Confessions of a newbie

 Hi all! I am a new vsg'er who quickly progressed to soft and solid foods as tolerated, lost 29 lbs and then regained 4 over the last 4 days resulting in my first stall at 4 weeks.  I know that I had one crazy carb day that most likely contributed to my recent downfall and am battling crazy thoughts like, 'maybe 27 lbs is all I'll lose'.  My sister is trying to get me to go work out and I am so exhausted and am thinking of any excuse possible from not being allowed to work out until 6 weeks post-op to needing to buy clothes to work out in while in public to wanting to be a smaller size before presenting myself to gym rats.   I don't know if I should listen to my body and nap after diligently eating my 2 oz smoked salmon breakfast or force myself to purchase some sweat-ready, excuse-proof apparel or just ask my magic 8 ball and pray it yields some wise advice.  I suppose that is what brings me here to you who may have similar experiences. 

Nobody says you have to go to the gym. You could start by walking for 20 minutes each day. If you've been cleared for activity and water, try water aerobics or just walking in the pool. Anything we do now is probably more then we were doing before. It all helps with the weight loss. (boy I sound so convincing now if I could just get off my shrinking ass and work out it would be great!).

I agree with the post above. You dont need to go to the gym yet if you dont feel comfortable. I am not a fan of the gym myself so I started with walking for the 1st 5 months and after I lost a considerable amount of weight, it was easier for me to start doing cardio which I love now. Just find out what what you enjoy to do to be active and go from there.
If I can add, try to avoid the crazy carb days because if you start having them too early out, they will be harder to resist later on. Take advantage of your rapid weight loss so early out.
Good luck with everything.

 Thanks, Jenn! I think following my bliss  as far as activity is definitely the way to go.  As far as carbs, i so wish I avoided the carbs that day. It was definitely a bigger deal according to the scale than it was in my mind (kind of even though to me it was a sort of food relapse).  Even though it was only a few really gluttonous bites, they definitely created negative consequences and hurt my progress which I was hoping this surgery would help me avoid.  I suppose I am still testing the waters and finding my way through this and relearning what my body's limits are.  But you are right in that I definitely should take advantage of the rapid weight loss early on.  I was just hoping that I could lose weight without limiting my carb intake.  But, prioritizing a diet of "protein first" sets me up for a low-carb path.  This really hasn't bothered me with the exception of a few days when I obviously hadn't planned and resorted to the foods my son brought in.  I need to plan better and recall the feelings of freedom from food that I experienced and so appreciated when I went on the pre-op diet.  

I was sleeved on 1/23 (4 months ago), haven't started exercising yet and have still lost 69 lbs. and I was considered a lightweight.  I am supposed to meet someone at the gym this evening for the first time since surgery.  I do know that I am way more active than I used to be!

 Congrats kitsyb! Have a great time tonight! I hope it will be enjoyable and can imagine that activity will be more enjoyable almost 70 lbs lighter!

Happy, I know that energy increases along with our activity. Thanks for the reminder and Pilates actually sounds fun and doable.

I started back to Pilates class at week 6 post-op but it was HARD and I didn't feel back-to-normal for a while after that.  If you aren't used to moving your body, please start with walking.  It is so easy, and nobody to watch you (although, there are many gyms that have larger and/or people in them).

It is counter-intuitive, but I found that actually moving my body makes me have more energy.  So you might find that you *aren't* as exhausted for the rest of the day if you go for a walk maybe before breakfast (at least for me, I do better on an empty stomach).

Just do some walking i was told no workout until 6 weeks