Hey all,

Being 3 months post-op, I feel great. But I haven't exercised at all. I have an elliptical and I've tried to use it, but am exhausted after only 2-3 minutes! I am such a couch potato! How do you motivate yourselves to get up and go? And what do you do when you can't tolerate it? Help!:frown1:

Soon 2 be, next time I come there which will probably be January, we should work out together. It bothers me when I go to AZ and I am not exercising while I am there!

Daisy, Sounds like a great idea! Perhaps thats the kick in the butt I need. When do you plan to come next?

RubyTuesday,

Your doctor doesn't have any concerns about you weakening the staple line . . . or something to your stomach? What about lifting more than 15lbs.? My doctor and most of what I have read has been about not lifting anything too heavy for too long too early in recovery.

I am in awe.

I don't feel pain. But, of course sometimes, a certain stretch just the right way and I have some discomfort/tinge of pain. But that's really it.

You had surgery within the last 2 weeks, correct?

Thanks for your response.

ReadytoMaintain

Ready-

I had surgery a week ago. He recommended that I don't lift over 20 lbs (but I have a 20 month old, 24 lb daughter, so obviously that's not possible). But he said they sew up the staple line pretty securely and that "I wouldn't do damage". It would be more that I would cause myself discomfort more than anything else. I'm avoiding ab work (because that's definitely not comfortable yet), but light arm work outs have been fine for me.

I'm finding that my surgeon is a little non traditional. He's an army surgeon, and of course worked in Iraq, so he may have a different perspective. I think it is just all about how comfortable you feel! He also didn't think I'd feel up to anything for 2 weeks. So, who knows. haha

-Ruby

p.s. and truth be told, the more I do, the better I've felt.

I don't particuarly HATE to exercise, but I hate finding the time and then when it comes time to do it, I hate getting dressed for it, etc. But, once I'm doing it, I like it. I use the Zumba dvds and they are more fun than work. That's just my opinion, though.

I will say that exercising is so much easier lately than it was even a month ago. The more I lose, the more I'm able to move and it feels awesome. My knees still hurt some, but not nearly as much as they used to. When I first started exercising after surgery, I would hobble around afterward because my knees bothered me so much. Now, they hurt a little while exercising, but after, I feel great.

I just did an hour of Zumba and my heart rate monitor told me I burned almost 800 calories. That should be motivation for me, but I'm still only getting in a workout about 2 times a week. Three if I feel guilty for eating a snack in the afternoon with my kindergarteners! :001_tongue:

I can't wait for my gym to start those Zumba classes! It looks like so much fun.

The more weight I have lost the easier it has become to work out. Right now my routine is 5 x a week at least 30 min on eliptical then I do target work for another 30 to 40 mins. Like butt and thighs, or abs and arms. I don't do two days in a row of target work on the same area. I also do 30 mins of pilates once or twice a week. My gym is opening a new gym on December 18th. I want to take a spin class and do more weight work then. Right now I am just working out at home with work out dvds and my eliptical because the area my gym is in turned into a bad area. Someone got stabbed one night and I have not been back. The new building is in a much better area.

Something interesting about doing target work. I don't want this to discourage anyone either! I actually look a little more flabby on my stomach. I have worked my abs to the point of almost tears so much that they are strong and toned. Now it takes A LOT of work to get my abs sore (I LOVE being sore after a workout). My abs are so tight under the fat that the fat kind of looks flabby, not smooth, kind of cottage cheesy! Oh well. As I lose more poundage it will get better. Nothing like having a six pack under fat . When I have my coworkers poke my stomach they can't believe how hard it is under the soft layer.

Lol, that's me too. I have visible ab definition on the sides and then a pocket of flabby skin in the upper middle, which actually looks worse becuase the rest of my stomach if flat and toned.

I can only surmise its from pregnancy. I always carried high, not low and dont have that dreaded lower belly flubber most women get. I got it up top. You know how you stand in the mirror and pull your skin imagining how much better you'd look after major cosmetic surgery, lol. Well pull my skin up from bottom around the sides and back and i have the thighs of my dreams. but my stomach needs to be pulled UP from the top, not down from the bottom as in a tummy tuck. That does nothing. I need to tuck it under my boobs, lol.

