Exercise is a BIG issue for those who have had WLS. Non-WLS people don't seem to understand that we do have to exercise to get to our goals. I hate the comment about us taking "the easy way out". There's nothing easy about this. It seems like some WLS patients don't get it either. They really believe that this is a magic bullet that's going to make us lose weight with no effort on our part. That's not true.
When I first had WLS, I couldn't walk from my car to my front door without being winded. When I started researching WLS, I saw people who were crazy about exercise and I thought they were nuts. But, now I get it.
As I've progressed with my weight loss, I've also progressed with exercise. At first, I was literally walking up and down my hallway, then around the small end of my building, then the larger end of my building. At 3 weeks post-op, I was THRILLED when I managed to walk around the lake in my apartment complex. Wow, that seems like it was so long ago.
Over the last few months, I've added in more walking on the treadmill and then lots of time on the recumbent bike. Last week, I walked home from the gym and found that I can't walk as far on real ground as I can on the treadmill, but that's okay. My attitude now is that it WILL get easier as I continue to walk, so I'm making it a point to walk to and from the gym when I go to work out. That adds an extra 1.5 miles a day to my exercise totals.
I also started a weight routine right after surgery. At first, I did well to get in 10 repetitions with 2 pound weights. Now, the 2 pound weights have been moved to the car and I use them to get in some arm work while I'm driving long distances daily. I'm now using 5 pound weights for my "regular" weight routine and 8 pound weights when I'm doing abdominal crunches.
My workout routine is definitely low-intensity compared to some of the exercise gurus I see on the boards, but it's working for me. Nope, I'm not Bo Derek yet, but I'm seeing results. I have biceps; I have a waist...and my butt is looking pretty good, or so I'm told by some guys I know. I'm not training for a marathon. What I'm doing is incorporating exercise into my life, hopefully in a manner that I can follow for the rest of my life.
So, like the turtle, I'm taking it slow, but I will get to goal! :)
“The easy way out” – if you want to achieve something, you have to show enthusiasm. It doesn’t matter how many times you fall, what matters is how far you can go. Don’t push yourself, Melissa, work on it slowly, okay? Remember, baby steps. :)
ReplyDelete-Ginette Harmon