Today was my follow up appointment with my Dr. I had my sleeve on 12/15. I told my dr that I’ve been walking two miles a day for the past week. He was not impressed. He said walking will not help me loose weight; sticking to the diet will. I was kind of deflated because I thought walking was a good thing. ?

Walking IS a good thing. It may not be the #1 weight-loss method like dieting is, but it's still good for both your mental and physical health and your doctor shouldn't have been so negative about it. Keep up the walking!

Thank you. I left feeling pretty bummed.

43 minutes ago, TheBlackStar said:

Today was my follow up appointment with my Dr. I had my sleeve on 12/15. I told my dr that I’ve been walking two miles a day for the past week. He was not impressed. He said walking will not help me loose weight; sticking to the diet will. I was kind of deflated because I thought walking was a good thing. ?

Do you think your surgeon meant walking is good for your general health or pleasure, but following the dietary/lifestyle changes is what really matters at this stage post surgery?

Either way congratulations and don't feel deflated, you've only just begun.

I would think that's an unusual reaction. My Surgeon requires 60 minutes of exercise daily so he would think that you're doing very well!! As stated above- it is great for your overall physical and mental health. I admire your motivation and hope you keep it up! It's all about YOU and feeling your best!

Wishing you an excellent path!

Don't be bummed. Give yourself a big pat on the back!! You deserve it!

2 hours ago, TheBlackStar said:

Today was my follow up appointment with my Dr. I had my sleeve on 12/15. I told my dr that I’ve been walking two miles a day for the past week. He was not impressed. He said walking will not help me loose weight; sticking to the diet will. I was kind of deflated because I thought walking was a good thing. ?

My surgeon gave me a stern talking to when I went back for my 2 week appointment as well. When I went back for my 1 month he was a little more clear. He was fine with a walking program but he didnt want me to get into an aggressive walking program until after my 1 month appointment. He also didnt want me to start any other physical activities until my 6 week appointment, he said he has seen too many people get too aggressive too early when they are feeling good and they tear things up inside. Even though you do not have much for incisions on the outside you had a major surgery on the inside, its very important that everything on the inside is healed well before you start anything more than walking. You do not want to damage anything you cannot see.

Just be patient and it will all work out for the best

I agree walking is good for your health for many reasons. You can lose most of your excess body weight by following a good nutrition plan with no exercise. Exercise will improve other aspects of your health. There are healthy overweight people and unhealthy people of average weight.

Thanks guys. Walking is something I love to do and it helps clear my head and I haven’t been able to walk like I used to. I recently moved before my surgery into an area with lots of trails and a lot of people walk around the neighborhood. I walked while on my preop liquid diet as well. After my surgery I weighed 301(fluids) and today my weight was 283. He said none of my walking attributed to my weight loss as as the diet is the only thing that will allow me to lose weight and that I don’t need to walk. Admittedly, I was stunned so he could have meant during the initial healing stages only. He just was not impressed by my walking. He actually looked a little upset as if I’m focusing on just walking but that’s not the case. Afterwards he told me my incisions look great and I meet with the nutritionist in six weeks.

1 hour ago, Betty1971 said:

My surgeon gave me a stern talking to when I went back for my 2 week appointment as well. When I went back for my 1 month he was a little more clear. He was fine with a walking program but he didnt want me to get into an aggressive walking program until after my 1 month appointment. He also didnt want me to start any other physical activities until my 6 week appointment, he said he has seen too many people get too aggressive too early when they are feeling good and they tear things up inside. Even though you do not have much for incisions on the outside you had a major surgery on the inside, its very important that everything on the inside is healed well before you start anything more than walking. You do not want to damage anything you cannot see.

Just be patient and it will all work out for the best

Thank you! Maybe he will be clear when I see him next time as well. I have been feeling so good that I do need to remember that I need a lot of internal healing as well.

Think it was likely the amount of walking so early out post surgery. Your surgeon’s comments re sticking to your diet to lose weight is because exercise only accounts for 20% of any weight loss max. Though it does help with general fitness, muscle tone, strength & general well being. ?

Congrats on your surgery & good luck on your journey.

On 12/28/2020 at 14:10, TheBlackStar said:

Today was my follow up appointment with my Dr. I had my sleeve on 12/15. I told my dr that I’ve been walking two miles a day for the past week. He was not impressed. He said walking will not help me loose weight; sticking to the diet will. I was kind of deflated because I thought walking was a good thing. ?

He could have said that in another way. I think it is sooo great that you are walking. It speaks volumes to how seriously you are taking this lifestyle change. I think maaaaybe the doctor was trying to say it’s 80% diet and 20% exercise and wants you to make the diet a priority? I’m not sure, but in any case.. KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK

On 12/28/2020 at 2:10 PM, TheBlackStar said:

Today was my follow up appointment with my Dr. I had my sleeve on 12/15. I told my dr that I’ve been walking two miles a day for the past week. He was not impressed. He said walking will not help me loose weight; sticking to the diet will. I was kind of deflated because I thought walking was a good thing. ?

Even great doctors can have some really crappy people skills. You should be VERY proud of yourself for being able to walk two miles. Holy cow...I had my surgery done on Monday and I can barely make it out of bed to walk in little circles and use the bathroom. He may be one of those people with black-and-white thinking: either you're going completely by his playbook or you're WRONG! He may just one of those people who's impossible to impress.

You: Hey, doc! So I just got accepted into the Olympics, found out I was the world's fastest runner, and I'm going to be featured on a box of WHEATIES!

Doctor: Yeah, OK...but I see you only drank 63 ounces of water yesterday. I TOLD YOU 64!!!!

While it is nearly impossible to exercise away a bad diet, just think how easy it is to eat 500 calories and how hard it is to work it off, exercise, including walking, provides a ton of health benefits. From everything I've read, it is also one of the keys to maintaining weight loss as muscle burns more calories than fat.

I've been walking really consistently since about a week after surgery. I added in other exercises at about the 9 month mark to continue to build strength, stamina and flexibility but still walk most days because its such a good mental break and the fresh air and sunshine has been great.