Hello,

With such a challenge ahead of losing 200lbs, I am curious as to when you felt comfortable really moving beyond walking into other forms of exercise?

I have been either walking a mile outside or doing a mile of Walk Away the Pounds every other day during the first week since my surgery and plan on moving up to 5 days at least. My doctor and nutritionist said that the first three months your body is so confused that the weight will come off pretty easily. At six months, it begins to adjust, and it becomes slightly more difficult, then you have to about 18 months until your body has completely recovered and adjusted to your new stomach.

I have been pretty lucky in that I had no other co-morbidity conditions, diabetes, etc.

I know these are generalizations but I think their point overall was do not put myself into a position where I wonder "what if I had done this instead of that?". That there is a sweet spot in the beginning and not to miss that by sabotaging myself early on. I appreciated their bluntness and I have it on my fridge to remind me.

Can you give me a general idea of a map that you took along the way that helped you be successful? I want to join a gym I just know right now it would be difficult because I am too self-conscious and I don't think I would be ready for anything other than walking for a couple months.

I appreciate your sharing your wisdom and experience.

I got serious in month 3. I feel I could lose weight without exercise initially but I want to adopt a healthy lifestyle. I feel stronger and more confident with exercise.

First of all I know/knew exactly how you feel... Like you- I walked and rode my bike- When I felt like I was ready for more- I started Zumba and became ADDICTED for years until my arthritis took over and it became too hard on my joints. Now I swim, walk and ride my bike but NOTHING gives me the adrenaline I had doing it. I never went to a gym per say- for several reasons 1) cost- 2) I didn't want to go by myself and 3) I just felt like I had enough motivation on my own to continue what I did- you need to find something you enjoy that wont bore you and stick with it.. it may only last a few months or so but that is normal then as you loose more weight and your confidence gets bigger you will feel better and you will want to try things you never did before- one step at a time....

You have to find the balance of slightly pushing yourself and not over doing it. It took me 5 months to be able to do actual exercise. 3 months were shot just recovering and adjusting to the sleeve. I lost a lot of weight right away and that zaps energy and I was exhausted every day for a long time. But it got better. I pushed through it and eventually I got stronger and less exhausted every day. I think that part of it is physical but a bigger part of it is mental. You have to break the sedentary lifestyle barrier. When you live a long time at such a high weight, you program your body and mind to be a non-active person. Not starting to exercise daily until 5 months was more a mental/motivation issue than a physical issue. I was more active than before surgery, but not really exercising.

That is how it was for me and it will be different for everyone, but if you do not find the inner motivation and block out the "reasons to not exercise" you can be trapped in your mind to delay what you "know" you should be doing.

On a side note - being so big and overweight also meant I was really out of shape - starting to do actual exercise required me to start slow and build. I chose swimming and at first, I could only swim for 10 minutes. Doing it every day has helped my build up and I can swim a lot longer now with less breaks in between laps. If you can swing going to a pool, I highly encourage swimming. It is easy on the joints and the muscle work out is great.

DON'T know WHAT is up with multiple post!

ANOTHER multiple post..

I climbed mountains, did Zumba and step aerobics classes and could do an hour on the elliptical at 360 pounds. I've always been active and I've always been very fat so my body was used to it.. I think people who are thin and then gain a lot of weight have a harder time with exercise in a fat body.

If you're new to exercise I suggest a "senior" aerobics class at the gym.. OR, if you want to do a regular class, Let the instructor know you're new and ask her to prompt you with how to do modified versions of certain moves that can be done safely at higher weights. Also, I LOVE the elliptical. It doesn't hurt your hips or knees and you can really get going fast and work up a sweat.. or crank up the resistance in order to build yourself a cute new butt!

I’ve been trying to really workout from the day I was released by the doctor to do something other than walking, but so far I’m not living up to my goal of becoming one of those nuts that works out every day.

Post surgery was mostly walking. The first week after being released I actually did 10,000 steps a day. After stopping the pain meds, though, that got more difficult with how many back and leg aches I had. Once back at work and released by the doctor, I did two days walking 30 minutes with friends and would do 1 or 2 sessions of kickboard swimming per week.

About the last month or two (I’m now almost 5 months post op), I’ve been adding regular hand weights and crunches into it all, and my goal has been to do at least 30 minutes of dedicated activity per day. I’ve played golf several times this summer. I’ve done a few dance aerobics sessions at home and now I’ve started doing 30 minutes of elliptical when I’m not doing walking or another activity. I have ADD when it comes to fitness and I just haven’t found something I like to do every single day.

I started walking the day of sugery (8/16/13). I try to get at least 10,000 steps daily. I started speed walking two weeks ago. I'm anxiously waiting for week 6 to start Insanity. I was cleared for this type of program in week 6.

I had an acute Gout attack in my second month (couldn't walk or stand for three days) so that kinda set my timeline back but four months out I hired a Personal Trainer with his own storefront (no big box store gym, just a store front in between a hair salon and a tanning studio). We started out slow, two days a week, the fifth month out we went to three days a week, and now this month I'm actually thinking about going to a local "gym" and getting away from the expense of a Personal Trainer. He started me out slow and taught me exercises to do, both free weights and on the fitness machines. Now I'm going to have to see how I do on my own...

Don't know if anyone's still reading this board. I stumbled back onto it after browsing the site again. Sometime after my last post I really had the Eureka moment of realizing that the only thing keeping me from doing more strenuous activities was this mental voice that said "Oh, no, I can't do that" because my brain was stuck in my old body. I started going to an hour long high intensity aerobics dance class. I started doing weight machines in the gym. And since last fall, I've been running. I'm training to be in my first half marathon in May and I run 5 times a week in varying lengths. Last Saturday I ran 5 miles.

Whatever you all ended up doing, I hope that you've gotten rid of any mental blocks and are as successful as you can be.

I've been walking since my surgery last August (at the time I weighed 300 - started at 343). I am now down to 199 and honestly, I am JUST seriously starting to look into gym memberships now. It took a long time to get to where I don't feel awkward or too heavy for exercise, and it had also taken quite a bit for me to restore my sense of balance, post surgery. I do feel ready in all areas now though and am looking forward to developing back some muscle mass.

I started working out consistently in January. I am running my first 5k this Saturday. I have never been into running. .. ever, but just pushed myself up to 3 miles. The exercise really helps and I am starting to see what people talk about with the endorphin high. Feels great. I have about 25 lbs to reach my goal. Started at 282, I am now 163. Best decision ever.

I had been taking water aerobics for the past 3 years. It enabled me to walk without limping or using a cane. It kept my knees healthy and my BP normal. I also think its part of why I had such an easy time in the hospital. I also tried pilates a few times and would occasionally use the treadmill and other machines at my gym. I've had the gym membership for as long as I've been taking water aerobics.