Exercise tips?

Hi --

I am hoping to have an RNY in August.  I'm 43, 5'6" and 270-275 right now (depending on the scale I jump on). 

I know that each body is different etc. but I am wondering what sort of exercise I should be doing before the surgery and then what exercise I should work up to after the surgery.  I have just been diagonosed with arthritis in the knee, so I can't imagine I'll be jogging anytime soon.  

I would love to hear from those of you who are over 40, who have lost over 100 pounds, and who have been successful in keeping the weight off for more than a couple of years.  

I'm also very interested in trying to keep as much excess skin snapping back into place as possible.  ; )

I know cardio is good (my guess is that I'll swim, hike, limited tennis, maybe bike?), and am not sure what resistance training is...etc.

I want to succeed, and would like some help in building a specific roadmap, with goals, etc to help me keep on track in terms of doing what I need to do to get the weight off as well as to try to snap as much skin back as possible. 

Help?  Suggestions?
Stephanie

Hi Stephanie!  I am no expert, but I do know that swimming and walking is great exercise especially if you have knee problems.  I am going to start swimming laps in the pool at the Y that I belong to, but need to get over the fear of people making fun of me and my skin flopping everywhere.  I was much larger than you are when I had my surgery so I have lots of excess skin.  I would say at the weight you are now, you won't have much sagging.  I would also reccomend doing a little strength training.
Good luck,
Steph

Hi Stephanie,

I'm now 44 and had an RNY when I was 38, so 6.5 years ago.  I never lost a full 100 lbs, but I started out at just about 240 and I'm pretty muscular.  I hover between 160 and 165 and wear an 8 in most clothes.

Exercise before surgery is the same as just after - walk, walk, walk.  If you can get to a pool, swimming and water aerobics are also good for folks with knee problems.  Biking is also good.

As far as I'm concerned, the kind of exercise you should do depends on what you like to do. Because you'll actually do what you like to do and it won't feel like work, it's easier to stay in the habit of doing it.  

My best to you,

Linn

thanks for your replies.  i'm not so worried about the walking, biking, hiking, swimming thing in as much as i'm wondering if you guys do resistance training, or work with weights and that sort of thing? 

i know this will sound ridiculous, but has anyone gotten together and figured out what people have done to keep the sagging etc to a minimum? 

i'm definitely an apple, and when i lose weight, i'm pretty sure there will be issues with a pannis, as there is some already...

My surgeon recommends us doing cardio pre-op as it helps make you better prepared for surgery. So I started walking and eventually I started going to the gym to ride the stationary bike.

Afterwards, I went back to walking and the bike but I eventually added running and swimming to the mix. Then, I added in some resistance training. I think it's important post-op to do both cardio and resistance training because they both accomplish different things and work together.

Muscles can fill out loose skin but no exercise gets ride of it. The skin is damaged and there isn't much you can do about it.