Question:
6 mo post-op do I need a sauna suit to exercise? Will I get dehydrated

I recently bought a suana suit to help me sweat a little more and I was wondering will I get to dehydrated and feel like I'm gonna pass out? Or do I need it to do my normal exercices that I already were doing?    — sassykiki (posted on July 20, 2008)

July 20, 2008
I am 4 months post op Lap Band surgery and all I do is walk 2 miles 5 days a week and I have lost 58 lbs. I don't do anything extra like cardio, etc. I walk, walk, walk and I increase how far I walk every 2 weeks. I add on another 15 minutes.
   — Karen M.

July 20, 2008
I use the sauna suit and drink drink drink. The water flushes the toxins and the sauna suit does the same but through the pores. I love it. It helps tremendously with the cellulite some call brown fat, the hardest to lose. I have found that I have to keep it as regime for it to be effective, as fluids will fill up the fat cells until they are burned off. Exercise and Sauna works for me.
   — dessary316

July 20, 2008
If you are eating what you are supposed to and exercising and losing weight, keep doing what you are doing. I'm not a fan of the sauna suits, the weight you lose is water weight and then you have to rehydrate after you're done so.....? My understanding is that these are used for athletes that need to "cut weight" really quickly which I don't consider to be a healthy way to lose weight. Rapid water weight loss can cause an imbalance in electrolytes that are essential for your heart functioning. How about you discuss this with your surgeon at your next office visit. Always best to talk to the professionals. Good luck, Dawn Vickers, RN, BLC, CLC
   — DawnVic

July 20, 2008
I have to agree with the person who walks....that's the best way....but above all....always drink plenty of liquids...especially water, or crystal light....even if you are not exercising....SO important!!!! Way to go with the exercising! your friend, Linda
   — LindaA

July 21, 2008
Have you tried water aerobics? That's what my surgeon recommended.
   — Pamela C.

July 21, 2008
Sweating is your body's way of regulating its temperature. Sweating does not burn calories...we sweat when we are hot, the sweat evaporates, and we get a little cooler. If you do 25 jumping jacks, the energy you use "burns" calories, causing your body to get warmer, causing you to sweat. If you sit under a heat lamp or in a sauna, your body temperature rises, and you sweat. The heat lamp and sauna are using energy to produce heat... not you. Our bodies produce heat even when we are resting (it's part of being a warm blooded animal). When you wear a sauna suit, your body does not make more heat than usual... it prevents the heat that you normally make (even sitting on the couch) from being released. Your body then produces sweat to try and cool you down... but the sauna suit keeps the sweat from evaporating so you don't cool and your body goes uh-oh, still too hot, better sweat more... and so forth. If you lose weight wearing the sauna suit, it's water weight and will be regained when you drink. Dehydration is not the only risk--heat exhaustion and heat stroke are risks too because you are preventing your body from cooling down... both dehydration and heat stroke can kill you. My suggestion--keep doing your normal exercises. If you want to burn more calories, increase the intensity or duration of your workout. If you are walking, you can buy weights to wear around your ankles, carry weights in your hands, or even wear a backpack with some heavy stuff in it. Please be careful... you've only got one body and you cared enough about it to lose weight, so don't ruin it doing something silly. Good luck.
   — mrsidknee

July 22, 2008
Please do NOT use a sauna suit~! I could write pages on this but don't have time. Saunas sweat out liquid, which you need. If you sweat from using a suit, you just have to put it all back in by drinking more water.And yes, it can harm you but doing an electrolite kill-off. Just don't do it, please. Lyn
   — SkinnyLynni2B