I have been going to the gym a couple of times a week. I'm 5 weeks post RNY. My surgeon gave the green light after 2 weeks (no weights or core exercises) so I've been doing elliptical, huge stair stepper thing, and walking or jogging.

I just watched Dr V.'s video on Why You Should Not go to a gym after WLS. He is taking about the period after surgery for about 6 months. it actually makes sense and he says surgeons and their teams who tell us to go to the gym and workout are wrong.

Dr. V. says it leads to hunger & weight loss stalls, among other things, since we cannot consume enough calories.

So- are you exercising? What are you doing and when did you start?

not sure if I should save money and forego the gym for a while and just go walking around my neighborhood. Thoughts??

I have my surgery in September but I can not afford a gym at this point. Is walking enough in the beginning?

I have my surgery in September but I can not afford a gym at this point. Is walking enough in the beginning?

I think by "gym" we are really discussing exercise. I'm not a gym member. Lots of ways to exercise that don't cost money.

Walking is great!

33 minutes ago, zallykatz16 said:

I have my surgery in September but I can not afford a gym at this point. Is walking enough in the beginning?

Yes! Plenty of people exercise post-op without joining a gym. I'm just over 6 months post-up and all of my exercise up to this point has been walking. One thing that surprised me post-op was how much energy I had. So instead of sitting in front of the computer all evening, I would find myself getting restless and go out for another walk at the end of the day.

That said, I'll probably be joining a gym in September when I get back to Japan from my holidays, as the reality is I need to do more than walk. I can't run or do anything high impact due to heel spurs in my foot, and I'd like to have more strength training options than I do at home. Also, I live in a tiny Japanese apartment, so there isn't a lot of room for me to work out, even if I had the inclination to do so. I figure if I can make going to the gym part of my daily work routine, it will be much easier for me to commit to it.

I'm living proof that walking is just wonderful for anyone. I'm wearing a loose fitting size 8 as of this week! My sports bras need to be replaced, and I see the inches melting off. I would maybe go to a gym, but have my own here, so I'd be going solely for the purposes of getting a personal trainer & to stay committed to my journey. I think finding g what makes you feel happy doing is the key.

7 hours ago, jess9395 said:

Even your statements "eat well" (plant based? Low carb? Moderate carb? Low fat? Whole food? Gluten free? Non GMO?) who defines that? There's a whole Protein a holic thread on here.

This. You're exactly right IMO. I'd be very unhappy if my nutritionist would be pushing a low carb and high in animal protein diet at all cost. Others wouldn't even think about limiting animal protein, let alone cutting it out completely.

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And don't push "too hard" how do you quantify that? Walking a mile a day? 10,000 steps? Yoga? Crossfit? Where does too hard start?

This again. I personally love the endorphin rush of relatively short and hard sessions (like Freeletics) and I enjoy long bike rides. I also do yoga and go running. (Dammit, now that I'm writing this I notice that I feel quite low at the moment - I had laparoscopic adhesiolysis three weeks ago and the only exercise I enjoy I can do at the moment is cycling and I have to be careful about going up hills. The wounds still hurt a bit when engaging the abdominal wall).

1 hour ago, zallykatz16 said:

I have my surgery in September but I can not afford a gym at this point. Is walking enough in the beginning?

I don't go to the gym as well. I have in the past but didn't really enjoy it. It's also a matter of time. When you can start exercising at your door (like when you go running or walking) IMO that's always better.

I only exercise outdoors or at home.

*insert newbie pre-surg boilerplate disclaimer*

My take away from Dr. Vs video is a bit different. I feel like he was saying that exercise is not a magic bullet to achieve long term weight loss success. He pointed out that many people use it as an unproductive punishment, rather than a natural evolution of fitness. He said that weight loss after surgery is controlled by diet rather than exercise. And that before we go to the gym, we need to be sure to confirm we have 1) A great post WLS diet in place and 2) We have our head/psychology/stress management in good shape. Then and only then will exercise benefit our long term goal of staying healthy and at a normal weight. I think he makes sense here to some degree. And completely agree that what works for my fluffy ass, isn't going to necessarily be true for anyone else.

