I can't even imagine exercising

I am pre-surgery.  My surgery date is April 17, 2007 and will take place in Dehli, India. I have recently been diagnosed with sleep apnea which I guess explains most of my chronic fatigue and lack of energy.  I have diabetes, asthma (moderately severe), arthritis in spine, hips, knees, and shoulders.  According to my doctor, I get only 82% oxygen when sleeping and I come close to waking 24 times an hour.  I am so tired! Several years ago I could walk a little over three miles in about 45 minutes.  Now I can barely walk 100 feet without pain.  Sitting, standing, walking all hurt.  I take 4-6 percocet daily for pain.  The only position that is comfortable is lying on my side--even lying on my back hurts because of the arthritis.  I used to swim but I cannot get up and down the ladder of the pool now.  I am 249 pounds on a 4 ft 11 inch frame. I know that the surgery will reduce my ability to eat large quantities and I will lose weight.  I am frightened however of gaining it back.  I cannot imagine having energy to exercise even though my doctor says the sleep apnea will go away.  But what if it doesn't?  What if my asthma and arthritis prevent me from exercising?  I know that without exercise there is a greater chance that weight will be regained.  But it has been so long since I was able to do anything that I can't imagine it not being this way forever.

trafficdonna,  boy, you have some challenges! However, what you see now is a vicious cycle - you never feel like exercising so you never do.  Losing weight will break that cycle.   For what it is worth, my dear friend had WLS (RNY) and his asthma went away! Diabetes is known to disappear after surgery, as is the sleep disorder, and your arthritis will diminish! Story after story tells us that people use far less meds for a wide array of disorders after losing the weight. One more comment, I have another friend who hates exercise, HATES it, had RNY and she lost 110% of her weight with no exercise whatsoever. I certainly do not promote that, but just to tell you how powerful reducing food is! Exercise will only serve you better, so please follow your surgeon's advice. And, just think, even if you can get out and walk/swim 3x week, that is a 300% increase in what you are doing now! I did not check your profile, but if you have any flexibility/mobility whatsoever, exercise will preserve what you have, improve it if you are committed.  I am into yoga - tho it is not exactly a fat burner, it has many awesome attributes.  Worse case, if your asthma and arthritis are hanging on after weight loss, yoga will be good for those issues (with props if need be!) Trafficdonna, please hang around, get more ideas from all of us.  Blessings to you, and believe that your life will change to a degree that will amaze you. I am so glad you are taking this step!

Neecee,

Thank you for the kind words.  I really do hope to get out of this very deep hole that I find myself in.  It is just so hard to imagine a different life when I feel so crummy right now!  It just saddens me that I let things get this far before I looked for help.  Of course the co-morbidities have made it difficult to consider options.

I read through some of your posts.  You really seem to be tuned into the exercise and fitness.  I think I will make you my official guru!

Have a great weekend!

Donna, I am certainly no expert, but I can tell you of my experience.  I was carrying 315 lbs on a 5 foot 2 inch frame.  Like you, I could barely move.  When they told me I had to exercise after WLS, it was the hardest thing to accept and I wondered how I would ever do it. You will see as the weight drops off, you will feel so much better and you will want to move more.  Plus, you want to preserve any muscle that you can, and exercising will help you do that.  You want to minimize muscle wasting.  I'm not talking about hard exercise, just walking at the beginning will really serve you well and wake up your muscles. I am now almost 11 months post-op and I am down to 185 and doing things that I never thought I could do physically.  I still have 50 pounds to lose to get to goal, but my body feels so much better because I am stronger and I have built a lot of lean muscle mass.  I can move so much better too and I recently had a flexibility test and I scored in the excellent range.  Also, I am now running.  I never ran before in my life.  This is from someone who could barely get out of bed a year ago. I bet that after a year, you will be feeling the same way too! Take care and good luck with your WLS!  Let us know how you are doing.

Thank you for the feedback.  It is inspiring to think that maybe someday I could walk easily much less RUN!  I guess I am worrying needlessly at this point--after all I haven't even had the surgery yet.  It is just so hard to imagine a different life.

