BariatricEating.com Health & Nutrition

Exercise

Since we are patients as well as bariatric professionals, we know that the dirty little secret of weight loss surgery is that way too few patients do any exercise at all after their procedure. Be different from the slugs at your support group who are almost proud they don’t exercise; make up your mind right now that every minute of movement, no matter how small, is worthwhile and will help you lose more weight. You had surgery that cut your stomach in half or banded for gosh sakes - this is life, move around! Exercise increases your metabolism and maximizes early weight loss opportunity.

If you are too large or too unhealthy to do much, start off with a short purposeful distance and even if you manage just one step further than you did the day before, you are ultimately working your way up to both your exercise and weight loss goals. All we are asking for you to do is start.

Walking is one of the best and easiest things to do. Signing for a platinum gym membership is overly ambitious; whereas walking with a friend each day would be a more realistic, longer lasting objective for someone who did little or no exercise for so long.

Hop in your car and drive one-half mile from the front of your house making note of a landmark so you have a measured distance goal. Enroll someone to be your commitment buddy. Grab a sports bottle of Nectar protein and head out the door! If you know someone’s waiting for you, you’ll be there!

The first days or weeks are an adjustment period, we arent trying to break any speed or endurance records, but we aren't taking an afternoon stroll either, we want to break a sweat and feel our heart beating. Your body will soon get the message that we are going to be moving! Go at a comfortable pace for your health situation. If you are in poor health and are just starting make sure you have medical clearance with your primary care physician and bariatric surgeon and dont overdo it. Our surgeons generally agree that we can start walking within a few weeks of our surgery.

Music has been proven to make exercise feel easier, so you will stick to it longer, burn substantially more calories and tone your body. In fact, studies show people who listen to music walk 11% to 24% farther without even realizing it.

We've created iPod playlists that give us about 45 minutes of walking on the treadmill or down your street; these songs vary in beat to keep us moving at a good target speed and are a lot of fun. I honestly gain strength from the music and it drives me to finish.

I used to stare at the timer on the treadmill and think that I couldn’t take much more, that I should stop and how much I hated it. I don’t hate working out once the music starts.

If you walk to the beat of faster paced songs you will take about 110-130 steps per minute. For the average person, that equates to about 3-4 miles per hour. We arent starting at this pace... start at a pace that is reasonable for your current health status and increase your speed as you gain health and lose weight.

Here are my current favorite music playlists... nobody had better laugh, I am 46! If you dont have a downloadable player, you can burn a CD to play on an inexpensive portable! I challenge anyone to stand still with these songs playing. YOU HAVE TO MOVE!

Now... think of a song that makes you happy and move to the music of your new life!

Rock & Roll Playlist
Honky Tonk Women, Rolling Stones
Walk This Way, Aerosmith
Mas Tequila, Sammy Hagar
Money For Nothing, Dire Straits
Higher Ground, Red Hot Chili Peppers
It's My Life, Bon Jovi
Love In An Elevator, Aerosmith
Why Can't This Be Love, Van Halen

Country Playlist
No One Else On Earth, Wynonna
I Feel Lucky, Mary Chapin Carpenter
If You're Not In It For Love, I'm Outta Here, Shania Twain
Redneck Woman, Gretchen Wilson
Keep Your Hands To Yourself, Georgia Satellites
Don't Be Stupid, Shania Twain
Romeo, Dolly Parton
A Little Less Talk And A Lot More Action, Toby Keith

Latina Playlist
Smooth, Santana
Shake Your Bon Bon, Ricky Martin
Turn The Beat Around, Gloria Estefan
I Like It, Tito Puente
Cup of Life, Ricky Martin
Let’s Get Loud, Jennifer Lopez
I Need to Know, Marc Anthony
Rhythm Divine, Enrique Iglesias

Fun Playlist 2
All I Wanna Do, Cheryl Crow
It’s Just The Way That You Love Me, Paula Abdul
I Feel For You, Chaka Khan
Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting, Elton John
Kiss, Prince
Lady Marmalade, Christina Aguilera
All She Wants To Do Is Dance, Don Henley