I'm still a cuple weeks from being able to actually go to the gym, but wanted to start researching now to be prepared.

Did you follow a program?

I wanted to eventually work up to the Couch to 5K but that program involves running which I thought was a no-no for a bit  

My surgery instructions just say wait 4 weeks but nothing after that. I want to make sure don't mess my insides up.

Is there a WLS program out there I could follow? Thanks!

 Here is what I did with good success:

Weeks 1-3 - Daily walks

Week 3 - cleared for water exercise. Started water aerobics at my gym.

Week 6 - cleared for "hard" aerobics. Stuck with water aerobics but increased intensity of class. 

After losing about 40 lbs. I wanted to add a regular aerobics class so I went to Jazzercise. At first my goal was simply to make it through the class. It was hard. I liked the music and routines though so I stuck with that.

Best weeks - 6 hours of exercise, combining jazzercise and intensive water workouts. 

After losing about 70 lbs. I added personal training weekly for about 3 months until I hit my goal weight. Learned a lot about weight training there, I tell ya!

The key is not a "program" per se. The key is to find something you truly enjoy doing and something that gives you a great sense of accomplishment - enough so that you will go back to get that feeling again! You can expect it to be hard at first. I like classes because they make me work harder than I would on my own, and I love to have an instructor to follow. But I found myself only enjoying certain classes - because of music, because of the "precision" of movements, because of the way certain muscle groups were included. 

I hope this helps!

 I had no heavy exercise for 6 weeks.  I started running week 6, week 8 ran my first race (walked and ran it).  For me I like running, I run 4-5x a week, 2 days of weight training and 1 day of yoga.  I've also started throwing in biking and swimming in the thoughts that I'll probably do a Tri next year.  

Really the key to exercise is finding somethign you like and you will go back to every day.  If you hate it, will power will only get you so far.  So if running isn't your thing, try something else.  Maybe Zumba is, or spinning (talk about burning some mad calories).  Also, if you can hire a trainer even if it is just 2 or 3x, they can really help you find something you may enjoy.