(Example: So for instance, I'm fluffy and might think, "Dayum, I'm fluffy cuz I like Dr. Phil too much and I'm not disciplined enough to get to the gym each day." So I try harder to go to the gym, I'm just 2 months post surgery, and eating too few calories to support an intense, extended ass whoopin' at the gymn--barely meeting my protein requirement. I do my circuit, come home, am exhausted and hungrier after the activity...and I flop down in my easy chair, turn on Dr. Phil, am starving and yet, beat and end up eating more volume/calories or eating off plan with easy slider food (like a whole can of Pringles or falling into a bag of Lay's, cuz my body is demanding more calories, those types of calories don't stretch my pounch and go down SO DAYUM GOOD. I end up undoing all the good of the activity and worse, to the point that I would have been much better off, just staying on my post surg diet, doing something to address my stress levels and processing the headwork that contributed to my fluffy state and not exercising in the first place. Or--I only go the gym 1 time a week cuz it makes me feel like a crap sandwich and so I beat myself up for it for being such a loser which makes me depressed and I end up turning on Dr. Phil, grabbing the can of Pringles, etc--and then find it nearly impossible to force myself back to eating as I KNOW I should. Weight gain/guilt ensue...)

There was a fairly recent study that shows some argument that exercise alone will not help weight loss. But, I do know that doing exercise like slow burn and resistance training absolutely helps improve insulin resistance, which directly affects weight loss and how calories are processed by the liver post workout...so, yeah. Interesting question and love the discussion!!

Edited August 13, 20178 yr by FluffyChix

wgo is dr v ? and does someone have a link to the video?

I am 3 years post VSG. I made a HUGE mistake of not joining any formal form of exercise after my surgery. I did walking for the first 10 weeks because I was home on a medical leave. However once I went back to work my days were JAM PACKED-as they had been in the past, and the stress was a huge factor in my highest weight- and I jumped back into work without thought. I suffered for it, because I stopped walking and my weight loss slowed. After I moved and changed jobs the following year, I tried to exercise again but found it became harder and harder as the honeymoon period slowed and ended.

I REGRET THIS IMMENSELY.

Because of my move I also had to change surgeons and leave my support group, and this too added to a serious back slide for me.

As a true veteran of bariatric surgery, I urge everybody to PLEASE heed the advice of your surgeon and support group. Please find some form of movement/exercise that you will be able to keep doing long term, and start doing it as soon as you can post op. Please stick to your eating plan exactly as you are instructed. Please consider changing the parts of your life that were causes of your food addiction.

I ignored much of this. For that, I have regained a major part of the weight I lost and I find myself having to deal with doing it all over again.

Do you think exercise helps with tightening flabby skin? I've heard mixed opinions on this. This is a reason I would want to do some weights...

27 minutes ago, Arielle said:

Do you think exercise helps with tightening flabby skin? I've heard mixed opinions on this. This is a reason I would want to do some weights...

Absolutely! I get comments about how great my arms look all the time because I'm big on resistance training. My stomach, on the other hand, is a hot mess. Only surgery will fix that skin ?

3 hours ago, vsgdon said:

wgo is dr v ? and does someone have a link to the video?

Having trouble linking, but his name is Dr.Duc Vuong and the video on youtube is called, "Why you should NOT exercise after weight loss surgery"

I started walking 4 days after my surgery 2-3 miles a day. I was on my elliptical at 2 weeks post-op and started running 3 days a week at 5 weeks post-op. I will be 3 months post-op on Aug 15th and I am running 4-5 days a week 2-3 miles each time.

I think stalls will happen either way so I decided it would be a good idea to develop good habits right away. I think exercise is good for our mental health as well as physical well being. Running has now become something I look forward to. I eat about 950-1000 calories a day now.

Here's the YouTube the OP is referencing.

My surgeon told me at my 6 week follow up that he wanted me to go to the gym for one hour a day five days a week and add strength training. No matter what I'm doing the nurse always tells me that's not enough. Who knows. I work 12 hr shifts with 40 min drive and I'm not in my 20's anymore so I will only go to the gym on my days off so 4 days a week tops.