Hi to all. I was banded less than 2 weeks ago. I have my doctors OK to return to doing cardio. Before surgery I was a pretty avid bicyclist, riding 20-40 miles at a time at a good clip (16-18mph on my own, 18-20 in a pack). I went out for rides a few times this week and find that my speed has dropped off...and the hills are particularly difficult. I am wondering whether this post-op diet of 500 or so calories per day is simply incompatible with prolonged, moderately intense cardiovascular activity. I don't want my fitness level to go down!! Does anyone have any experience with doing significant cardio in the post-op period? What adjustments did you have to make, if any? How did you fuel yourself adequately given dietary restrictions? I know I have an extra 60lbs of fat calories hanging around my body that could be fuel, but can that sustain activity more intense than walking? Any advice would be appreciated!! Thanks!

I was told 1000-1200 calories/day post-op. You should check with your surgeon. 500 calories sounds a little low.

I don't have a band but my average calories is about 700 a day and I'm training for a triathlon.

I didn't start out in wonderful shape ... I was in okay shape though ... so I am seeing dramatic improvements in my cardio workouts. I'm sure that will level off as I get to a more fit level.

Anyway, make sure you get lots of Protein so you have the energy you need throughout the day and then time any carbs you ingest so they are right before and/or after your workout. Plus take your vitamins!

That's the advice I'm following and it works for me.

ETA I was on 500 calories at day at first and I would do cardio at the gym just fine. I was only doing 30 min about 3x a week back then though. Now I do 45 min. and 4-5 times a week.

You DON'T have a band? How do you do it on such a small amt. of calories w/o the help of the band? Why are you on this site if not banded? Sorry about all the ?? but I'm confused.

I was banded in October. Prior to the banding, I was riding my bike for about 45 mins a day on hills and flat. Now, I do 50 mins of cardio every other day on an elliptical machine (weather is not nice enough for me to bike!), then some weights on the other days. But 2 weeks after surgery I tried some strenuous cardio and found that I would be very sore the next few days. I didn't experience any weak feelings during the exercise. The bike riding (especially up hills on a bike) probably uses your stomach muscles too much at this point in your recovery...a couple more weeks and you should be stronger.

As for the 500 calories, seems way too low..I was at 1200 my first few weeks (liquid diet phase)...especially with the amount of exercise you're trying to do, I'd suggest considering more calories since you're probably burning between 500 and 1000 just from your exercising.

Good luck,

You DON'T have a band? How do you do it on such a small amt. of calories w/o the help of the band? Why are you on this site if not banded? Sorry about all the ?? but I'm confused.

I have a sleeve. It's under my avatar, but I forget that not everyone knows me. :party:

I came here when I was thinking about the band, but after a while I decided a sleeve would work better for me. I stuck around because I made friends and then Alex made me a moderator so now I'm a permanent part of the landscape. Hee.

The thing about the sleeve is that you start off super-restricted and then, over time, it loosens up a bit as the swelling goes down and it gets to it's final size. So in the beginning you can't eat much. The band is the opposite -- a lot of people are hungry at first because they have no restriction and it's really hard for them to limit calories until they gradually get to full restriction.

So in the beginning I had to work hard to get in 500 calories. But now I do more like 700-800. My surgeon wants me to stay there until I get to goal and that's okay with me. It doesn't seem to be impacting my workouts.