Can anyone describe their level of physical fitness before surgery? I’ve had a big knee injury and can do very little movement. With poor physical fitness, is recovery from WLS harder? I feel like my whole body is a such mess ( between knee and related issues) and my recovery will be harder and longer. Any reality to that thinking?

I was only able to walk past 4 houses and back. That was the most I could walk. Four months have gone by since my bypass. I can now walk 2 km per day. 1 mile? My ankle has been sore from arthritis and arthritis in my lower back. I feel so much better not carrying the weight that I used to. Now things are getting easier like looking after myself and even standing is so much easier.

Hopefully your support team will be able to work around your health issues to get you to a better place.

I had palpitations every time I walked, even with a stick, my blood pressure was high and my knees and back ached when ever I stood. To prep food I had to sit down as much as possible.

Eventually, a few months after surgery. The walking stick stays in the cupboard, my heart doesn't do somersaults when I walk and I no longer have Diabetes and high blood pressure. I feel 10 years younger . It was worth the money and the change of eating. For me it was a rocky road and I still has the odd day of nausea and sickness but I would do it again in a heartbeat.

there are people who've lost quite a bit of weight after WLS even without exercise (for similar reasons as yours). Exercise is great for your overall health and people should do it if they can, but as far as weight loss, 90% of that is diet.

Exercise is important to your overall health of course and it helps to keep the weight off down the road but it’s not imperative for weight loss. You should be able to get out and do a little bit as the weight begins to come off but it’s honestly more about your diet in the beginning anyways. You may need to walk some to get the gas out but you can do that with the aid of another person or a cane or walker, whatever is necessary. I actually didn’t have any gas. I walked anyways because it was the protocol but I never did have gas so not everyone does.

8 hours ago, Gucci73 said:

I feel like my whole body is a such mess ( between knee and related issues) and my recovery will be harder and longer. Any reality to that thinking?

Absolutely. It's still worth it, imo. I've seen seen 3 unique cases all go through this process, from unbelievably healthy aside from weight, to scooter bound. By the time the one year check in came around, all were living a better life.

Write your concerns down. Ask your doctor. I asked sooo many questions. Ask to sit in on a post op recheck for another group, if they'll allow it. I suggest the 6 month one. Listen to their experience. It's the most honest info you'll get. Good luck.

I was walking around 30 minutes consecutively before surgery but it was a struggle. After surgery my energy levels were off the charts and I walked more to burn off that energy. I'm walking 8k-10k steps a day and once a week, I do a five mile walk. Surgery completely changed me on exercise and I workout 5-6 days a week.

I was one of those who didn’t exercise while losing & exceeded my weight loss goal. It didn’t affect my rate of loss. I do a little now (& I mean a real, real little - some stretching & a couple of at home resistance type exercises). So it can be done. But if you want to do some, there are a lot of online videos of exercises for those with mobility issues. Have you seen a physio for exercises to support the healing & recovery of your knee? They’ll help support your weight loss & general fitness too. And certainly it as you lose weight you’ll take a lot of pressure off your knee.

My ortho told me that for every 10lbs you lose it takes 20lbs off your knees. I’ll eventually need a knee replacement but I did have the screws removed from my knee about 45 days after my sleeve surgery. It wasn’t terribly painful to walk on and definitely got easier as I lost more weight.

I had my sleeve done last year, Nov 2021. I used to work out religiously years ago, but since I'd gained so much weight, it went down to zero fitness level before surgery. Also, I've needed total knee replacements (on both knees) for a few years now. I'm 62 & hypothyroid, so I think that contributes to a slower loss? Anyhow, I only just started exercising as I can't walk far at all, even tho I've lost 90 lbs. I recently bought a CUBII so I can sit & peddle. It works wonderfully. I also use light hand weights & do exercises for seniors on YouTube.

For a woman that weighed almost 400 pounds, I could have been a lot worse off. I was able to still do most activities and walk, but everything was SO much harder for me, especially since I have asthma.. I was short of breath with very little activity, and with a bum knee that's had 2 arthroscopies, an unrepaired ruptured ACL, and arthritis, steps were very difficult, between that and the asthma.
My recovery was actually wonderful because even a little weight loss helped so much. I don't feel like being as big as I was made recovery any worse at all. Now after losing 205 pounds I can run up the stairs with no pain or shortness of breath and I feel like I can do anything!

I agree with a lot of what's been said above. I think the way to think about is that weight loss is heavily dependent on what you eat, whereas how healthy you are is heavily dependent on regular exercise.

Like any pithy statement, it's not an absolute, but it is a good guideline. My point is that you can lose weight without exercising, but if like me, your real goal is to improve your health, we can't rely on weight loss alone.

In fact, also like you, I have several physical issues (I'm a disabled vet), but I'm also honest enough with myself to know that some of my physical challenges are due to my weight. One of my main motivators for having WLS is to make exercise less painful so that I can improve my overall cardiovascular health via exercise.

On 8/3/2022 at 1:44 AM, Gucci73 said:

Can anyone describe their level of physical fitness before surgery? I’ve had a big knee injury and can do very little movement. With poor physical fitness, is recovery from WLS harder? I feel like my whole body is a such mess ( between knee and related issues) and my recovery will be harder and longer. Any reality to that thinking?

Prior to surgery, I was anywhere between 215lbs to 326lbs. Since 2011, until June of 2022, I was averaging 4-5 gym trips a week. I would say I was pretty active with going and actively working out (cardio + strength training/resistance training). I would tend to think that with a poorer physical fitness level, recovery would likely be harder, than if you were more physically in tune with yourself. However, you just have to push past that all and realize you are capable of so much more than you think you are.