Exercise????

I've recently posted several question so I hope I'm not driving everyone nuts with a few more! :)

I was banded on the 17th of this month.  I have never been a huge fan of exercising everyday but with my new healthier lifestyle I want to! 

I actually have a few quesitons about exercise: 
-> Has anyone lost weight with the band without exercising?
-> How much exercise is appropriate (I'm asking this because I'm worried about overdoing it at first)
-> Is there any type of exercise or lifting that could ever upset or cause the band to slip? (I'm a fan of kickboxing but worried all that jumping and moving around will cause the band to slip) 

Thanks in advance,
Katie

Exercise is very important on this journey.  Your surgeon should be the one that tells you when kickboxing is okay to start back up.  I walked right after surgery and increased distance and speed as I felt able to after surgery.  Walking was my main activity for the first year and now I have added variety. 

Once the band has "settled in" and your surgeon says to progress in your activity, anything pretty much goes.

Kristi

Hello

Sure there are people who lose weight without exercise but it's better to exercise anyway.  Here's why-  As all of us are losing weight we are actually losing quite a bit of muscle mass, rather than fat.  If you exercise (which should include weight lifting and cardio) you will strengthen and increase your muscle mass...therefore you won't lose any or as much muscle while you are losing weight.  A person that loses weight in conjunction with exercise tends to be firmer and healthier than person who loses weight by diet alone.  Next increasing your muscle is a good way to lose weight and keep it off-  our muscles are the fat/ calorie burning machines in our bodies.  The stronger you make you machine the more it burns.  A person that weight lifts can eat more calories than a person that doesn't.  This will aid in your weight loss and it will help you to avoid any regain. 

Here's another fun fact ------

Lifting increases the number of calories you burn while your butt is parked on the couch. That's because after each strength workout, your muscles need energy to repair their fibers. In fact, researchers found that when people did a total-body workout with just three big-muscle moves, their metabolisms were raised for 39 hours afterward. They also burned a greater percentage of calories from fat compared with those who didn't lift.  Lifting gives you a better burn during exercise too: Doing a circuit of eight moves (which takes about eight minutes) can expend 159 to 231 calories. That's about what you'd burn if you ran at a 10-mile-per-hour pace for the same

As far as over doing it ...you just need to listen to your body.  I know when I need to slow down.  A simple test is if you can't talk without being breathless you are working out to hard...if you can sing you aren't working out enough.  What you will need to do is buy a heart rate monitor.  Find your target heart rate zone (if you search find target heart rate zone it will give you plenty of links to show you how to find yours).  Like for instance if yours is 120-140 then as long as you stay within that zone you are fine. 

My doctor gave me the green light to work out 4 weeks after my surgery.  Every doctor is different follow your surgeon's recommendations.  As for activity that's not allowed because of your band...you can do anything.  I have read of Bandsters participating in Ironman competitions.  As long as your doctor says you can exercise...go ahead and do your kickboxing.

Good luck.

wow! Cmagourik, that is fantastic information!  Thank you so much!  Not only am I going to do what you recommended, I am going to share this information with others!   This is all very helpful! 

I agree with all that was recommended. Your doctor will tell you when it okay to exercise. 4-6 weeks is the normal. But walking is always recommended. As far as kickboxing goes, I've enjoyed classes for most of my journey. Doesn't effect your port at all.

I did not workout for the first 50lbs I lost and I really wish I had. Strength & cardio will help tighten your skin also.

I do cardio 5/6 days a week and strength train 3 days a week.

Good Luck on your journey.

Pam

Hey cmagouirk - I've just started the weights - going 3x per week for about 40-45 mins. for the last 2 weeks.  Not sure if I feel any different yet (I do enjoy the workouts though, and oddly have even found myself looking forward to them - eeek!).  My weight is still stuck, though.  Any idea when I might start to see the scale start inching down again?  I've been at a plateau since early February.  Thanks.

Do you do cardio too??  If not add that into your workout.  But I have to tell you even with workouts you will plataeu.  I have had a 3 week plateau that was driving me nuts.  What I did was try intensifying my workouts.  I started interval training...where you walk for 2-3 minutes and then jog for 1-2 minutes.  As you get better the jog time gets longer and the walk time gets shorter.  I'm not sure if this is what helped me get past my plateau or if I would have eventually started losing again anyway.  I didn't adjust anything I was eating because I felt that wasn't the problem. 

I think no matter how much you workout there will be plateaus...good luck. 

Thanks.  Yeah, I start & end my workouts with 5-6 minutes of intense rowing (I actually like that rowing machine!) and this week added 5 minutes on the stepper in addition to the weights.  And then when I leave the gym I walk 3 km home.  Can't really call that cardio, though, since I'm not really pushing myself there anymore (walking these days is just not enough for me, obviously!).  There are several treadmills at the gymn - I'm thinking I may try the walk-run thing and see if that helps.  Eventually when the weather warms up I'd like to start running outdoors, but I'm still too self-conscious to try that.  So gearing up first on the treadmill for a month or two might be just the ticket.  In the meantime, though, this plateau is bumming me out.  On the other hand, I'm just grateful I lost the bulk of my weight before the plateau hit.  Coulda been worse! 

I will be honest. I don't exercise yet I still have reached goal in 13 months. I have lost 95 lbs. without exercising on a regular basis. Last May (a few months removed from surgery), I would get up before work and get on the treadmill for about 40-45 minutes. I did this 5 days a week. I did that probably a month or two and stopped. I thought my weight loss would stop, but it keep going. So yes, you can lose weight without exercising.

I suppose you could lose weight without no exercise but it will probably be slower and you will not firm up your body during your weight loss process .

I think it depends on you how fast you want to lose and how much muscle tone you want to build up .

Some people for the life of them cant lose weight without exercise no matter how healthy you eat and I'm one of them people.  I dont exercise I dont lose weight :o( sucks but to be honest I love Exercise now lol.

I do zumba I love zumba and I do 1 hr classes on Monday and Wed  nights .  Then I do the Curves Circuit with Zumba on Tuesday, Thursday and Sat mornings for my toning plus as a bonus with Zumba .

I haven't missed a single class since Jan that is how much I love it .  I'm thinking of picking up a Friday night class also

So basically I exercise every day except on Fridays and Sundays . 

I'm even found a Curves where we camp at so I can still take my three classes a week during the summer so when I go camping I dont use it as a excuse not to exercise :o)