When do I start exercising - also bar method?

Hi,

I am one week post-vertical gastrectomy performed by Dr. Cirangle & Dr. Machado at the John Muir Center in Concord, CA.  Now that I'm in less pain, tolerating my 90g of protein, and not sleeping 18 hours a day, I'm starting to plan how I'm going to live my life post-surgery.

I'm looking into different gyms/exercise options near my work and home.  The Bar Method is looking like a fairly good option - does anyone have experience with this type of program?  Also, when is my stomach recovered enough to do this type of pilates/core strengthening workout?  I don't want to break my staples or anything.  I've just started to get over the "What the hell did I do to myself" phase!

Any guidance would be most appreciated!  Thank you!!!

I was only allowed to walk for the first 6 weeks post-op and, after that, I was cleared for everything.  Here's my exercise story!

(Written 11/14/2014)
A few years before surgery, I started trying to make exercise a part of my life. I went to the gym and used the elliptical about 3 times a week. But then I'd stop. And then I'd get back. And I wasn't very reliable. Sometimes I'd try to lift weights but I never enjoyed it.

Then came surgery. I knew that if I was going to change my life, I was going to go all the way. I truly believe that exercise does extremely little for weight loss, but I know that it has many benefits to overall health. I didn't just want the weight loss, I wanted everything. I want to be healthy and strong and to be able to do everything.

Surgery was March 2014. I was only allowed to walk for the first 6 weeks. No elliptical, no running, no lifting, nothing except walking. I started walking in the hospital by doing laps of the wing I was in. When I got home, I started doing laps of my street. Each lap was about a quarter of a mile. I bundled up since it's cold here in March! Once I could do a mile, I switched to the gym and started walking on the treadmill.

On the treadmill, I started at 2mph, 1% incline, and 35 minutes. I went three days a week and increased my time by 5 minutes each time until I could do an hour. Once I could do an hour, I started increasing my speed, .1mph at a time. I kept doing this, .1mph at a time, until I was close to 4mph (3.8) and then I tried running. And I could do it! (I was past the 6 week mark at this point.)

From there, I started to work on intervals. I would run 45 seconds out of each 5 minute block. Then I increased it to a minute, and so on and so forth. Eventually I switched to Couch to 5k to follow those intervals. In June 2014, I signed up for my first 5k and made that my goal. I wasn't super thrilled with this, though so...

One weekend, when I was visiting my parents to help them out, I tried running outside. I switched to the Zombies Run 5k Training plan, and I ran outside. This was in August 2014. It was an epiphany. A revelation. It was amazing and I was hooked. I haven't been back to the treadmill since. I know I'll have to eventually once there's snow and/or ice on the ground, but I'm loving the outside now.

I ran my first 5k in October 2014. The course time limit was 60 minutes, so my goal was to complete within the limit and to not die. I was victorious and my time was 54 minutes and some seconds! I was (and still am) stupidly proud of myself for this.

So that's the running side of things. Now there's the fitness class side of things.

In April 2014 or so, I asked my best friend if she wanted to do any fitness classes with me and she told me about the fitness class passport that the local community college offers. I looked into it and was sold. It's one price and you can do all the classes you want, so it seemed like a good deal for someone like me who can devote a lot of time during the day to fitness stuff. (A lot of the other local options only have evening classes which do not fit into my life at all.)

I started off with yoga (2 classes), pilates (3 classes), and tai chi (1 class). I had studied yoga and tai chi in the past - I loved tai chi and didn't really get yoga. Pilates seemed like something that was interesting. I promised myself that I would stick with everything for a month, since I know it takes time to make something a habit and to really figure out if you like it. I ended up dropping two of the pilates classes since the teacher was a nut and I couldn't deal with her. I love pilates with my other teacher, though!

I maintained that for the summer term and, in the fall term (September 2014), I lost one of my yoga classes (but gained another one in November 2014) and added zumba (like), water aerobics (it's fine, and I like being in the pool), and bhangra (again, bad teacher).

I've also added a lot of yoga into my home exercising. I do a long program one day a week and then I do about 30 minutes of yoga for stretching after my running which is still three days a week.

All of this boils down to finding what worked for me and making sure to really give things a fair chance. The best exercise is the one that you'll do and any other exercise doesn't matter. And I think that the exercise you'll actually do is the exercise that you enjoy. With the caveat that sometimes you've got to force yourself in the beginning.

I do believe that the variety of exercise I'm going has helped me prevent injury and I like to think that, throughout the course of a week, I'm exercising every single muscle in my body that can be exercised :D

And that's my exercise story up until this point! Right now, I'm training for my second 5k, which is a day after my year surgeriversary. I'm doing about 14 hours of exercise a week and I'm feeling pretty fantastic. I feel strong and invincible.

Thank you for the response!  One of my goals (at some point) is to run.  Just to see what it feels like.  I've never been able to run (too fat), so maybe I'll hate it, but maybe I'll love it.  Your story with the 5Ks is so inspiring!!  I'm grateful you included how you ramped up to running, too -- I often leap into things (and immediately leap back out) without giving myself time to acclimate.  That's good guidance for me.  I appreciate it!

You're welcome.  It's been an interesting experience for me to say the least.  In the past, if a bear was chasing me, I'd just let the thing eat me.  Now I think I might be able to run away from it.  At least for a little bit ;)  

A lot of people fall into the same trap as you do - so you're not alone!  People start too hard too soon and then injure themselves and quit.  Ramping up is a safer way to go about this crazy new lifestyle you'd like :)

Hello, I think its great how you are now considering your life post-surgery. Its great you are looking into different gyms/exercise options. Your doctors should be able to give you a time table around when your stomach has recovered enough to do core strengthening exercises. Don't know if you were considering getting a personal trainer at the gym but if so here is a great article on what to look for. Also, be sure to pick an exercise program which starts you off slow and then increases the intensity. You don't want to put a lot of stress on your abs/core just starting out. What's important is that you find an exercise program which is doable so you won't get frustrated but at the same time provides results. Hope this helps. Have a great day and I wish you much success.

Thank you so much for the advice - and the article on trainers!  It's hard to find one that understands how to work with overweight people, so the guidance is much appreciated.  Thanks again!

No problem. Glad I could assist. Unfortunately many of the traditional fitness programs offered by trainers or on dvds are not designed for the people who need to lose weight the most such as the overweight, obese, morbidly obese, or people who have knee, back issues (which also want to lose weight). Most people who the infomercials are targeted such as Insanity or P90x are already in decent fitness shape. As a personal trainer that was one of the things which really frustrated me. When I would train with someone who was overweight, obese, etc. for two or three times a week there really were not a lot of cardio options available other than me telling them to go walk which is good but it really slowed our process of trying to lose weight quickly but safely. That was the motivation of me creating, Chair-A-Cise, a chair exercise 10 week quick weight loss program. However, there are many other options available but personal  trainers and fitness companies must take time to create programs which are safe and effective for the people who need it the most. I think this blog I wrote "Problems Choosing An Exercise Plan- Know Thyself" would be an excellent read for you. Have a great day.

Walking is your friend for now an there is no better exercise than walking. Walking gets the heart pumping to where it ought to be and helps condition muscles as well as burn fat in a way that is idea for the body. I think running is good to an extent for those of us who have good knees and are light enough to run without over stressing the heart. As for me walking has always been my friend. I own a dog walking service and I feel better at 50 than I did at 20 even though I have been 20 for the last thirty years......Good luck to you losing weight and I wish you success and health along the way...