So, I need to get my butt in gear. This week I have fallen off the walking wagon. Ever since my RNY surgery I have tried to walk at least 10000 steps a day. Well this week I didn't make it at all. I need to get my rear in gear and start walking at lunch (again) so that I can get back on track. There have been things going on at work this week that have prevented me from walking at lunch and at the end of the day I am mentally drained and just don't feel like walking.

Congratulations on your weight loss of 100 pounds. Exercise is an important component.

For the first year after surgery, I exercised daily. Generally this was by hill walking. My driveway was steep and I would walk up and down the driveway for 30 minutes per day. This is a great form of exercise because it uses two different sets of muscles; one set on the way up and a different set on the way down. It was also great because all I had to do was step out my front door. But I am not a great fan of exercise. It feels like wasted effort. But I am a great fan of physical labor. So in the “Maintenance” phase, I relied on physical work. This took several forms.

I live in Indiana. My driveway is 700 feet long. During the winter when it snows, I shovel my driveway. It is strenuous work but without the added weight on my body, it is not hard. I also heat my house all winter with firewood. So during the winter I am constantly moving firewood for my wood stove to keep the house warm.

During the rest of the year, there is cutting a large yard of grass and planting a garden and an assortment of other chores. Even a trip to the mailbox to get the mail is a walk of 1/4 mile.

One of the tasks I worked on over the 2nd and 3rd years post-op was building an underground shelter. Tornados struck about 7 years ago, just after I retired. The tornados did a lot of destruction to my property but spared my house. My house is a one story without a basement and there is really no place to take shelter in the event of another tornado. So I decided to build an underground shelter from an intermodal-shipping container into the side of my hill. Of course, if I build a storm shelter, it should also be a root cellar. And if I go to the effort of building a storm shelter/root cellar then why not go through a little extra effort and build it for Come-What-May, including asteroid impacts, nuclear war and nearby supernovas, etc.

So during that first year I moved around 100,000 pounds of gravel by hand along with around 60,000 pounds of concrete blocks and the next year I moved about the same amount.

This year I built a log cabin playhouse for the grandkids. I just turned 69.

@James Marusek I envy that you are physically able and have the opportunity to do so much physical labor! I would MUCH rather that than exercise! Although I do love my AM walks

@Redmaxx Could you get up earlier? What I do is get up, put on work out clothes, drink my coffee & work out. It's a great start to the day and gives me so much more energy than even my coffee! Without my coffee, i don't notice a difference. Without my workout, however, I feel sluggish and foggy.

I second the suggestion to get up early and do your workout. If I didn't run before work I am sure there would be many days where I just wouldn't feel like doing it after. It really does give me more energy and I feel so much better on the days I run.