jenki1968

We had those where I worked at a retirement home for the residents to use. I used one once and I really didnt think it was very helpful. It really didnt give a whole lot of exercise, at least for me. I was also waiting to get a knee replacement when I used it.

Don’t know about the floor ones but my mum bought a seated exercise bike for use before & after her double knee replacement. You supposedly use more of your upper leg muscles 🤷🏻‍♀️. More expensive of course than the floor elliptical ones but if you shop around you may find ones that aren’t too pricey.

In general, I'm not a huge fan of pedal exercisers, but especially the low cost ones. They just are not very stable, which makes them quite Jerky when you use them. Look for heavier ones with a nice wide base to overcome this tendency.
Note that there are basically two types of pedal exercisers. One (like the one you show in the photo), is supposed to mimic an elliptical machine. The other type mimics an exercise bike.
I'm not a fan of ellipticals at all, but especially for someone rehabbing from a knee replacement, I believe they should be avoided. The elliptical motion itself is not a natural movement, and it forces you to over engage your quadriceps muscles. This can put extra stress on your quadriceps tendon and patella and cause pain. This also can create muscular imbalance (overworking your quads and not your glutes or hamstrings), leaving you more likely to injure yourself. If you are determined to get this type of machine anyway, at least make sure it also allows you to go in reverse as this will help address the shortcomings above.
It probably should be clear by now, but I personally think a better choice would be a traditional "bike-like" pedal exerciser. This is a more natural motion.
I should note that If you're going to Physical Therapy post surgery (and hopefully pre-surgery as well), then you may not need to buy anything. Once you're through with PT, you should be fine walking. Walking is the best exercise you can do post surgery, since it's what our bodies were meant to do.
If you do decide you need one, DeskCycle is probably the best known brand and likely the only one I'd personally buy if I were shopping for one.
Just my thoughts and not meant to dis anyone that loves their elliptical.

I have a Cubii under my desk and I usually pedal about an hour or so off and on throughout the workday. It isn't much in the way of "real" exercise, my heart rate doesn't go up and I never break a sweat, but it does give me some movement when I would otherwise be completely stationary and I find that I'm less sore/stiff at the end of the day when I've used it.
I do not have knee issues, so can't speak to that aspect, though in doing research before I purchased, I did read a ton of reviews from folks who had mobility issues and loved it. Maybe check with your Dr/PT and see what they recommend?

Reasonably sized portions of anything that will agree with me, basically. I'm 14 months post op, and about the only things my sleeve doesn't seem to tolerate is potatoes, Pasta, bread, and rice (and apples...WTH).
I'm probably going to mainly have turkey but a small spoonful of stuffing will be hard to resist.

I plan to do what I did last year: try (taste) everything I'm excited about, and then based on how good it tastes, decide which ones get some of my precious tummy space. Last Thanksgiving I had just transitioned to solid foods and this was also my approach. It worked great. Obviously if you are not on solids yet that changes the equation quite a bit. No meal is worth potentially affecting the healing process.
Honestly the only things I care about at Thanksgiving are stuffing and pumpkin pie. So, planning for some of each. And already scheming about how to keep active while visiting not so active family members.

I am going to try to have just turkey with a bit of gravy & a small portion of ham. I still want to keep my Protein intake high! I'm only being 1mo out means I don't have much space for the fun carbs yet. buuuut I do hope to find a bit of space for some pie later in the night!

We are having our usual large family gathering and will make our traditional meal: Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, corn pudding, fruit salad, deviled eggs, homemade cranberry sauce and a variety of pies: pumpkin, pecan, lemon chess, buttermilk, mincemeat, cherry, apple...
I plan to have at least a bite of all of my Thanksgiving favorites!

How far post-op are you? What restrictions do you still have from your surgeon?
I am pretty disciplined about avoiding carbs during my day to day life, but I do make an exception for Thanksgiving. I will have turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. But instead of creating a heaping plate (and then going back for more), I'll have a plate that looks like it will feed a 4-year old.