anniversary. I know I should be doing better but it's stil a mind game with me. 339/279 4/12/04 - Open RNY - Distal

If you are having that kind of pain when you walk you need to see your doctor. It's called sciatica and usually caused from a bulging disc pressing on nerves in the spine. I haven't started exercising yet because of back pain, but they did send me to physical therapy which is the first step. Swimming might be a better option for you. Either way you need to see your doctor. Dianne

I've upped my treadmil walk to 25min (trying to add 5 mins a week till I get to 45 mins). I also got the ok to start weight lifting...tomorrow will be the first try at that in a while. I know a lot of folks who swear by water aerobics. Sure does sound like your sciatic nerve is getting pinched. (I had it with both pregnancies...talk about weight gain...hence...here I am). Hope all works out for you! Rachel ps...I'm working out regularly and I'm still a very slow loser...trying not to worry about it though...I know I'll lose.

I FEEL REALY BAD I STARTED EXERCISING FIVE TIMES A WEEK. JUST SWIMMING. BUT IN THE LAST 3 WEEKS I HAVE NOT MOVED I GO TO WORK AND HOME. I HAVE TO GET OFF MY BUTT! YOU KEEP UP YOUR GOOD WORK.

Hi Venetia...me again! Don't beat yourself up. Alot of us are new at this healty lifestyle thing. The thing we have to remember is that every moment is a new chance to do things right. Good luck getting geared up for your work outs again! Rachel

I was walking for at least 20 minutes every day, then it kind of went away..... I bought this cool little step monitor at Target for about $12. You put it on your waistband and you can push a button on it and it tells you how many steps you have taken (you can also just look at the digital face). It pushes me to get back into the walking. I'm up to about 5,000 steps per day, once in awhile 7,500, but aiming for 10,000.

Hi Jamie.... I had to chuckle at your post to get to 10,000 steps a day. I wonder how many times it would take to walk Target to shop to get to 10,000 steps. We have a SuperTarget here where I live and I LOVE that place, could shop in there all day long....LOL! What section did you find the step monitor? Good luck in reaching your goal. How many miles does 10,000 step equate to? Hillari

Maureen, I can relate to difficulty exercising. I live in the foothills of the Box Springs Mountain Preserve (Near the San Gabriel Mountains in So. Cal.) and I walk with severe back and hip pain, too. Up the hills, down the hills. Ouch. So I started going to Ladies workout express which is like curves. I've lost 40 lbs since 4/1/04. I'd love to exercise and lose more, but I just can't. My back was fractured by a drunk driver and I've had three back surgeries. I got this surgery to help me with my back pain! Try some of the lesser impact things like water aerobics if you can. Even Ladies Workout Express puts less strain on my back than walking. Oh, and DO go to the doctor if you haven't. My back got MUCH worse when I toughed it out. I didn't know it was broken. By the time I had surgery, I had a condition which causes my vertebrae to slip down on top of each other. My spine is crumbling like a house of cards! I can't help thinking I wouldn't have all this damage if I had taken care of it sooner. (I have 7 vertebrae which have slipped out of place.) Good luck! Jaime 237/197/130

Maureen, I was walking every day from the time I got home from the hospital. I was up to 30-35 mins. pre-op and started at 15 mins. the first week post-op. I have athritis in my hip and both my knees. The cartilage in my knees is about all grinded out and it is very painful to walk on the treadmill, especially when I speed up any, but my surgeon said to exercise an hour daily (still haven't made it to an hour yet), so I tried until I hurt my joints so bad, I had to stop for 3 or 4 days. Stupid me, started back on the treadmill and tried to continue everyday. I worked myself up to 51 mins. and noticed my legs were in severe pain the rest of the evening so in the last week I've scaled back to two days on, one off. I'm 8 wks out and lost 30 some lbs the first 4 wks and even though I've kicked up my exercise, my fluids and my protein, I have not lost another pound and it's very discouraging. So much so, I am no longer motivated to exercise at all. So far though, I'm still going.