how many days a week do YOU workout?

[Erin18 143]

just a random thread

and just want to know (:

i need some motivation too cause i feel a bit stressed and my mind hurts.

[Erin18 143]

and what do YOU do to workout? what kind of workouts do you do? that kind of thing

[ElfiePoo 109]

Zero. Just the idea of exercise stresses me out. :smile2:

[Erin18 143]

i know right?

i wanna workout/walk 4 or atleast 3 days a week

[ElfiePoo 109]

i know right?

i wanna workout/walk 4 or atleast 3 days a week

One of the things I've learned over the years is that we need to make life changes that we can live with. If we do things that we hate, we most likely will not stick with them long term and will give up on them and be right back to where we were.

Now, some people will say they hated to exercise but now love spending 2-4 hours in a gym. My guess is that they only hated it because it was difficult due to being out of shape and overweight.

I, on the other hand, detested exercise even before I was overweight. As a child, I was not overweight and I detested phys. ed or any type of enforced activity. When my parents sent me out to get some 'fresh air', I'd take a book and curl up under a tree. I find walking (treadmill or outdoors) just for the sake of walking to be boring. Same with working out in a gym. These are activities I could never keep up long term.

However, I enjoy swimming. I used to enjoy tennis and raquetball even when I was 60 pounds overweight. I swim one day a week now, but am considering getting a membership to our local YMCA so I can swim a couple times a week or more. I'm hoping that once I drop another 35-40 pounds, I'll discover I still like to play raquetball. My husband could use the exercise too.

Find what you like to do (or what you used to like to do) and then do it. You're more likely to stick to it long term.

.

[vlp1968 83]

I do cardio on the treadmill about 5 days a week and work out with a trainer 3 days a week. Excersise has been key to my weight loss. I lost 107 pounds in about 10 months. That never would have happened without working out. You can do it. Just start out slow and gradually increase the intensity.

[ElfiePoo 109]

Vlp,

Just to give the other side of it...I lost 70 pounds in 3 months...without exercising.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to convince anyone to not exercise or increase their activity...and that increased activity will be key the closer we get to our goal weight...just that we shouldn't put an excess amount of focus on it. Recent studies (they're on the 'net for anyone interested) have shown that people who did not exercise lost more weight and kept it off long term than those who did exercise because (a) those exercising said they were hungrier after exercising and tended to eat more afterwards and ( those exercising didn't keep up the exercising long term because it was not something they enjoyed.

I think the trick is in finding an activity or activities that we enjoy and then making time for them in our life.

.

[BetsyB 9]

Every single day. I have a persistent, nagging personal trainer in the form of an energetic lab-shepherd, and we walk 3.5 FAST at least once, and usually twice, a day. I am in the process of bumping up distance, so that my duration of activity is longer for each walk. (What started out as hour-long walks decreased to around 40 minutes for the same distance, so I'm aiming for an hour again; not sure what distance I cover, but I suspect it's around 5 or just above.)

I also try to get to the gym for resistance training on alternate days, but am spotty about that. I like doing it, but it's harder to fit in to a workday than a walk in the morning and a walk in the evening.

For me, exercise is probably more important than the food choices I make. I know this will be especially true when it comes to maintenance.

ETA: I have to add that my body image has improved considerably with exercise--which I was doing regularly before surgery. Really, it's what gave me the confidence to move forward with banding, and to have faith in myself. For me, the benefits go far, far beyond promoting weight loss.

Edited September 29, 2010 by BetsyB

[va_viv 3]

I read somewhere (the other day) that it is important to exercise if you've had WLS because we're losing weight in a relatively faster speed then those that do it without WLS (I don't know if that's necessarily true with the band) and since that happens we lose muscle very fast...so what we eat turns into fat A LOT faster (which will affect us in the long run), so if you exercise you're building up your muscle again which is preventing you from producing fat. What was interesting was that last night on the biggest loser Dr. H mentioned something to that affect...so I'm assuming that what I read had some truth to it.

Thought I woud share

[amandac82 0]

I HATE working out and I HATE they gym.... so I do Zumba twice a week, which I do love and I do cardio and strenght training once a week. I am not a personal trainer type of girl. My personalitywont allow it and my Dr is happy with that. Now that it is getting into the awesome fall weather I am going to take short walks in my neighborhood.

[2beskinny 4]

The band diet varies greatly from patient to patient, however, one thing that is fairly consistent is LOW CARB, high Protein (and of course low fat). Here's the issue carbs...it is the easiest/fastest macronutrient for our bodies to convert to energy (the sugar from a goooy glazed donut hits our blood stream as fast as drinking a glass of regular coke!) Protein takes the longest for our bodies to break down and convert to energy. Since the body takes it's time with the protein, it turns to our energy stores a little quicker (which means more rapid weight loss). This is a great concept except that our bodies also use our MUSCLE for energy, not just our fat stores. It is so important to keep your "muscle stores" replenished so that we don't lose it all in the name of a lower number on the scale. Also don't forget that more muscle mass = higher metabolism, too. I'm not fooling myself that I'm going to look like Jillian Michaels some day, but I lift weights 2-3x per week and do 40-60 minute cardio sessions (run/elliptical) at least 5x week. Sometimes I do it at 5:30 in the morning or 10:00 at night if that's the only time of day I have. It's another part of the equation that we must solve for ourselves...how bad do you want it? I have not been perfect on my diet...in fact I am kicking my own ass these days about the reasons why this has been the case and I am re-committing to my eating plan. Through all my food plan ups/downs, exercise has kept me from sliding backwards and still (slowly) moving in the right direction despite my numerous slip ups!

[jenn79co 13]

I walk/jog 4 miles 5 to 6 days a week. I had surgery a year ago today. For the first 10 months I just sat on my butt and lost about 25 pounds. I was not happy with myself for being soooooo lazy! So the first of August I really kicked up my exercise. I have lost an additional 23 pounds. I have come to realize I didn't choose Lap Band just to get skinny, but I want to be all around healthy and happy! My motivation is seeing that scale move down and feeling my clothes getting bigger. Also I sleep so much better now. Because I am actually tired and worn out!

[tylee72198 10]

Does running around after a 2 and 3 year old count?

[tylee72198 10]

I zumba 3 to 5 days a week, and I do toning also 3 days a week.

[sara31 2]

va_viv - I thought the SAME thing. I am just 14 days out of banding but I am DYING to get back to doing some training other than walking simply because I DO NOT want to lose muscle! I did a 4 week boot camp program before surgery and now that I know that I can do it, I want to. I feel so weak though - I know its because I am only allowed Protein Drinks so far (that should change tomorrow, YAY). I am just so ready to get rid of this weak feeling.

I started back walking about a week out of surgery and this week I bumped up to about 2 miles.

I am just ready to be cleared for something, anything!

No muscle loss for me if I can help it!