The "E" word......

Hi all! The "E" word EXERCISE! Post-ops did you exercise pre-op and if so what did you do? Pre-ops are you exercising ?? If so, what are you doing? Post-ops, is evercising helping to keep the flappy skin away? Any and all thoughts about this are appreciated. I am walking a 1/2 to 1 mile almost daily(I weigh over 300) and I feel like that is a lot. What is sad is that I remember a time when I ran a mile around the 5 minute mark. I want to run the Phoenix New Times 5 or 10K next year(post-op) I really am curious what people did/are doing pre-op physically to prepare for this surgery. A friend of mine had her WLS five months ago but has done little as far as exercise and has lost over 90 pounds. Will exercise slow the weight loss? I wouldn't imagine it would. How quickly did exercise become easier for all you post-ops? What did you do for exercise at first? Full of questions, Kathy

Hey Kathy, I am almost 3 years post-op. I was limited with my exercise pre-op because of my poor health and my size (278) but did begin a 20 minute a day walking plan 1 month prior to surgery. My surgeon (Dr. Zahn) encouraged it because of his worries about the surgery. As a post-op; I began serious exericse at 1 month post-op and worked up to 3 hours a day at a gym. It became my new obsession and I entered a few events. I've done some amazing hiking and participated in "activity vacations" that I would have never imagined before. I've found some sanity in my life though and have tapered off to something I think will work forever. I do 30 minutes minimum aerobic 4 times a week and then an additional 30 minutes of strength training. Once in a while I double it by attending a step class or kick box class with a friend but once in a while I just take my dog for a long haul and call it a day! ......I will still need some skin removed but I know that my skin issues are very minimal compared to most folks. Exercise definitely helps! Good luck with it all, Joyce in Chandler 278/140

Kathy- I had my surgery in October. I did some walking preop but not much because of knee pain. My doctor said I can only do walking for 3 months. So I have one of those Leslie Sansone walking tapes. It's a one mile one and I do it 4-5 times a week. First time I tried it I could barely do 1/2 mile but I can now do the mile without problems. Takes about 25 minutes. It hasn't stopped my weight loss as far as I can tell. Come January I am going to look into different gyms here in Tucson. If for no other reason than to keep my bones healthy. I set myself two fitness goals when I went into this. First was to be able to walk Sabino Canyon with my husband. Even if it's to take the tram up and walk down. 2nd is to do the breast cancer walk next october. Elaine Charton 10/19/05-Lap RNY Dr. Chiasson 299/250/???

hi kathy! to answer your questions...first off, i am almost 5 months postop. i faithfully excercise 3-4 times a week. i walk for 30 minutes on the treadmill. and then i alternate with weights doing upper body one day and then lower body the next with some ab work using the big rubber excercise balls and then i do a good 5-7 minutes of good stretches. i usually work out tuesday, wednesday, thursday and then try to get in extra time on either fridays or on sundays (keep in mind i work full time and i have a 4 year old and a pretty active lifestyle) i DID actually work out prior to surgery. i wasn't as faithful and as dedicated to it though because i felt like i was pretty much wasting my time. but now it is a wonderful feeling to KNOW that your effort and hard work are actually accomplishing something (i know that my working out before was good for my lungs and muscles etc...but without visual results it STILL feels like a waste of time. i started out day of surgery at 357.6 and i now (almost 5 mos later) weigh 276. -81 lbs! i will get measured tomorrow but i know at the last months measurements i had lost over 60 inches! so definately working out has helped me shrink! sometimes i had been measured and i lost more inches than pounds and my trainer said that is because i am excercising. so DO excercise! p.s. for the record I DON'T LIKE excercising....but I LOVE the way my body feels afterwards. so i do it. brandy