I told my husband about the woman on this site who rides a bike over 100 miles a week.  I think I scared him!  His immediate reaction was "I don't have to do this with you, do I?".  He is not overweight and has recently been diagnosed with emphysema.  A large part of having this surgery is so that I will be around to take care of him when he needs me. 

Keep me in your prayers--I need all the help I can get!

Congratulations on taking the first steps to a new life!  A year from now you should be in sooo much better health, you will be amazed.  You should start out exercising slowly, as much as your body can tolerate, and then increase it as you lose weight and feel better.  You can start with walking and swimming.  I also bought a heavy duty rowing machine for home.  Since you sit and row, it is easy on the joints but gives you a great aerobic workout. You need to incorporate two types of exercise as soon as you feel able:  1) aerobic exercise to improve your heart and lungs and circulation, and 2) weight training to prevent muscle loss. This is important, because as you lose a lot of weight, your body has a tendency to lose muscle -- not just in the arms and legs, but also in the heart and other organs as well.  We don't want that. I know it's hard to keep going, so set some short-term and long-term goals, and then reward yourself when you meet them.  Buy some jewelry, get a massage, go on a cruise, etc.  Goals really help me drag my butt to the gym some days. And remember to take time for yourself.  If you are becoming a caretaker for your husband, don't forget yourself.  This is for you, too!   Good luck on your journey.....

Thank you Maryland. Right now my goal is to make it to surgery!  I am having difficulty trying to follow the recommended meal plan.  The doctor wanted me to exercise too but after ten hours at work, all I want to do is get home, take a pain pill, and collapse on the couch.  Most days I don't have energy to even cook a meal and my poor husband eats sandwiches for dinner (and he only eats once a day).   I am definitely looking forward to a change in energy levels!  As for weight training, I don't really have the money to join a gym.  Our City recreation centers have some machines but no staff to teach you to use them.  I guess they assume you already know.  I will  have to choose between swimming (which also costs).  I guess I was hoping I could get away with just walking because that would be a major accomplishment at this point!

I will check back more often after I have the surgery.  Thank you for the "best wishes".

I dont know if this will help....but here is what I did.  I contacted my insurance company and found out what amount of physical therapy they would pay for.  They paid for 3 times a week for up to one month...and that was it.  So I got my dr to order water therapy....esp running on the treadmil in the pool.  It did wonders for me.  I did start out very slow...but I was 400 lbs and a bmi over 50 and I was able to do it.  It helped me to move and build up my muscle strenght before surgery.   I had severe back pain with arthritis that had set in to my spine and hands and knees.  It was the best thing I ever did.  I wish I could do it again.  My insurance will only pay for it once a yr.  I did have to call several physical therapy places in our town to find one that had a treadmil in the pool...but our local hospial had one...it worked out fantastic!!! I hope u can find something.  I cant seem to get enough exercise now...I love walking.  Im 7 months out...and 150 lbs down...with about 100 to go

Congratulations on the excellent weight loss!  WOW!!! Thank you for the suggestion. I will find out if my insurance would pay for physical therapy to learn to move without pain.  They won't pay for the WLS but maybe they will try to do something for the arthritis besides pay for Percocet.  Thank you so much!

Although I know it's recommended to start exercising as soon as you can after recovering from the surgery, I didn't start exercising until about 3-4 months out.  By that time, I had lost over 50 lbs., and that made a huge difference in my desire and ability to exercise.  Plus, at that point I needed to burn some extra calories to get the scales to move.  I have plantar fasciitis, and wanted to keep it low-impact, so I started with 20" on the elliptical 3 times per week plus some strength training.  Whatever you do, start slowly and strive for steady improvement.  I love the suggestion to get some physical therapy, if you can get it approved by your insurance.  That would be a wonderful way to get some great information and to learn good exercise techniques.  Even better, having an appointment means you're much more likely to actually do the exercise than if you're doing it by yourself at home. Also, I read an article in Prevention magazine yesterday about some holistic approaches to arthritis pain.  I have a little arthritis in my knee, and it's starting to bother me a bit, especially walking down stairs.  I'm thinking about trying a couple of supplements recommended by Dr. Weil in the article, including Glucosamine/Chondroitin and Sam-E.  Good luck!    Tami