CONFESSION

I have a confession to make.  I am 2 months and 2 weeks out.  I have lost a total of like 70 LBS. I am very happy about that and feel great.  One of the things that I am suppose to be doing is working out 5 times a week for at least 30 minutes.  I have only gone to the gym twice since my surgery and because of working 2 jobs, really don't have the time or energy to work out.  Has anyone else put off the work out and still maintained sucessful weight gain?  To all those out there getting ready to have their surgery, I wish you the very best and a speedy recovery !!

Hi, my name is Cindy, and I must confess that I'm a slug... ;(
Don't recommend my  plan to anyone, but such is life.  I try to get in as much movement every day as I can, but am unable to go to the gym and workout (physical reasons).  I've lost 105#'s (below goal) and have been stable for over a year.  It is important to do whatever you can, even in very small increments to maintain muscle mass, otherwise, you'll end up feeling like a boneless chicken!

Our therapist says that everybody is basically going to drop weight for the first year no matter what you do......... but if you haven't developed good eating habits and an exercise program, you may not see any more weight loss after the first year and eventually some weight gain is possible.

Thanks for both of your input !  I really don't want to look like a boneless chicken   I am going to make time and try and do some sort of workout...it is just hard to find the time .

I am 2 1/2 years out and I hate to exercise.  I may do fine for a week but that is it, just can't get in the habit.  Plus I work usually 10 hour days and by the time I get home I then have dinner and all the stuff a mom does.  Now I do make sure when I shop I park as far away as possible and walk.  I take stairs whenever I have a choice.  I do try to stay busy but it is hard for me to get workout program together.  I have been below goal since I was a year out.  I have maintained the same weight for a good year and a half. 

Not to worry...
At 3 months out?
I had yet to walk a step.
I started at a BMI of 50.1+
Now at 5 years+ Post-Op?
Been at a Normal BMI for 4 years, and holding.
sneaking in even a bit of activity
was my way of getting there.
Check out-
Habitual-Exercise/Activity

And while there?
Checkout the "Men's Board."

Congratulations on your loss so far.
Keep it Up!
Best Wishes-
Dx

I had to get a treadmill with a TV in view in order to get my exercise in. I love walking, but half the year it's still dark when I arrive home after work and I still have a household to budget to stick to. I am not, nor will I EVER be, a gym rat. If I can exercise at home or the office or outside on the weekends, I will. My surgery is tomorrow. My nearterm exercise goal is to be on the treadmill for 30 minutes every morning at 5 am. I can hear you laughing. Hell, I can hear ME laughing. But still, it's a goal!

I had my surgery in late last November, and between the cold and snow and a bum hip, I managed to find just about every excuse not to exercise, but I felt both guilty and anxious about the situation: I was terribly worried that I was wasting my one window of opportunity.

To make a long story short, once I got adequate pain meds and acquiesced to using a cane (moron that I was, I was damned if I were going to use one after my WLS!), I started walking around the neighborhood starting in March (about 4 mos. post-op), and now I feel antsie if I don't manage to go for a brisk 2 or 3 mile walk every day!  Aside from facilitating weight loss, the exercise just makes me feel great.  (Someone please bring Steve back; he's been replaced by a pod person!!!)

I've been tracking my weight loss all along, and so far, it's been completely linear (no gradual slowdown yet), and there haven't been any obvious inflection points on my tracker graph at the time I started exercising, so I can't say what effect it's had directly on my progress, or whether I had wasted the immediate 4 mos. post-op when I wasn't exercising.  But the habit is a good one, and will undoubtedly help with further weight loss and maintenace.

/Steve

Dex,
I absolutely love your post "sneaking in" exercise!
It rocks,
TTFN, Katie

I gave up exercise years ago. Instead, I find hobbies that involve moving my body. For about a decade, I ice skated, sometimes up to 10 hours a week. I didn't do it because I "had to" but because I loved it.

Find something you love to do and you will stay motivated to do it. It doesn't have to be doing to a gym and it doesn't have to be the most efficient exercise that burns the most fat. It's better to do something that you love than not do something else that is "better" for you.

My health issues currently are keeping me from ice skating so I'm looking for a new hobby. I'm thinking about ballroom dancing or yoga or maybe both. We have free yoga classes at work and that helps.