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Strength training is strongly recommended for everyone just from a general health perspective, though I hear you about hating lifting. Some people love it and some don't, and that's okay. Keep in mind the recommendations above for @Bypass2Freedom may not (in fact probably are not), appropriate for you. Depending on your goals for wanting to lift, and what specifically you do or don't like about lifting, I might be able to come up with something a bit more appropriate?

Update: healing well. Started scar laser therapy last week. Still in compression but I got a cute short sleeve dress I can't wait to wear on my summer vacation. I will probably be in compression for the rest of the summer just because the swelling gets so crazy in the extreme heat where I live. I am excited and loving the results so far. It feels so great to not feel my arms shake and move around while doing things daily. Going down stairs, running, stirring while cooking, all feels different. Also I am a violinist and I no longer feel my arms shake and move while I play. I am so happy about that.

It's really hard to properly design a workout program remotely since a lot of the things I would normally recommend would require some instruction. I also have no idea what sort of equipment you have available. That said, I'll try my best. Workout Splits: You really need to hit all the major muscle groups at least twice a week and preferably three times. Currently you're not doing this since you're doing an upper/lower split and training twice a week. That means most of your muscles are only getting hit once a week which is not sufficient for growth. If you can only lift twice a week, each of those days needs to be a full body routine. If you want to continue doing upper/lower splits, you'd need to lift 4 days a week (2 upper & 2 lower). There are other ways to break up workouts such as a Full/Upper/Lower, but those are really considered to be more advanced techniques so not really needed at this point. Out of all the possible options, I'd probably suggest Full Body on Mon/Wed/Fri as the most sensible. You'll get the best hypertrophy from that as a newer lifter. Exercise Selection & Programming: I'm going to base my suggestions off the premise that you'll be doing a full body workout as suggested. I also mostly picked from the exercises you were already doing because there's nothing wrong with those exercises and I assume you already know how to do them. Day 1: Lat Pulldown -- 3 x 8-10 @ 70-75% of 1RM with 1-2 RIR Leg Press -- 3 x 8-10 @ 70-75% of 1RM with 1-2 RIR Chest Press -- 3 x 8-10 @ 70-75% of 1RM with 1-2 RIR Hip Thrust -- 3 x 8-10 @ 70-75% of 1RM with 1-2 RIR Bicep Curls -- 3 x 12-15 @ 65-70% of 1RM with 2 RIR Calf Raises -- 3 x 12-15 @ 65-70% of 1RM with 2 RIR Tricep Pulldowns -- 3 x 12-15 @ 65-70% of 1RM with 2 RIR Day 2: Upright Row (Cable or machine) -- 3 x 8-10 @ 70-75% of 1RM with 1-2 RIR Hack Squat (or Leg Press if not available) - 3 x 8-10 @ 70-75% of 1RM with 1-2 RIR Incline Chest Press (flat is also fine if this is not an option. I mostly picked this because it will hit the upper pecs a bit more, as well as pull in the shoulders) -- 3 x 8-10 @ 70-75% of 1RM with 1-2 RIR Smith Machine Elevated Reverse Lunge (if needed, Hip Thrusts will be fine as well but single leg work is great for a lot of reasons) -- 3 x 8-10 @ 70-75% of 1RM with 1-2 RIR Machine or Cable Fly -- 3 x 12-15 @ 65-70% of 1RM with 2 RIR Pallof Press (Cable or Bands) -- 3 x 12-15 @ 65-70% of 1RM with 2 RIR Kickbacks (Machine or Cable) -- 3 x 12-15 @ 65-70% of 1RM with 2 RIR Notes: Make sure you introduce this workout plan SLOWLY. For the first two weeks, only do exercises 1-4 on each day. It's also fine to do a bit lighter weight than what I listed for those first 2 weeks. Make sure you're warming up properly. One of the biggest mistakes newer lifters make is not understanding how to warm up for lifting. Do some light cardio for 5-10 minutes, then do some dynamic stretching. Also, before starting your work sets, do one set at ~20% of 1RM, one set at about 40%-50%, and then maybe another at about 55-60%. This means you'll end up doing five to six sets total for each exercise. I'd probably suggest 20-40-60% for the first 4 exercise, and 20-50% for the last 3 exercises. The numbers like 75% of 1RM mean to do the exercise at that percentage of your 1 rep maximum. In other words, you need to determine what the maximum amount you can lift is and then do the math to determine how much weight you should be lifting for that exercise. RIR means Reps In Reserve. If it says 1-2 RIR, the idea is you need to be going until you think you can only do 1 or 2 more without failing. This is important because we don't want to go all the way to failure most of the time. Doing so creates a lot of load on our central nervous system and makes recovery more challenging. You'll notice that I changed the # of reps, % of 1RM and RIR for the last few exercises. This is because these are what we call "accessory exercises" and are somewhat less important. I want you to focus on the first 4 exercises the most. I didn't prescribe rest intervals on purpose. Between sets, just take a few minutes to let your body recover. If you find you can't get through the next set, try resting longer next time. Because there are day 1 and day 2 exercises, but 3 days a week you'll be lifting, you need to simply alternate. This means week 1, you'd do Day 1 on Monday, Day 2 on Wednesday and Day 1 again on Friday. The next week, you'd do Day 2 on Monday & Friday and Day 1 on Wednesday. it's important that you continue to push yourself in terms of the weight you are doing. We call this progressive overload. If the exercises start to feel easier, you need to increase the weight. If you don't, you'll stop growing. Rest is CRITICAL, so I'd suggest skipping the Les Mills classes. I just don't think you can properly do the above exercises at the weight you should be doing them at, and then turn around and participate in a class like that. I'd expect you to be worn out after the above sessions, and if you're not, then you're not lifting heavy enough. Don't do this for more than ~3 months. At that point, you need to change things up again. No lifting program is perfect and all of them will have some areas that could be done better. Further, some people respond better to certain exercises and not others. This is why having a trainer is honestly the best way since they can judge how well you are responding to certain things . We change things every now and again to even out imbalances, as well as make sure you are not stagnating. If you just don't like any of the exercise selections, there are always alternatives because regardless of what social media may have led you to believe, there's no such thing as "the best" exercise for any specific body part. This means if you find that one of these just isn't working, or you just can't stand doing it, we can change it. If you do stop the Les Mills classes, you may need to up the cardio work. I'd ideally like to see a minimum of 3 hours a week (3 one hour sessions), though don't try to jump to that amount right away. It would also be good to mix up the type of cardio you're doing, While uphill walking on a treadmill is good for you, it's pretty one dimensional. I'm obviously a big fan of running, but if that's not something you want to do, maybe biking or the elliptical would be good choices? Rucking would also be something for you to look into as there are lots of benefits to getting outside the gym for at least some of your exercise hours. As you can see, I could probably go on for a lot longer here, but this is enough for now. Best of luck and let me know if you have questions.