Wow! That's great, you two!!! :laugh0:

I am about 3 1/2 months out and exercise about 4 to 5 times a week. I used to hate, I mean hate to exercise. Now I am getting up at 5 am on Saturdays to do it. I waited until 3 weeks after the surgery when my doctor gave me the ok cause he said the majority of the healing happens in that time. I started out with the bike and alternated legs and arms. I then relized I could burn way more calories on the treadmill. So I stared with small goals. 15 minutes on the treadmill then every so often I would add a few more minutes. I make sure I do the treadmill in sweat pants and shirt to get the maximum out of sweating away the sodium and stuff like that. I am up to 50 minutes at a pace of 12 min miles and elevation of 12. It is such a rush when I hit the 50 minutes and keeps me wanting to come back. I can't argue with the results 104 lbs in 3 1/2 months as well as moving from 5x shirts to 2x and pants from a 54 to a 42. My doctor told me the first year after the surgery is when you get the biggest bang for your buck working out and I have taken and run with it.

bbell - all I can say is WOW what awesome scale and NS victories - keep it up - you are kickin' some big time a$$!

Sighhhhhhhhhhhh. I wish I was as motivated in the exercise area as you guys!!

I KNOWI would be dropping this last 42 pounds faster if I exercised on a regular basis. I'll work out a few weeks great. then slack.... GOTTA get somthing I LIKE and stick with it!!!

But proud of you all!! Keep up the good work!!

i'm alittle over 3weeks post op. I tried to excersise last week at home using dvd's. But one thing about excersising at home that stops me from continueing is the fact that i can stop whenever i want to; guilt free...

No one is watching, no embarrassment for being so out of shape. So because of that i can never rely on working out in my house.

On surgery day i was around 223-224lbs now i've been stuck all week between 206-205lbs. I lost about 18lbs without even really trying too hard but i have atleast 50lbs to go before i feel comfortable with my body and now i'm scared that i will never make it to 204lbs.

My plan for next week is to by some appopriate work out attire so i can start jogging. Cause i feel like at this rate i'll be lucky if i lose 1lbs/week from now on. i hope i can get my act together by next week cause. i'm pretty dissapointed that i only lost 18lbs in my 1st month and alot of people lost >20lbs.

MNB, 18 pounds in one month is absolutely amazing. Why on earth would you be disappointed? If I have said this once, I have said it one-hundred times, do not judge your weight loss success based on what others have done. Everyone loses at different rates. Everyone's body reacts differently to the surgery. Just because one person may have lost twenty pounds in the first month, does not mean the next person should or they have failed.

Additionally, it is not unusual have a stall around three weeks. This usually takes place during the transition to the next stage of foods. Your body is confused right now. It has undergone some pretty major things in the past three weeks. You are going to see some fluctuations in your weight loss. Give your body time to adjust.

Lastly, I know other than walking, my doctor said no strenuous exercise until I was six weeks out. At three weeks out, I was so weak physically due to the post-op diet, there was no way I could have withstood any type of workout regimen at that time. I got tired walking from the couch to the bedroom. I didn't have enough energy to really start exercising until I had been on full foods for about a week.

So please, do not be hard on yourself. You are doing fabulous and as expected!

MNB, 18 pounds in one month is absolutely amazing. Why on earth would you be disappointed? If I have said this once, I have said it one-hundred times, do not judge your weight loss success based on what others have done. Everyone loses at different rates. Everyone's body reacts differently to the surgery. Just because one person may have lost twenty pounds in the first month, does not mean the next person should or they have failed.

Additionally, it is not unusual have a stall around three weeks. This usually takes place during the transition to the next stage of foods. Your body is confused right now. It has undergone some pretty major things in the past three weeks. You are going to see some fluctuations in your weight loss. Give your body time to adjust.

Lastly, I know other than walking, my doctor said no strenuous exercise until I was six weeks out. At three weeks out, I was so weak physically due to the post-op diet, there was no way I could have withstood any type of workout regimen at that time. I got tired walking from the couch to the bedroom. I didn't have enough energy to really start exercising until I had been on full foods for about a week.

So please, do not be hard on yourself. You are doing fabulous and as expected!

yeah i guess ur right about the weightloss i'm just gonna wait it out

MNB: 18 lbs in a month is great! My weight loss slowed also. You won't continue to lose weight at the same rate you did right after surgery.

As far as working out at home with DVD's and feeling no guilt about stopping, how about being true to yourself? Don't do this for anyone else. You are cheating yourself. Love yourself enough to go that extra minute. Don't start working out until your doctor says it is ok to do more than walking though.

Also it gets easier to work out the lighter you get. I feel different now at 164 than I did at 204. Much more motivated and able to work out so much longer. I did 35 mins of target ab work last night :party4: Me? The fat girl who huffed and puffed going up one flight of stairs 3 months ago? The great thing about working out is you can see results the smaller you get.