3 weeks out of surgery...what should I be doing for exercise?
@ 3 weeks, to be honest, walking. i didn't start adding other cardio and resistance training until after i was cleared by my surgeon for all excersise (@ my 6 week visit). the most important thing at this point is to keep moving and start to build committment and good habits. best of luck!
Where are we going?? And why am I in this handbasket??
right now. somewhere. somebody is working harder than you.
right now. somewhere. somebody is working harder than you.
I think swimming would be pushing it. My doc said nothing but walking for the first six weeks - but I started slowly working in jogging and strength training at about 3.5 weeks. I'm glad I did, because I was so surprised by my muscle loss during that rapid post-op loss time. I didn't do ab toning until 6 weeks though - I kept my strength training focused on arms and legs while I was "cheating". I'm now almost 8 weeks post-op - there isn't any physical activity that I feel limited in. We regularly jog 5Ks, play tennis, and do full strength training.
Patience is such an painful concept for many of us - but you need it just a little!
Congrats on the surgery and enjoy whatever exercise your body will let you do - just listen to it if you have pain around the incisions.
Holly
Patience is such an painful concept for many of us - but you need it just a little!
Congrats on the surgery and enjoy whatever exercise your body will let you do - just listen to it if you have pain around the incisions.
Holly
High Weight 255 (4/09) Decision Day Weight 238( 4/2/10) Surgery Weight 223 (4/19/10) Goal Weight 135
Holly - Thanks for the post!
Quick question from a newbie- where you working out pre-op? You are going great at just 8 wks post op..running 5k's etc. I just meet with a trainer this week and I am 4 wks pre-op, I can walk a 5k, with just abit of jogging mixed in (1 min here and there).
At 43 (or will be soon), I am worried about the loose skin issue with my tummy, arms and legs. I have heard that working out helps with that ,and the weight loss and recovery.
Love to here more stories on what is working for those who have already been down this road.
Teresa (also a TX girl)
Quick question from a newbie- where you working out pre-op? You are going great at just 8 wks post op..running 5k's etc. I just meet with a trainer this week and I am 4 wks pre-op, I can walk a 5k, with just abit of jogging mixed in (1 min here and there).
At 43 (or will be soon), I am worried about the loose skin issue with my tummy, arms and legs. I have heard that working out helps with that ,and the weight loss and recovery.
Love to here more stories on what is working for those who have already been down this road.
Teresa (also a TX girl)
HW :275 PreOp Consult :270 SW 7/13/10: 256 1Yr: 182 Restart on 1/7/13: 208
Yes, Teresa, I was working out pre-op. I had been off the exercise wagon for about 6 months (pattern of my lifetime, hence this decision), but when I made the decision to get the sleeve, I started pushing hard on the exercise. I had about 2.5 weeks pre-op to start getting in shape again. I did it through walking, jogging and tennis.
As someone who was big all of my life, jogging never came easily to me. But about a year ago (on one of my good phases of my yo-yoing), I tried out the Couch to 5K program (C25K). I downloaded the free podcast on my iphone and used it. If I recall correctly, it was 8 weeks, and in the first week, 60 seconds was the longest jogging stint in the program. All lessons (do 3 per week) were a total of 30-32 minutes of walking and jogging, gradually increasing the J-to-W ratio until you're jogging the full 30 minutes. The best thing I learned from this program is that my mind was often my only limitation on jogging. This program gave me the confidence to push myself harder. Trust it - when they say how long the jogging is in the next week, and you feel like it's impossible, trust that the program works and that you will achieve it because of the training you did before. I'm still slow (penguin is the term), and cannot complete a full 5k in 30 minutes, but I can complete one in about 40 minutes. I'll take it! I'm now working on my speed, and then once I get my speed improved, will start adding distance again. Best advice I ever read was not to try to improve on both speed and distance at the same time - that's a setup for injuries.
At any rate, I've become a person who actually misses jogging on my off days. And yes, those off days are important for muscle recovery so you can do it better again when you jog again.
As you can see....I can ramble on and on. I'm in love with exercising now, but I have somehow found the balance I never had before. I won't beat myself up if I go for one day without exercising at all. I'll just add a little the next day.
As for loose skin....it's just reality. It hides really well in clothes. This will be my struggle, as I've already got some bat wings started. But I'm going to be patient until I've been at goal for a year, then judge whether or not I can live with the whatever condition my skin is in. I am using a Dove body wash that's supposed to improve elasticity. Who knows if it works, but it smells good so I'm sticking with it.
I checked out your page - we have lots of similarities in size, age, taking our time in deciding, self-pay....you name it. I'm not too far, either. I live in Fort Worth. Feel free to shoot me an email and I'll be happy to share any of my experiences with you that I can. That's probably my biggest regret - that I didn't seek out help from peers before I did it. There are definitely a few things I would have done differently if I had known more about the surgery itself, and particularly the first 2 weeks out.
The most important and simple thing I can share - I am thrilled to say that I have zero regrets!
Best of luck,
Holly
As someone who was big all of my life, jogging never came easily to me. But about a year ago (on one of my good phases of my yo-yoing), I tried out the Couch to 5K program (C25K). I downloaded the free podcast on my iphone and used it. If I recall correctly, it was 8 weeks, and in the first week, 60 seconds was the longest jogging stint in the program. All lessons (do 3 per week) were a total of 30-32 minutes of walking and jogging, gradually increasing the J-to-W ratio until you're jogging the full 30 minutes. The best thing I learned from this program is that my mind was often my only limitation on jogging. This program gave me the confidence to push myself harder. Trust it - when they say how long the jogging is in the next week, and you feel like it's impossible, trust that the program works and that you will achieve it because of the training you did before. I'm still slow (penguin is the term), and cannot complete a full 5k in 30 minutes, but I can complete one in about 40 minutes. I'll take it! I'm now working on my speed, and then once I get my speed improved, will start adding distance again. Best advice I ever read was not to try to improve on both speed and distance at the same time - that's a setup for injuries.
At any rate, I've become a person who actually misses jogging on my off days. And yes, those off days are important for muscle recovery so you can do it better again when you jog again.
As you can see....I can ramble on and on. I'm in love with exercising now, but I have somehow found the balance I never had before. I won't beat myself up if I go for one day without exercising at all. I'll just add a little the next day.
As for loose skin....it's just reality. It hides really well in clothes. This will be my struggle, as I've already got some bat wings started. But I'm going to be patient until I've been at goal for a year, then judge whether or not I can live with the whatever condition my skin is in. I am using a Dove body wash that's supposed to improve elasticity. Who knows if it works, but it smells good so I'm sticking with it.
I checked out your page - we have lots of similarities in size, age, taking our time in deciding, self-pay....you name it. I'm not too far, either. I live in Fort Worth. Feel free to shoot me an email and I'll be happy to share any of my experiences with you that I can. That's probably my biggest regret - that I didn't seek out help from peers before I did it. There are definitely a few things I would have done differently if I had known more about the surgery itself, and particularly the first 2 weeks out.
The most important and simple thing I can share - I am thrilled to say that I have zero regrets!
Best of luck,
Holly
High Weight 255 (4/09) Decision Day Weight 238( 4/2/10) Surgery Weight 223 (4/19/10) Goal Weight 135
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