Post op exercise

One week post op and contrary to my surgeons constant suggestion of "no worries you will have no pain post surgery, honestly, this is a pain free surgery (traditional bypass, unable to have sleeve)", I do feel like I've been punched in side because of the drain through the muscle. Drain out today and he has given the green light to lift light weights and walking.  How long post op did you actually feel good enough to get back to your regular exercise routine?  And what is the best way to beat fatigue while "taking it easy"?   He agreed to let me go back to work 2 weeks post op which is next Monday but I'm trying to find the best way to build up the endurance to last 10 hours in the office.  Any advice is greatly appreciated!  Thank you!

I am about 7 weeks out and I waited until last week to join a gym.  I really listened to my body when it said it was tired.  I walked, but I did not push myself in the beginning.  I think that worked for me.  I am sure others might disagree, but I am glad I waited until I felt my energy start to return.

Im doing light weights and walking as much as I can, until I feel too fatigued.  I am used to doing 30 min of cardio everyday prior to surgery.  10#s is my limit now, but I go the ok to resume my perdiem job in 3 weeks and that is a lot of heavy lifting, people of course.  I don't want to lose the tone I had prior to surgery.  Congrats on the gym.  Thankfully at the hospital I work at I can exercise at cardiac rehab and there's no excuse lol

I was told no lifting anything heavier than a gallon of mil****il 8 weeks. You could do some real damage lifting heavy things at one week.

Walk as far and often as you can.

I wasn't supposed to do any weight lifting for nearly 8 weeks -- and they discouraged any high impact exercise, too.  I walked a lot but that was it.

I was told that I was only allowed to walk for the first 6 weeks.  No elliptical, no weights, no nothing.  I could walk outside or on a treadmill.  So that's what I did. 

I walked only and used a cheap step counter to give me a visual aid to see how much I was doing.  No lifting for the first 8 weeks for me

There really isn't anyway to build up endurance.  Your body will take a certain amount of time to heal.  Everyone is different.  I am two weeks out.  I used to walk 3-5 miles on hilly hiking trails, swim over an hour and skate and bike.  If I walk 3-4 miles on hilly terrain, I don't do anything for the rest of the day.  If I bike 20 miles slowly, I'm done for the day.  I was on a high protein, low carb diet for about 30 days pre-op to train my body to use my own fat for fuel.  But, I have no control of endurance.  A 3-4 mile hike that would take 75 minutes, now takes me over 2 hours with frequent breaks.  Today I went to the doctor, and was told I can lift my 30 lb grandkids.  I was released to swim.  I was told not to run for 30 days.  Hopes this helps.

I think I was cleared for *light* cardio after about three weeks (e.g., stationary bike) - but was told to listen to my body and stop if it needed to stop.

Swimming and other water-based activities had to wait until my wounds were healed - no scabs or surgical glue - which was about 3-4 weeks out.

Started back to yoga (I only do gentle styles like Yin) at about three weeks .

Like everyone else, I was told to wait about eight weeks before doing weights.