Hi everyone,

I'm six weeks post op as of this past Monday. Got cleared to weight lift FINALLY this past wednesday. New program begins Monday. I have been an avid weightlifter all my life and am a strength and conditioning coach. Including pre-op diet and surgery, as of this morning I am 93.5 pounds down since surgery on October 13. I began this journey weighing 432 and this morning weighed 338.5. I power lift, olympic lift, train with kettle bells, basically everything under the sun. I am wondering about what experiences people have had beginning their workout routine again. How did your strength come back, were there any surprises as you began training, good or bad? For example, I feel like I have almost regained all of my mobility overnight since surgery. I'm interested to hear people's stories, struggles, victories, etc.

I have this idea in my head, that aside from the initial ridiculous soreness that come with not working out for two months, that i may be able to have the best body of my life. My doc said that my skin has shrunk back a lot and that he was impressed that i didn't seem to have a lot of extra skin. I have already lost 50% of my excess weight, but that means there's still 50% to go! I really want to be able to tighten my body up again, and I will say, that right now, any strong movement that makes me contract my abdomen hard is a challenge right now, and it causes bad cramps in my abs. Anyone else experience this??

Anyway, for now i think that's all i can think of, but i have to say that being the big fat strong guy for so long has me a little nervous about what's going to happen monday, and how my ego will feel, hahaha... but this surgery has saved my life... and everyday i WASN"T having surgery was a day that i was closer to dying young... I'm so grateful...

Hope everyone had a good thanksgiving.

My primary doctor had started me on a strength training program when I was about six months pre-op. I am 62 with arthritis, neuro, and spinal issues and lots of pain to work through. However, my weight was not coming down and I remained feeble in spite of an agressive exercise and work-out program. Now I am 65 pounds down and doing better. Losing over 60 pounds has made a difference in my energy level.

I had to wait until six weeks post-op to re-start my program - and I had to start with 1 or 2 pound weights just because that is where my strength was at. Over the months, I have worked my way from 1 pound to 10 pound weights on each hand. I also use a back brace and ankle weights to add resistance. I am also able to use a 10 pound kettle bell. I do have a 20 pound one, but cannot lift it yet.

Here is how I know I am getting stronger: I am post-stroke and housework has been very hard for me. One thing I absolutely could not do was lift the mattress to tuck in the sheets. I had to save it for my Tarzan to get home from work and do it for me. I was making up the bed with fresh sheets on Tuesday and was able to lift that thing up several inches and tuck the sheets in just fine. I can open my own jars now. I can do about 20 (as in twenty!) full plank push-ups not in the girly position. These all qualify as NSV's for me.