Don't know where to begin

I love reading this forum. I envy you all. Can someone tell me what baby steps to start taking. I'm 4 weeks out and quite frankly my support group suggested I wait 6 weeks to begin an exercise regime. That was good enough for me to sit back and relax. I'm 61 years old. Only walk the dog twice a day (max 5 miles)...I had knee replacement 3 years ago and now have 3 cysts growing on my patella. Not very big but Dr wants me to get better from this revision to RNY surgery before he scrapes them off. I have deep vein thrombosis and suffer lots of leg cramps everyday. OK .. so you are getting the picture. I have more excuses not to exercise than I take in number of grams of protein each day.  Truth is, I just don't know where to begin. I don't want to start a gym membership just yet. Running has been hard to do because I have rods and pins in every toe on both feet.  I need low impact, maybe cardio but definitely somehow tighten up my limbs.

any suggestions?

hi there,

do you access to a pool, there are many gyms that hold classes in the water also.  plus there are machines at the gym that do not put weight on the knees so you can use to work out.

if nothing out keep up the walking.  the more weight you drop the easy the walking gets.

I do have access to a pool. I can sign up again for aqua aerobics but didn't think that was enough. I have very big arms and legs. Are you saying if I do pool three times a week and walk dog twice a day, that will get me started for an exercise plan? I could do that.

That would definitely be a great start.  And you can swim!

i think that would be a great start.  you can also get a jog belt and jog in the deep end of the pool.  also hold the side of the pool and do leg excercies.  and of course you can always swim

Your options are limited if you don't want to join a gym and aren't running.  You're pretty much limited to walking.  So.. walk as much as you can :)  There's also a great yoga app called Yoga Studio that you could get going with, but I'd rather take a few classes with an instructor before I started yoga on my own, just to make sure I was doing things correctly.  

You might have access to local senior centers that have exercise programs and classes designed for people with replacements and other physical ailments.  I'd suggest looking into those options.  If you have a local community college, that can also be a great resource for fitness.  I do all my fitness classes through mine.  

Forget running - the water exercises sound great and check into weight-lifting.  You need to rebuild muscle-mass during the first 6 months, the cardio will be important later.  Just get moving - Even those chair exercise video might help - get to weight training.

(I am a 58 year old woman and the weight lifting has helped and does not bulk you up (you would need to take steroids)

Let us know how you progress.