Still 4 months out from surgery

Our insurance required not only a 6 month supervised diet but also that my husband be at work at their facility for a year... so I wait until April to have my surgery.  I find that as time goes by and things are really getting real for me that I'm getting scared.  Scared of failure.. I guess that's the best way to say it.

I'm 350lbs right now... I'm scared to death that I won't have the motivation or really the energy to get up and exercise after surgery.  I feel confident that after losing 50lbs or so that I'll have more energy to get up and active but what if I don't lose the 50lbs?  What if I stay 350 or only lose 20 lbs or so afer surgery?  What if I can't push myself to get up and lose this weight.  I know the band is a tool and I'm scared to death that I won't work it.  

When you first started did you lose it easily without much exercise?  When you started to lose weight was the fact you were actually dropping weight the motivation to get up and exercise to lose more?? 

Ok, I think that's about it.  I'm glad I was able to get that out.  Thanks guys... sometimes I feel like no one in my day to day life understands my fears. 

At my highest weight I weighed more than 350.  When I started my WLS journey I was 344.  For me weight loss with diet alone was not cutting it.  When I first got my surgery I was swollen from surgery so I lost 10-12 pounds that first month.  Then there was no restriction at all.  Fill after fill and still nothing.  I was still losing but very slowly...around 1-2 pounds a month!!!.  It took me 7 fills before I got decent restriction.  But even with some restriction I still wasn't losing at a good rate.  I am not sure what finally clicked for me but back in October I started to work out.  That's when the weight started to melt off of me.  I work out 5-6 days a week 90 minutes a day.  That first month I lost 16 pounds and 14 inches!!!  I have lost steadily ever since (the first week of January I lost 3 lbs.  and I am almost two years out from surgery and losing at that rate)  In a little over three months I lost 40 lbs.  So in my case I had to exercise to lose weight.  But knowing what I know now...why didn't exercise???  Why was I being so damn lazy???  I'm not sure why but I'm glad I am now.

I have come to the realization that for most people to lose weight and successfully keep it off long term exercise is mandatory.  I have been reading up on the subject of fitness and metabolism a lot lately.  What I have learned is even if you are losing weight successfully without exercise you are losing muscle mass.  Muscle is our fat/calorie burning machine...if you are losing muscle mass you are losing your machine!!!  You will forever have to restrict calories to maintain your weight...which is hard for most of us.  So in my opinion exercise is a MUST!!!  Not only is it good for your heart and your bones (that's right ladies it helps with osteoporosis) but it helps you build your fat burning machine.  Think about this after you are done losing your weight (and you will lose it faster) you will be able to eat more food and maintain your weight!!!  I just don't see why someone (myself included) would go through surgery and not exercise.  So I would say start an exercise program now...even if it's just walking around your house.      

And this is why I come here to OH! I needed to hear this today. THANK YOU!!!!!  This is great motivation to get my butt up and moving more.

even though it's an icey death zone outside my door right now, I'm going to start walking with my Ice Trex. They will keep me upright hopefully. I walked yesterday to the coffee shop and back. It was really chilly but I was REALLY bundled up. I'm proud that I've done this walk 3 times in the last week.

The more prepared you are prior to surgery the better, but I do understand your fear of failure.  The last two weeks before surgery were hard for me, because, though I have had many surgeries, this was "elective"....how was I going to "inflict" pain on myself purposely????  I also had fear of failure and still have to pu**** down from time to time.  As a 7.5 month bandster, I am losing slowly because I am unable to do much exercise...my knee and back won't allow.  The milestones come very slowly, sometimes only a half pound per week, but the inches are coming off and I am down from a 24-26 to 16-18 and doing some shopping in the "normal" sections and avoiding buying any plus sizes at all.
You will find on your pre-op diet you will lose weight very quickly, which helps with the motivation a lot.  Immediately post op, you will be heavier, due to all the IVs administered during and after surgery.  It will take time for you to lose this and a bit from surgical swelling.  The immediate post-op period (about 4-6 weeks) is for healing and eating exactly as our doc and nut instructed, so we don't stretch our pouch and cause problems...don't expect to lose much during this time.
You will need to be mentally strong during this time to avoid the doubts and self-defeating behaviors that got you to be MO....but you can do it.
Hang in there, surround yourself with positive people here and at home and you will be able to work your band.  My entire perspective on food has changed....going out with friends is about the friends now, not the food.  I enjoy their company more and find myself enjoying myself more.  We, as obese people, don't see food the same way as those who are naturally thin.  The band will help you to do this if you follow the plan (yes it is sort of a diet), but you won't be hungry between meals....
Hang in there....
Stephanie

