How much walking/how soon post-surgery?

[LinJax76]

So we all walked, walked, walked the halls...slowly, painfully following surgery.

I'm coming up to my 1 week surgiversary...been walking just around the block with my Fit Bit. 1500 steps, 2800 steps...today I walked twice and got caught dashing through a rainstorm--so abut more exercise than planned. But did 6400 steps--3 miles. THAT was a bit too much.

I'm hurting quite a bit this evening. Don't plan on doing gym for a couple weeks.

But curious. What was everyone's first-week or 2 home with the walking?

[Tamera2]

Congratulations on your surgery. First week I just walked around the house. Weather outside was nasty. Second week I walked 5-7miles a day. I walked everyday and joined our local rec center. They have an indoor track that I can use when the weather is bad. I had surgery in January. I got a Fitbit watch for Valentines Day and I love it. I also have Fitbit friends. We have fun competing against each other and encourage each other too. Best of luck. I'm happy to answer anymore questions.

[LinJax76]

Wow! Well now I feel like a slacker! Were you big into walking before? I had been hitting 5-7k a day before surgery.

I have lower back issues so sometimes long walk days don't agree with me.
Hence why I had the surgery--to help my lower back get better so I could strengthen it.

[Kindle]

I walked 2 miles/day the first and second days postop. I was in Tijuana and the Walmart plaza was a 1 mile round trip. My sister made me walk there with her twice/day to get her Starbucks fix. Walked a bunch in the airports day 3 and then didn't do much of anything days 4 and 5. I was back with my Fitbit day 6 and logged in 10,000-12,000 steps/day pretty much every day after that. At least 6,000 - 9,000 of these were at work, so there wasn't a whole lot of excess effort on my part to hit the 10,000+ mark.

[Tamera2]

Wow! Well now I feel like a slacker! Were you big into walking before? I had been hitting 5-7k a day before surgery.

I have lower back issues so sometimes long walk days don't agree with me.
Hence why I had the surgery--to help my lower back get better so I could strengthen it.

Don't beat yourself up you just had surgery. Your second week will feel better than your first. I started exercising which included walking and hiking 3 mos before my surgery. I started making changes because I was miserable and had a lot of pain issues too. I just felt the best way to help my weightloss besides changing my eating and having the sleeve is exercise. Reducing my weight as really helped my pain. I also work with a pain doctor and get treatments every 3 months. Getting ready to have a new procedure on my low back and it should last a year.
Try to reach the American heart recommendations on your steps next week. Just do your best and it should all get better. Having a Fitbit will help.

[jamma]

If you love to exercise, that's great! If you don't, you can do the minimum and still lose weight. At some point you must integrate regular exercise into your daily life or you won't keep losing/keep it off. My surgeon said not to worry about the gym and working out/taking classes for six weeks, just walk to avoid blood clots and promote a feeling of well-being--including alleviating constipation. As someone here pointed out--it's a marathon, not a sprint.

[jerzeygirl]

I was 61 years old when I had the surgery 6 years ago and walked 1 mile in 5 days. I haven't stopped yet and don't plan on doing so for a while continued success!!

[LinJax76]

Thanks everyone! I'm a former track athlete so i love and am not afraid of exercise. #committed

[Tamera2]

Take Care. Sounds like your motivated. Your going to do great. Feel free to ask any more questions if they come up. I also at the early stages found Ask Dr Alvarez show found on this site and YouTube helpful

[sraebaer]

It all depends on you. Have you been walking before surgery? You may be able to get started immediately. Are you seriously obese and haven't exercised at all in the past? Then start very slowly and listen to your body. (You could hurt yourself doing too much too soon.) Start with walking around your house, work up to once around the block, then twice, etc. Baby steps to build up distance. That's exactly how I became a runner, by doing a tiny bit at a time until I could run 3 miles. Don't compare yourself with anyone else, we all started at a different weight, health situation, and experience with exercise.

I was always a walker, but did feel a little dizzy my first few walks around the block after surgery. I interpreted that to mean I had done enough. But that didn't take long to go away. I think within 2 or 3 weeks I was back to my 3 mile a day walks. (Running didn't come for about a year and a half after that.)

Good luck to you!

[Christie13]

Everyone is different but my suggestion would be to listen to your body. You want to walk but you also want to be safe and take care of yourself.

[LinJax76]

I have been walking for months and did 3 miles the other day. I just have low blood sugar and with the low calories I just feel so weak. Not, not seriously obese. Just BMI of 40 but they let me do surgery to help with back problems..the other hurdle. I will persist. Was just curious how far others did first/second week.