Exercise and the Gym

So since I haven't been walking as much lately I decided to bite the bullet and go to the gym. Vision Quest has a special going on where it's $16 a month so I was like ok I can afford that. So I went in last night and did their weighing  and measuring and paid my fees, got suckered into the personal trainer package which I figure it can't hurt for the next 14 weeks. My body fat according to their little machine is 50% body fat. They recorded my weight as 350 but I was clothed and had shoes on and keys in pocket and phone and my scale at home when I'm in my bday suit says 344 so I'm sticking with my scale thank you!

Stupid scale.

Anyway they started in on my nutrition. Now I explained look I've had sleeve surgery, I've lost over 100lbs and I need to keep losing and I want to work out so I keep the scale going down. But I'm not upping my calories. Unless I am falling over cause I can't keep going on my own I'm not changing my diet. Too bad so sad. They did the whole, "you need to eat 1200 and up your carbs". NO I don't. I eat my 600-800 calories and under 40 carbs and no I'm not going to change that just because you are stuck in an archaic old school views on calories. And I wanted to strangle him when he wanted me to eat pasta. LOL No way man!

Anyway Monday is my first appointment for the trainer. I met him briefly when I signed up but I was there for almost an hour and a half while they did all the prelim stuff and by the end of the evening I had to go cause my boys needed to be picked up.  At least this way I don't have an excuse not to work out but I have to say this gym is so chaotic and loud that I don't like it much and of course the treadmills are all downstairs in the chaos and none are upstairs in the quiet.  Still it's cheap and I need to get some strength training in so I can build some muscle and burn more fat.

great getting started is the first step,Im pre op (sleeve) and weigh just under 400 lbs and joined a small local gym , that has water aerobics, which is much easier on my knees , no weighing in or nurtional info, got my nut for that and physical therapist

 i try to go every day for a few hours for a swim and hot tub, losing 5-8 lbs a week, hope to get surgery in may-june

 enjoy your gym its great for all the rainy days

That's awesome!!! That's a great treat for yourself. 

When it comes to exercise, Ive found that there are a milliion and one excuses you have to work through to get it done - im tired, busy, sore, its lous, chaotic, dirty, the old smelly guy on the TM next to me, etc...JUST DO IT. That's the only philosophy that works :)

As for the trainers, just tell them you dont want nutritional advice and leave it at that. Otherwise, they will hound you. They all grew up in the same school of thought and short of trainers with bariatric experience, they can't possibly tailor their plans ( I had a diabetic friend and they still couldnt change their nutritional advice - it really is a one size fit all approach with muscle heads )

Hi there! Congrats on joining a gym.  We are close to each other in weight and I am just way too self-conscious to go to a gym right now.  I am pre-op and trying to get started with an exercise routine again.  I have belonged to tons of gyms before and loved to run and do kickboxing classes before I gained so much weight... I miss those days!  The condo complex that I live in has two gyms that I have access to but I just can't do it yet. 

I hate the way that some of the people at the gym treat you when you are obese.  They act like you have never heard of exercise or a calorie and since you are fat, you have no clue what you are doing.  I would definitely not listen to them! Congrats again on being brave enough to join the gym!! I hope you like it.  Just make sure to take your ipod or mp3 player and drown out all the loudness. :-)

Awesome step in the right direction.

I work out 4 days a week with a personal trainer. He understands my post surgery philosophy and respects my choices. When I first went to the gym I was very self-conscience, especially when I did my "Jack LaLane" floor exercises. As time went on and i spent so much time there and got to know people, I became very comfortable. I am a strong proponent of the gym. I feel like when I am there, I am giving myself love. It is time for me and I figure, I am there and may as well give it my all. I love sweating and even love the muscle pain. I am used to being in pain all the time from working my different muscles. The other day I worked my obliques so hard, I barfed. My trainer was so excited, he was hi-5ing me behind the gym as I was bent over trying not to mess my shoes up.  He told me I am a warrior and he has never worked with someone who is so dedicated. Me!?!?!? The former 356 lb, 54 y/o woman who never worked out a day in her life until 6 months ago????

God bless all us warriors.

Hugs,

Sharon

I'm not all that crazy about this gym. It stinks like old gym socks and it's always crowded when I go. But it's really close to home, like 3 blocks away so it's quick and easy to get to. I don't like exercise at all. I hate being hot and sweating. I just hate it. And no matter what people say about "eventually you will love it" I never have. I went to the gym 2 years before and never learned to love it. I'm just not an exercise lover at all.  But I acknowledge that it's a necessary evil so I just do it. I do however get annoyed by this whole Trainer/Gym addict mindset. The manager of the place actually told me that had I just used the money I spent on surgery for personal training then I could have saved $3000.  Really? WTF? There's no way that personal training sessions would have gotten me down from 452lbs. I was way beyond the help of exercise alone. And I wasn't going to just stick to eating like a bird on my own. And even when I told him, "no my doctor said I needed the WLS and I wouldn't lose without it" he still tried to argue with me. 

The other thing that irritates me at the moment is that they want me to do cross fit exercises and I'm sorry but there are some things that I am not physically able to do. Getting on the floor is one of those. I don't put my knees on the floor at all. I have no cartilage left in them and kneeling for any reason is like driving ice picks into my joints. It's also very hard to get up off the floor without causing severe knee pain. So I don't kneel, squat, or get down on the floor. I suppose it may sound like I'm a wimp about it but my knees are what keep me walking around and I have to walk to get to work and to take the dogs out and if I screw up my knees and cause excessive pain then I can't walk and then that blows the whole point of exercise.  I also don't jump. I don't do jumping jacks, I don't do these weird pushup jumping jacks, I don't hop on one foot in time to the music, I don't jump rope. These actions are all things that cause knee pain. Excessive knee pain, meaning more than what I experience on a daily basis just walking around.  I also don't do stair exercises because again this causes excessive knee pain.   I don't know why this is so hard for these trainers to understand and I'm about ready to cancel the trainer sessions. I'm hoping I can get my money back because I don't really need all of this BS. I can just go use the equipment and work out at my own pace and I don't need someone nagging me or telling me I'm not even trying. Yes they are right, I'm not trying any of that  crap because I'm not going to blow out my knees.

Ok rant is over. Thanks