How Much Did You Exercise PRE Band

[lingling 0]

Now, I reckon I exercise more than the average person - yet I am overweight..... I was talking to a thin friend of mine (male) on the phone tonight - who I have broached the subject of L/B with and he thinks I should "harden up" and put some effort in and just do Body For Life as thats what he's doing. Apparently (according to him) the portion of Protein in my meals and my laziness is responsible for the extra 60kg (150pd) I am carrying. (if only)

I am pre-band now, I have my second (and as yet, undecided) appointment with the Doc on the 2nd. I gym 3-4 times per week and play netball for 45 mins 1x per week. I don't really feel like I am being lazy - I mean I could definitely go every day - I could run in the morning, gym at lunch time and yoga at night... I feel like I am doing more than the average person, yet I am still fat, so I think to myself - maybe I AM lazy? Maybe the band is the easy way out because I embody everything bad everyone has ever said about me and I am a lazy slob and that's why I am overweight?

I have my ex personal trainer who is really lovely coming around next week to sort me out a programme. Which I will use band or no band. Part of me thinks that if I really GAVE it a shot, then perhaps I could beat the demon......? Maybe all that I have done so far is not what a dedicated person who really wanted it would have done?

Anyway, what I meant to write this post about was - is my level of exercise currently enough to enable me to lose post band? Or will I need to increase significantly? You all seem to say that its a HUGE lifestyle change and that the band gives you the impetus - - but what did you guys do before, and what do you do now?

Thanks x

[gingerbug 3]

I have spent months at the gym going nearly everyday and sweating my face off and never losing more than a few pounds. After 6-9 months of this I would get distracted and stop going for a while. The problem was not how much I was working out, it was how much I was eating. It is my opinion that since you already have a good habit of going to the gym, you have a great shot at being successful with the band. Those habits are already in place. Imagine what you could accomplish with one more tool in your arsenal!

[mandilou 1]

I am also pre-band, and I can understand your hesitation. Going to the gym has never been too hard for me. I enjoy working out, and I enjoy the feeling I get from working hard at the gym. But the problem for me is food intake, controlling cravings, and wanting to be consistent. The band for me will be a tool to help me get where I feel I am most comfortable, size-wise. It will help me maintain the hard work I am putting in.

In the past, I haven't had long term success. Losing 20 lbs, or even 100 lbs., is hard enough. KEEPING it off? Well, that's been impossible for me. And so that's why it's worth it to me to go through the surgery... to have a tool that will help me make this a LIFESTYLE, not just another failed diet.

I've found that keeping a food log the past couple of weeks has been REALLY eye opening, showing me exactly how many calories I had been consuming, and helping me keep that under wraps now. Maybe try that, and see if your problem isn't so much being "lazy" (which I would say you're not), but rather your intake?

Also, if you've been exercising the same way, the same amount, for an extended period of time, perhaps it's time to switch it up, or add some time on? I've seen a lot of people on this board who, as they lose weight, or get "used" to their exercise, need to work harder to keep losing.

Good luck!!

[MacMadame 81]

Your friend is a doofus. :thumbup: For one thing, it takes 3500 calories more expended than put in to lose a pound. I go to the gym 4-6x a week and expend around 300 calories each time. So to lose 100 lb., would take about 4.5 years -- give or take. This is assuming that all that working out didn't make me hungrier so I just ate more.

The piece that your friend is missing is that WLS allows you to be satisfied on much less food. When we go on a diet without it and eat around 1200 calories a day, we are hungry all the time. People can do that for a short time, but very few can do it forever. But with WLS, a smaller amount of calories feels perfectly reasonable so eating like that forever is completely doable.

[Jachut 487]

If only it were that easy.

But there are a few mistakes that people make, and only YOU can know if you make them.

Firstly, look around any gym and half the people are wasting their time completely. Working in their "fat burning zone" meaning that their heart rate is low enough that they can talk while they walk on the treadmill or do the elliptical. Forget that for starters unless you're just starting out or are very out of condition. You want a heart rate closer to 75% of your max, and you can throw in intervals of higher if you're fit enough to do it. You want to be sweating, and really getting hot and talking should not be an option.

Standing round between weights machines and taking long breaks between sets, unless you're specifically doing a super specialised heavy gaining program is also not achieving a lot. You want lots and lots of compound exercises that use more than one muscle group at a time to really torch calories not waste your time on the inner/outer thigh machine or any other machine that works only one muscle group at a time. A barbell and some squats will always be better.

