Exercise schedule

Hi guys,

I am fishing for ideas on an exercise/gym schedule I could make for myself. I am 8.5 weeks post op right now, have lost 33 lbs. since surgery (40 total, if including the 2 day pre-op liquid diet), right now weighing in @ 266. Right now I'm walking briskly everyday for at least 30 mins., go to Yoga at the gym 1-2 times a week (which is still quite difficult for me to do all of the moves). I have a stationary bike at home but haven't used it much yet. I am wondering what some of you did at around the 8 week post op mark. I feel like my weight loss has been on the slow'ish side of "average" and I feel like there has to be something more I can do. The exercise I do right now does get my heart rate going (150's-160's when walking briskly) and at times still causes me to feel winded, so I'm not sure if it's the intensity that needs upp'ing yet or if I need to do something else/differently. I've strictly adhered to my surgeon's post op nutritional guidelines, I log everything into OH from my food intake, calories, to my exercise and am really, really careful measuring. I always meet my protein goal, water goal, yada yada yada. I feel really confident in that department, I just am not sure what I'm doing "wrong" (if that's even the right word here) in the exercise department. Coming from someone who was very sedentary pre-op and still very overweight currently...

try adding some weights. or just different things that use your body weight. When i started I was doing this workout : http://pinterest.com/pin/70791025364982819/

http://pinterest.com/pin/70791025364127782/

Also you can try going for 5 mins longer each time. But I would add in weights. Even just 5 pound doing simple stuff. the key with walking to be be able to talk but not very easy. So I always took my ipod and sang to myself. When it got to hard to sing I would slow down a little then speed back up once I didnt feel winded anymore. After the first month or so I started to Jog very little during the walk. Now I am running up to 3miles a day. I can run 1.5 miles without stopped. I tend to do 5.5 on the treadmill. So if your using a treadmill just up your speed by .1 so if your walking at 3.0 walk at 3.1. Or even increase the incline.

Also make sure your eating protein 30 mins before and with in 30 mins after your done. I tend to eat a cheese stick or handful of almonds.

Thanks! I have been cleared of my lifting restrictions so I really do want to start lifting weights soon.. I don't typically walk on the treadmill, usually outside around the city (I live in Manhattan, so half the time I have no choice but to walk lol). When I did try the treadmill at the gym 2 weeks ago, I went on it for about 20mins and my speed was between 2.0-2.2 (I don't think an incline was set), and that seemed to be my limit then. I am not big on gym exercise yet mostly because I don't find it to be a sustainable type of activity, but the walking outside is more so necessity so I make sure I'm doing it briskly and keep track of how long I walk for. I do love my Yoga class at the gym though and was thinking also of trying out a Zumba class maybe over the weekend. I usually eat right before I go to the gym and when I get home it's typically time for another meal, so I'm getting in my protein on both sides of my workout. I would love to start jogging a little bit actually but haven't worked up the nerve yet (decades of being very overweight work wonders on your self esteem don't they ).

I don't think you are doing anything wrong in the exercise department or otherwise. You have lost 40 pounds in less than 9 weeks. That's almost 5 pounds a week. My doctor says 3 to 5 pounds per week is normal weight loss so you are doing great! You are doing good consistant exercise in a time frame that you can sustain for the long haul. See this isn't something we do til we get to goal but a plan and lifestyle for the rest of our lives. Keep up the exercise and the journaling and measuring and your will be at your goal before you know it!

Thanks! I lost more than half of that weight in the first two weeks, then lost nothing for about 2 weeks, resumed for a little bit again, now I'm stopped again for over a week. It has definitely felt sluggish since the very first two weeks, definitely not a weekly loss of 3-5 lbs. :(. I always worry that years of major yo-yo dieting has wrecked havoc on my metabolism...I had an Resting Energy Expenditure test done two years ago and it was only 86%, which as I understand is pretty low...

I just did the treadmill for 30 minutes at about 3.0. I have recently switched to jogging speed on the elliptical for 15 min and then walk 15 on the treadmill at 3.5, which is as fast as I can walk and not jog. My goal is to switch all to the elliptical. I probably shouldn't say this, but I hurt my foot and had to take about a 3 month break from regular exercise. My weight loss sped up during that time. I'm not advocating that, but it did  happen. 

8 weeks I was doing 6 miles a day on the elliptical (I now do 8) and do this 6 days a week.

I did not take my first yoga class until 9 weeks, but now do Mat Pilates, Hatha, Foam Roller and Gentle Yoga classes weekly. All are 60 minute classes except Hatha which is 75. 

Was riding my bike more early out--but it is so blasted awful outside (I live in the south) that it is in the garage until it cools off here!  I am doing some running, but more treadmill than street. I added the running at 10 weeks.

At eight weeks I was doing three miles in 50 minutes six days a week with my dogs. I have since started adding something else to every day so that I get 6 to 10 miles of cardio in six days a week and at least three every day.

Try Zumba or some other group exercise class. Look for something that's fun.

Thanks! My mother is a Zumba Gold instructor and she encouraged me to go to a class, so I plan on trying it out tomorrow morning!