mngreeneyes

The best answer I have ever heard on this question is "whatever gets you to move consistently". It should be something you enjoy and will do consistently. There is no one correct exercise regime. I am a runner. I am also a swimmer, but I haven't been able to get motivated to swim much lately so for now I just run mostly and do some strength training. I started about a year ago with the Couch to 5k program. (google it or get the app.) If you can walk for 30 minutes without difficulty you can do the program. I still set no land speed records, but I have run a 10 mile race as well as numerous 5ks. I have a 5k coming up in a weekish. I am also schedule for 2 10 mile races and 2 half marathons between now and October. This is what works for me. I am hooked on running. Even in the cold winters in MN, I run outside! Find your bliss and stick with it. It will serve you well! pam

I started running 1 month after surgery. I used the couch 2 5K program. Its great. I ran a 10 mile race this fall at 10 months post op. I am scheduled to run 2 5Ks, 2 10 milers, and 2 half marathons in 2017. I am now 13 months out from surgery. In the time since I started this journey and espoecially since I started running, I have found @@JamieLogical to be an amazing source of information and encouragement. She has written some really well thought out posts about running and exercise. She is more than 2 years post op now and has run a marathon (I believe). This is one of the best posts I have seen about running as a bariathlete. http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/363681-beginners-guide-to-running-for-the-obese/ It doesn't appear that Jamie is on here much nowadays, but if you search for her you can see her wealth of knowledgeable posts. Good luck! pam

I am 13 months out from RNY surgery. My surgeon has had me on VItron C since before surgery. It is Iron plus C so it is easier to absorb. I haven't had any issues with my iron levels although I did lose a bunch of hair but that doesn't seem to be related. pam

I walked for the first month and then was cleared for anything else. I started the couch to 5K as soon as I was cleared. pam

Well, What a year this has been! Life has flown this past year, especially the last few months, but I made it to one year. I couldn't be happier with how the last year has gone. In the last 12 months I have, lost nearly 105 pounds, 5 pants sizes almost 6, some hair, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and GERD. I have gained confidence, energy, and health. I have finished the Couch to 5K program, run several 5Ks, completed a super sprint triathlon in under an hour, run a 10 mile race in 2 hours and 16 minutes, and traveled to Montana for a "working" vacation including running a saw mill, herding cattle and horses, fighting a wildfire, and running every morning before work! My life isn't perfect. I am still single, no dates, still working a job I need to get out of, still obese (according to my BMI), but only obese. I have an apron and hanging skin in all the usual places. My hair got noticeably thinner, but its coming back. I still have about 5 more pounds to the overweight BMI category and 35 to my goal and I am still losing slowly. But here's the most important thing of all, I feel better, stronger, healthier than I ever remember feeling in my life and I wouldn't trade it for the world. This journey has had ups and downs, but there have definitely been more ups than downs. What are my plans for year two? Well, I have already signed up for three 5ks, a 10k, a 10 mile, and 2 half marathons. I am hoping to do a sprint triathlon as well. I want to get my 5k time down to 30 minutes or less and continue to be active and injury free. I plan to lose those last 35 pounds and do whatever else tickles my fancy! I am working on the different job. To everyone out there who might be struggling, know that it gets better. To all the vets who have been such great support this past year+, thank you from the bottom of my much healthier heart! To everyone, in the immortal words of Dori, "Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming." I mean that both in terms of the journey itself and in terms of getting moving however you can. Exercise has been an amazing and valuable part of my journey. I know we can't all run, but we can all move somehow. I promise all those fabulous endocrines are worth the effort! Enjoy the journey. pam

In Minnesota they don't take it away, they just clip the corner so only one is valid. The clipped corner means that you have to have a second piece of paper for it to be valid. I am hoping to get a new job soon and need to move so I am waiting for that before I change my license. It is also expiring on my birthday in December so I guess even without the job I'll be getting a new one! pam I'll keep an eye out for them. You missed Tuesday's clothing exchange. Next time, probably April, why not combine free shopping with a visit to NY? No matter what you wear or where you wear it, you're still tops. NY sounds lovely! I'll keep that in mind! LOL pam

That was a fluke. I only have so much clothes right now and I needed something that I could wear with comfortable shoes and wasn't too warm! It just happened to be red. My sis in law will take new photos this weekend in other colors I am sure. I'll post when I get them!