I second that the bit about the gym membership turned donation centre also made me giggle 🤣 We have all indeed been where you are now and you are taking a massive step forward to putting yourself first, and I truly respect that. What I respect even more is the fact you are taking time to get informed about your options and the reality before making a firm decision! Surgery, like most things, isn't a 1 size fits all 100% guaranteed fix, but y'know what, it got me out of that slump of "just starting fresh on Monday", and gave me the tools I needed to change my life. Absolutely excited for you!

I concur ..you shouldn't feel nauseated all the time. I'd contact your prescribing doctor and let them know! I've been on Wegovy for 6 months and never feel nauseated, it just removed the constant food drumbeat in my head. You don't want to risk potential stomach issues!

short answer: i didn't. i was not able to reach my prescribed protein goal, even with protein shake supplements (70g if my memory serves me correctly) regularly until about 3 months post op. and even after then, i probably only reached it daily about 85% of the time. during weight loss phase, i relied heavily on protein shakes. during maintenance and beyond, i get my protein from the regular stuff: meat fish/seafood dairy, etc. i also have a chicharron addiction, but i wouldn't advise it during weight loss phase (lotsa calories!) today (7-ish yrs post op) i"m "supposed" to be getting in 80g based on my current weight (103 lbs) and activity level (alot! ha)...but honestly i probably reach 80g in a day less than 50% of the time. and i seem perfectly fine. so i dunno. just do the best you can (your honest best, not your pretend best), i always say. nobody is perfect. and we are all so different that what work for me may not work for you. find what works for you and keep doing it until no longer does...then find something else that will. you may not be getting all your protein in, but if u are losing weight and all your labs come back satisfactorily, then why fix what aint broke?? sorry, just my self-supporting proverbial 2 cents. if my POV flavour is not for you, feel free to ignore... good luck❤️

Be careful with the use of Wegovy if you are feeling nauseated. That is a trigger that the medication is not right for you if you are always nauseated or feeling sick. It is important to talk to your provider and maybe another medication will work better and not give you sick feelings. Mounjaro is available again and it seems to work well, and didn't give me any kind of stomach issues or nausea. Just be careful because constant nausea can be a real issue and irritate your pouch/stomach. Please let your care provider know of the issue, you don't want ulcers to form!

There are lots of studies that show weight loss (and thus also bariatric surgery), can lessen depression and anxiety. The thing to keep in mind though is that it won't help everyone. It all comes down to the underlying reasons for those negative emotions. As you point out, weight loss has has a considerable effect on how we feel about ourselves, so it follows that for some people, weight loss will help lessen anxiety and depression. There is also some belief that excess body weight can impact how certain hormones in our body work. By losing weight, this can help normalize some of those and that may also help mental health. Like everything, I think the real answer is "it depends".

I have definitely changed the way I dress. I used to wear shirts so baggy so that I tried to hide my fat rolls. Now I wear shirts that fit my body. It's a nice feeling!

I love this, though I do have to warn you that some of us as we continued to lose weight found that we ended up with less "padding" and now have "bony-butt syndrome"! In other words, unpadded chairs, benches, etc. start to become painful to sit in since we're sitting right on our ischial tuberosity. It hasn't been a focus for me so far workout-wise, but I might have to start some dedicated glute training to try to get some extra padding down there!