O.K., This Is Probably A Dumb Exercise Question, But ..

 Here I go anyway ...    

  Everyone is asking me if I 'exercise" ...  and/or suggesting I start doing formal exercise to try to kick start my weight loss again and maybe lose that last 60-70 lbs. I never did ..  

   My answer has always been, "if exercise (and diet) didn't do me any good as far as weight loss as a pre-op, why is it now going to work for me as a post-op?" ..    

   I joined a gym/spa back in my college days and worked out like crazy on a regular basis, aerobically (e.g. rowers and aero-bikes   ) and isometrically (e.g. weight machines, Nautilus, etc.  )  ..  Although it did tone up my muscles a bit and I did get a few compliments from fellow members, I did NOT pack on muscle mass nor did it cause me to lose any signifcant amount of body weight ..  

   The same philosophy applies to all those "weight loss pills" and "aids" that I tried pre-op ..

    Again, why would this work for me now when it never did before?   

    Did anyone get significantly different results from post-op exercise than they did as a pre-op, as far as weight loss goes, doing the same type of stuff?  

If you burn more calories than you take in, you lose weight. Exercise revs up the metabolism.  Since you are should be and probably are taking in less calories post-op, the additional exercise will burn even more calories - those stored as body fat and the new calories you ingest each day.  Resistance exercise (weight training) will increase muscle mass, which burns more calories for fuel, even when you are at rest. The actual weight on the scales may not drop as fast, but you'll see inches come off as you tighten and tone the muscles.

Regardless of the the type, aerobic or anerobic, exercise sure won't hurt ya none.

ANother way to look at excercise is not to look at it as another dieting mechanism.  Diets don't work.   never have, never will.  The diet mentality is what got most of us in the mess we experience(d).  Although, I stil have a dieter's mentality and think about how my running burns off calories,  I am trying to look at excercise as something that makes me feel better.  I do it for the way it makes me feel and for the things it allows me to do that i couldn't do before.  Another sign of a dieter's mentality is freaking out when you miss a day of excercising  "Oh, no........."  Well, this is something I am also trying to combat in that I have been fairly obsessive with excercising lately and it is good and healthy to take a day off from excercising to allow our bodies to heal.  

Are you looking for someone to tell you it is ok to be a couch potatoe?  Well it's ok with me, it won't affect my longevity one bit if you don't exercise.  Seriously, get moving, do something you like rather than something you have to do.  There must be something your fat self would have given anything to be able to do, now you have the chance to do it.  From what I can see you spend quite a bit of time in front of your computer asking us stupid questions.  Maybe you could walk down to the corner and ask someone the question, then walk back.

Once you start to move it gets easier, then it becomes a habit. Hopefully you replace a bad habit with a healthy one and another and another, then you live forever - hapily and heathily.

Reducing diets don't usually work for most people.  However, many lifestyle diets do work such as diabetic diets.  A diet is just a way of eating.  We'll eventually be on maintenance diets.  Part of our problems in the past were that we either cut too many calories and had unrealistic expectations or we really weren't on healthy diets.  I'm now following a carb addict's diet and doing quite well.  Remember, you were all given diets by your nutritionists following surgery.  But, exercise is the other component to both losing weight and becoming healthy.

You're right Bob. I don't like to use the word "diet" because it 's become a term used to describe a restriction of calories rather than to simply describe the foods we eat.  When most people hear "diet" they think of a reducing plan.  People say "I'm on a diet" rather than "I'm on a reducing diet".  

It's probably not a big thing, but it seems to help me in my own mind to think of what I eat as my "nutrition plan".

If you were exercising like crazy and still not losing weight, I would recommend you take a serious look at your calorie intake.  Calories in Vs. Calories out.  It doesn't get any simpler than that.
What do you consider working out like crazy?  How many calories were you burning during your workout?  How many calories were you taking in?  Sure you could be working out like crazy, but if you were still eating more calories than your bodie needed, you weren't going to lose weight.

Also post weight loss, it is easier to work out.  The exercise isn't so hard on  your body and you CAN do it.  Now it's a matter of deciding how hard you really want to work out.  Are you willing to push yourself past your comfort level?

Scott

Thanks guys ..  Good advice, ideas, and inspiration ..  !

 (and Bobby, you gave me an inspired thought there:       maybe I should hook up one of those exercise bike things to provide power to my computer, like they have for kids now to play their video games at home and get exercise at the same time ..         --  that would get my butt in gear!     )