Question:
I am 3 months post-op and have lost alot of weight but i very rarely excerise, does

anyone know what disadvantages as well as advantages there are in exercising? Please let me know let me know some of your experiences. Thank you.    — angelswings711 (posted on October 3, 2006)

October 3, 2006
Advantages? Regaining your health, building your cardiovascular strength and endurance, lowering your blood pressure, helping your body purge itself of years of toxins, maintaining muscular strength and endurance, build self esteem, build good lifelong habits, need I go on? This surgery is by no means a quick fix. If you do not develop good eating and exercise habits now, you will see your weight loss slow, and once you're a year out you will start to gain weight again. The thing you have to remember is that your pouch only stays small for so long, once you are a year or more out your pouch has expanded allowing you to eat "normal protions" or "normal caloric intake" so if you do not exercise you will start to put weight back on. It is VERY important to exercise for lifelong success. HTH!
   — MagickalMom

October 3, 2006
Exercise is simply not critical to initial weight loss. In fact, by staying super-vigilant, I was able to lose over 300 pounds without participating in an on-going regular exercise program. However, I am very active-- constantly doing yardwork, walking my very big dog, playing and coaching soccer for my daughter and lots of other aerobic activities. Listen, the advantage of exercise isn't in its weight loss benefits, but in its ability to build heart health, assist in improving bone density, providing a mental edge in avoiding the pitfalls of hunger and in helping to ward off diabetes (something for which we are at risk). As much as I enjoy my very active lifetsyle, I do wish that I had developed a regular exercise program-- if only to have a healthy pattern of activity away from food during which I could re-charge my batteries. So, if you have the choice between exercising and not exercising, I would choose to get into that exercise habit.
   — SteveColarossi

October 3, 2006
Dear Phyllis: It is very important to exercise and I would like to discuss this further with you. I have been running two years post-op and it helps me with digesting my food. My email is alsoto45@sbcglobal,net.
   — alsoto

October 3, 2006
Exercise is key to success. A friend just emailed me to tell me that after 6 months her appetite returned and if she doesn't exercise she will gain weight! I have been a regular at curves for 4+ years and I plan to continue after surgery in addition to walking and doing more at a gym with a personal trainer....exercise is crucial if you don't want to be flabby and have plastic surgery.
   — Sheri A.

October 3, 2006
I didn't exercise after surgery because I had a fairly thin body type underneath it all. I did everything wrong - eating next stage foods before it was recommended, not eating enough protein/drinking enough protein shakes, not getting all the supplements I should have (too expensive), consuming foods with sugar and fat. I went from 305 to 145 without lifting a finger or doing anything right. I am now up to 190 and struggling to get the weight off again. Because I didn't eat the protein and vitamins and minerals that were recommended the malabsorption has halted for me. I now absorb ALL the fat, calories, carbs and sugars that I consume and can eat "normal-sized" meals, and tend to graze. You absolutely need to get into proper habits NOW or you will very likely be dealing with these problems down the road. I sure wish I could go back and do it over again while it was easy and I could have preserved the malabsorption factor - too late for me, but not for you!
   — j_coulter

October 4, 2006
I would recommend the book "mayo clinic fitness for everybody." it will answer all your questions and give you the info you need to know to get started. Then it is up to you. WLS is a health decision, make the most of your opportunity to be healthy. I think how exercise benfits you is pretty much common knowledge.
   — **willow**

October 4, 2006
Plenty of people have given you the advantages... so here are a couple disadvantages I can think of: 1. Injury - to avoid this, pick less riskier exercise... walk instead of skateboarding, learn how to safetly operate gym equipment from a gym employee rather than your own trial and error, wear a helmet if you bike, don't swim during thunderstorms etc. 2. Creatures - if you are outside, you may disturb nature and nature isn't always happy to be disturbed, to avoid this, exercise in a gym or in your home, only exercise in areas you know are safe (my town has bears, so a walk thru the woods is not a good idea), wear bug spray, don't harrass bees or crush ant hills, don't approach or engage with wild animals, don't pet or interact with stray or unfamilar to you animals/pets 3. Heat Injury/Dehydration - you could, by not paying attention to your body, get heat exhaustion or heat stroke, or become dehydrated--this is avoided by making sure you are drinking the amount reccomended by your doctor and by drinking before and after exercising (you don't have to drink a huge amount)..if you are doing prolonged exercise, running in a race, high mileage bike ride, make sure to take some breaks to drink and cool off. Exercise during the cooler parts of the day, the morning or evening avoiding the time between 10am and 2pm because that is when the sun is at its hottest. Wear breathable clothing. If you start feeling bad, take a break. If at any point you feel light headed or dizzy or weak, stop exercising and take a break, cool off, drink... if you've stopped sweating, you may need immeadiate medical treatment because its a sign that your body tempature is extremely elevaqted. Last but not least, wear sunscreen... it won't prevent heat injury or dehydration but it will reduce your risk of skin cancer, wrinkles, and premature aging. 4. Too much, too fast- If this is your first go at regular exercise, you might want to get a mini-physical from your doctor and also some guidelines for what exercise and what duration is appropriate for you. There is a great deal of info on the net available for free with various work out routines or exercise plans, it might be helpful to take advantage. If you are in pain, during or after exercising, this is a sign that you are doing too much and need to slow back down. 5. Boredom - Try to incorporate exercise into your daily routine, take the stairs rather than the escalator or elevator. Park at the back of the parking lot and walk to the store/work. Walk your dog, mow your lawn, clean.... stuff you have to do anyways, make it work for you. Pick activities you enjoy.. I hate walking on a treadmill but walking on a nature trail is very enjoyable for me. The more fun and enjoyable you can make it, the more likely you are to stick with it. Find an exercise buddy, invest in a good walkman or discman (for music or books on tape), include it into your daily schedule, involve you spouse/family..... 5. If you are or have been diabetic, or you have problems with hypoglycemia, low blood sugar.... make sure you eat a small snack before hand and carry glucose tablets, hard candy, another snack, or something to bring your blood sugar back up. That's all I can think of, most are extremely easy to avoid. And all of those things can happen when you're not exercising. Gyms can be pricey but you don't need a gym to exercise. Of course with anything, you can take it too far and exercise too much but that is rare (a friend of mine flunked out of college because she was spending more time in the gym than in class--this was due to an eating disorder). Make sure you listen to your body Good luck. Feel free to contact me privately if you have any questions or need a pep talk :)
   — mrsidknee

October 5, 2006
If you are not been exercising, then you are not using your "Honeymoon" time to the full advantage. During the this time, you will lose, no matter what. Unfortunatly, this ends quite abruptly and you have lost some weight, but allot of what you have lost is muscle mass. If you don't exercise, the body holds the fat and that is what you want to get rid of. You really haven't accomplishes anything. Did you have surgery to look "pretty" or to get healthy? You need that exercise to retain muscle mass and get healthy. You won't look as good as you could without it.
   — jk_harris