So I've heard a lot of people advising that as soon as you wake up from surgery you need to walk walk walk. I think that's great advice and fully plan on doing just that because i really really want to succeed. BUT I kinda have an obsessive personality (with goals and projects) and in the past I've been known to do TOO much. This is where i always fail because i over do it, injure myself and have to stop.

So, how much is too little and how much is too much (how long & how often did you walk)? I really want to succeed at this so i need some guidelines.

I know everyone is different so obviously someone with chronic injuries cant do as much as another person without them, i just would like to know in general what others have done and their experience.

Im 28, and except for asthma, knee pain, and a tendency to get sick alot, i have no troubles with walking. I can walk as much as my little obese body will allow, so whats smart after a major surgery?

Right out of the surgery, the staff gave me a goal to walk a lap around the floor at least 4 times that day. So I did. I told them it was easy (I was in very little pain) so for the next day they made me do it 8 times. It was still pretty easy. I would get winded toward the end of my lap. So it's not like I was running marathons or anything. It was a bit harder in the real world. I had to walk with my husband to the bus stop to go home - that was actually a challenge - I found myself walking much slower than my normal pace, and it felt like there was an elephant on my lungs - the staff said my oxygen levels were good, but that I was just taking shallow breaths as a defense mechanism due to the surgical trauma. But I did it. So really, walk as much as you can without causing yourself any pain. The hardest thing to navigate that first week for me was steps. I live in a 3rd floor walk up condo. They advised me to limit taking them but, I had no way to leave my house to walk otherwise! I did try to stay out for awhile rather than go up and down them (sometimes that meant stopping in a Starbucks to sit or finding a park bench).

Oh, and they are gonna give you one of those breathing devices - make sure you use it several times a day, it helps clear the lungs of that heavy elephant on your chest feeling and gets your oxygen levels back up on par with normal faster.

Thanks for the suggestions!