I had my surgery at 348 pounds !! So I was exactly where you are right now .

I started to exercise the day the doc told me I can that was about 4 weeks post op.  It might be harder for us to exercise but it can be done :o)

I love Richard Simmons he has always been my favorite person to exercise to. First he knows what it feels like and I have met the guy several times and he is just so darn nice and cute in real life lol.

I have all his tapes . I am starting off doing 20 min . That is all I can do I'm tired and breathing heavy but the way I look at it is, that is 20 min of exercise I never did before.  I work myself up every couple days and say okay I did 20 I can do at least 5 more and that is what I do.

But the problem is I hate to exercise alone , its boring and then I find out I wont do it , its just not fun.

I rejoined our Curves here in town and I'M having a blast.  they have added Zumba to it.  Instead of working out on the boards you dance with a Zumba teacher.  I have done that the last two days and I have had so much fun !!!!

I'm not the most coordinated person when it comes to this lmao but who cares I'm sweating and its fun.  In fact she teaches classes Monday and Thursdays nights and I'M doing to start doing them also .

You can do it , just do as much as you can , don't say you cant because you weight this much.  It can be done, you might have to go a little slower, you might only work out for 20 min but it;'s a lot better then doing nothing at all !!!

Prior to my surgery, I had all of the same questions and concerns floating around in my head.  It was nerve-wracking, to say the least.  And, it was also completely NORMAL.  Delving into the world of the "unknown" is always a scary thing, and, if you're anything like me, the rate of weight loss success in your life hasn't been the greatest, so of course you're going to have your doubts about this process succeeding, too.

The first thing I can suggest that you do is to realize that you're only human, you'll continue to do the best you can do... and that's ALL you can do.   Take it day by day, and get as close to the recommended 50 pounds as you can.  I can almost guarantee that they won't cancel the surgery if you "only" lose 40... it's just helpful for your surgeon for your stomach to be as soft as possible on the day of your operation, so s/he can easily manipulate things around inside your body.  

I didn't do much in the way of exercise prior to the surgery.  My knees cried out in pain just walking up the front steps!  Now that I've dropped 40 pounds, I'm much more capable of moving around, so exercise comes a lot easier for me.  I'd HIGHLY recommend Leslie Sansone's Walk Away The Pounds DVD's.  The workouts only involve a few simple movements, and the one mile walk is less than 20 minutes long.  If you find that some of the movements are too hard, or put too much strain, then go back to the walking.  At least you're moving around.

No one expects you to go to the gym for an hour and a half and work with a personal trainer right off the bat.  Even just small spurts of movement right now are better than nothing.  Park your car farther away from the grocery store/mall/school/laundry mat... anywhere you need to go... to get you moving farther.  Do leg lifts or some strength training with your arms while you're watching TV.  Take the stairs instead of the elevator.  Anything you can do to get your heart rate up is worth it, in the end.  And again, don't beat yourself up if you can't do a colossal amount right away.  You'll get there, I promise.  <3

I started at 330.  I walked.  Half a mile at first and added (literally) a few yards each day, until I was walking 2.5 miles a day, 5-6 days a week.  I just did it every day-didn't give myself an option to back out.  At 300+ pounds you will burn an incredible number of calories with a moderate walking pace.  Start where you can and add on a little each day-It gets easier I promise!

Trystelle