I got mine yesterday. I believe in herd immunity. I also work at a university. That stuff spreads like wildfire through our students, faculty, and staff when it gets started so the more I can do to prevent it, the better. pam

I decided that it was time to get a new headshot for work. I'll let you guess which one is which. Sadly the before photo )from 4 years ago) wasn't quite at my biggest. I don't think I completely realized how big I was. I can't believe that is me! Its even worse because I acknowledged that photo was me big because I saw it every day, but until I just put them side by side, I didn't quite get it. Look how much bigger my eyes look! I am just in awe of my changes. Now I am just waiting for my hair to grow back in! Sitting at 99 pounds gone and running a 10 mile race next week, LIFE IS GOOD! pam

I had the funniest thing happen related to this the other day. I was at a work function and someone commented on how I was getting too skinny. That person knew about my surgery and was paying me a compliment. One of my coworkers who also knows about my surgery quickly came to my defense thinking that the compliment was actually an insult and didn't want me to feel bad so she said, Pam has been working very hard to lose weight and is doing great. I had to let her know that I appreciated the defense, but it was a compliment! I have the best coworkers! pam

@@Raynbolite My experience was that it snuck up on me. I had surgery in November. It wasn't till July that I really noticed I was colder. I noticed it in the reduction of AC over the summer. It was our hottest July on record or close and I spent about half what I did last year on AC. Last summer I would sit in my livingroom with the window AC full blast in the bedroom right next to me and still be sweating. This summer I rarely set my AC above a 5 out of 10 and wasn't sweaty anywhere in my apartment! I also slept under blankets (light ones) all summer! I am a little concerned about making it through a Minnesota winter, but I can always put more clothes on. Sweating is so unattractive! pam

You know how the cliche goes about knowing something like the back of your hand? I wish I had taken photos of my hands and feet because I think they look very different, but because I have no photos, I can't prove it to myself! I do know that the dimples on my knuckles are gone, and my hands don't look like my hands! (I have gone down 3 ring sizes since November!) pam

@@laceemouse "They" started telling me I was fat at the age of 6 when the pediatrician put me on a diet (severely restrictive caloric intake) and had me lose 20 pounds. I did it, but at the time that was 1/3 of my weight. I was never a little skinny girl, but I was active and energetic, but with a healthy appetite. Enter the beginning of my issues with self image and food! I often wonder how my life would have been different if we had been given different advice from my pediatrician. Maybe more focus on healthy foods and portion sizes and being healthy rather than restricting calories and losing weight. I remember actually being told that my mom and I would get along better if I lost weight! I'm not sure how that tracked, especially since Mom had undiagnosed depression that caused her sometime violent outbursts. Talk about a huge weight to push on to a six year old. "If you lose weight, mom won't get so angry." or in a child's you are making mom mad because your fat so its all your fault. YIKES! I had several points in my life where I had the same attitude "I'll never be skinny, why bother?" I am just now realizing all the things I had given up because of my weight, energy, confidence levels. I am having a blast picking and choosing what and who I add back to my life now. pam

@@gowalking I think that is the key. I am willing to do things that I might not have considered before because now I have more energy and confidence. In my case, I also had some healing emotionally to do, especially in the area of teaching. I think I had some degree of PTSD from my last teaching job and it took 9 years for me to get past that enough to realize that I can teach without being a classroom/high school teacher. I don't know that I will ever go back there, but college academic success uses my gifts without the other craziness that drove me from teaching in the first place. Was I able to heal the PTSD wounds because I had gotten past my other issues due to WLS, very possibly. I don't care why at the moment, but I am super excited about where I seem to be headed now. pam