After gastric bypass surgery: Exercise is important

Exercise is important after weight loss surgery because you will be losing weight quickly. When your body realizes how rapidly your weight is decreasing, it tries to hold onto the stores of fat to prevent starvation. When this happens, your body will burn muscle mass and keep the stored fat. That is why it is so important to regularly exercise so your metabolism (rate which you burn calories) increases and your body burns up the excess fat and not muscle mass.

Exercise also strengthens your heart and bones, burns calories, increases your metabolism and relieves stress. For these reasons, exercise must become a daily routine in your new life.

If you aren't used to exercising, start out slowly.

Do five minutes one day and keep increasing the time.
Work up to at least 30 to 45 minutes of exercise each day.
You will get the same benefits if you exercise for 10 minutes three times a day, 15 minutes twice a day or 30 minutes once a day.

There are good exercise videos for people who are out of shape and for those who have bad knees or backs.

Walking is the best exercise after your surgery.

As you exercise you will lose more weight because you are burning calories and increasing your metabolism. This is especially important to keep your weight from plateauing.

Exercise tips

Following these tips will help you make exercise a daily part of your new lifestyle.

Find an exercise partner.
Join an exercise club or class.
Listen to your favorite motivational music as you exercise.
Try mall walking, aerobics, swimming or dancing.
If you have a dog, take it for a walk every day.
Wear comfortable clothing and shoes.
Park 15 minutes from your workplace or walk during your lunch or breaks.
Use stairs instead of the elevator.
Try not to use TV remote controls or cordless telephones.

Take a walk!

Walking is the most popular exercise after gastric bypass surgery.

"Shape Up America!" is a national initiative to promote increased physical activity and healthy weight maintenance. Part of this initiative is the 10,000 Steps Program.

To get the right amount of activity you should take 10,000 steps a day. The average person takes between 700 and 2,500 steps a day. To reach the goal of 10,000 steps a day, you can walk, jog or run. Here's how to get started:

For two weeks, check how many steps you take every day by wearing a pedometer. (It will count slow and fast steps.) Keep track of your steps.
At the end of the two weeks, make a goal for adding steps. For instance, you may want to take 2,500 steps a day for two weeks. Keep adding steps until you reach 10,000 steps a day.

Strength training

When your surgery lifting restrictions are lifted, you may decide to start strength (resistance) training for improving muscle tone and strength.

You can use free weights (dumbbells), resistance bands or weight machines.
If possible, start a strength training program with a certified trainer.
To get the most benefit out of weight training, it is important to do these exercises safely and correctly.

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that people do strength training twice a week. Make sure that you do not target the same muscle group two days in a row. Muscles need to rest 48 hours between sessions.