Do you remain active for the REST of the day? So many people exercise an hour a day and then do nothing else for the rest of the day. You need to remain active (which gets easier as you get fitter, because at first, workouts like that will exhaust you). And you need lots of cardio, a few hour long sessions of cardio a week will work wonders, especially combined with strength training. But an hour consisting of 20 minutes on the treadmill and then using various one muscle group machines with lots of standing round and resting is an hour that could be spent better.

Bandsters dont tend to fall into the trap of increasing calorie consumption unconsciously to make up for the exercise so much as unbanded people, but I know I'm prone to this myself.

And I agree, no exercise will work miracles unless your diet is really good, log your food, keep the calories low etc. I'm not sure on the Protein part of the equation, I dont do high Protein myself.

Before I was banded, I did gym sporadically, but I did the type of workouts I'm describing and they never helped me control my weight. Once I started running, doing interval training and circuit training, I cannot believe how my body has responded to it.

You spend a good amount of time exercising but perhaps it could be better structured? I dont know what you do, but perhaps your trainer will have some pointers to you. And I find that five sessions over three makes a big difference for me, so do try to keep to the most you can do.

In some ways i agree, if I had done this before being banded, I never ever would have been as fat as I got, but I think I still would have had a weight problem, it just probably would have stayed to the 30lb it always was before I had babies.

Edited January 22, 2009 by Jachut

[donnabarney 0]

I did not do a thing pre-surgery. it gave me a boose, I work out 5 days a week now. I'm hoping I will not need surgery after for the loose skin, so far so good, and I'm toned. I would advise everyone who has this surgery to get off their butts, unless they want another surgery that will be painful to get rid of the fat folds.

good luck, and the band really helps me I could not have done it without.

its about 50/50% band and will power and you must I repeat must do a lifestle change!

[susan1961 0]

A couple of points:

a) look at the statistics about sustained weight loss, without surgery, among the obese. Yes, some can do it, but odds are about 10:1.

Exercise ALONE will not get you to loose the weight. This is especially true of women. Both exercise and calorie restriction are required.

I had lost the weight before, and knew I could lose it again. What I've never been able to do is KEEP IT OFF. To sustain weight loss would require a single-minded focus that I, as a professional and mother, could not sustain. Plus, frankly, I didn't want the number one priority and effort in my life to be maintaining my weight! I knew the lapband would provide the extra edge to succeed where I hadn' t been able to before. It isn't a cop-out... it's a tool. Trust me, there's nothing lazy about this approach... but it is easier, and obviously much more likely to be successful.

In short: tell your friend to pound salt. :scared2:

[TQUAD64 9]

I di not spend enough time exercising pre-band. I had back, knee, and ankle pain from the excess weight. Walking was painful back then.

No problems now. 30 pounds down has rid me of the back, knee and ankle pain. I exercise 5X a week.

[susan1961 0]

LOL and to address the actual thread question:

It was not unusual for me to bike 100 miles a week (at 18mph pace) on my bike, do pilates 2-3x/week, lift weights a few times a week, and take the stairs up 6 flights at work- before banding. No shortage of exercise for me, before or after.

[travelinsnorkel 0]

I worked out pre-band a lot. Worked with a trainer 2-3 times a week, did pilates, worked out on my own as well, and I am an active person. HOWEVER, I loved to eat! I ate more than I was burned. I am eating less and now it is a lot easier to work out and I am able to do more challenging things at the gym. Good luck to you!

[kossde 6]

You know- honestly, I never exercised pre-band. It was too hard, too strenuous. Today, I do about 30-40 minutes of good, thorough cardio 4 to 5 times a week.

Some people told me the same things pre-band, “exercise more- eat less”. Like it was that easy. They never understood, my life was about what their life would be if they carried a 180lb man on their back 24 hours a day (and had to feed him too.) Let’s see how well they exercise and eat under those conditions.

I think the fact that you exercise now will make your transition into banded life very easy. You will find that exercise becomes much easier, less unenjoyable (I still haven’t managed to actually enjoy exercise) and all around more fruitful.

Congratulations to you for deciding to take your life into your own hands. If your friend is a good friend (and I’m sure he is) he will come around when he sees how happy you are after you’ve begun to lose weight.