Re: Help and Encouragement

[Guest guest]

The good news is that you can lose weight without

exercise, although exercising certainly can help speed

things along. If you are very housebound, you can try

some of those chair exercising tapes. You sit in a

chair, but still do some moves, and it's a good thing

to kind of help loosen you up a bit, as well as

develop more muscle. You can find these tapes (I

think you can try " Sit and Fit " or something like

that) on line, and also, i think that you can borrow

them from kaiser's health education department.

As for the diet, I suggest you start out with the 1200

calorie diet that Kaiser hands out to Richmond

patients (and I think other areas also give it out).

It is in one of the files on this gastric bypass

board. it is very nutritionally sound. Try that,

without deviation, for a few days...and see what

happens. Make sure you drink a lot of water...it

always makes a big difference for me. Also, start

taking a multi-vitamin and supplement calcium. Nonfat

yoghurt is a great thing...or nonfat milk, because

studies have shown that an increase in calcium can

really help your weight management.

If you aren't losing, you may have to adjust your

calorie intake, due to your probable inactivity.

Start by eliminating 50 to 100 calories, and see what

happens.

The other thing that really helped me was Sugar Free

Popsicle brand popsicles. They are only 5 calories,

they are pretty satisfying, and they are a nice little

treat. You can't do a lot of harm with them, even if

you went wild one day and ate 10 of them, you'd only

be eating 50 calories.

try not to do anything crazy...stick to the basics,

and get your nourishment in. Be kind to your body.

you are eager to lose, that's great..but it won't

happen overnight, and give yourself permission for

that. Once you get down to having surgery, it will

happen at the speed of light...so in the time before,

when you are losing weight without the extra help the

surgery provides, use that time to dig deep...think

about what food means to you, what purpose it is

serving in your life..whether you need to find

alternative ways to handle stress or anger or fear or

depression or boredom...and give yourself time to

adjust to a new lifestyle.

Good luck!

Robynn

5'6 "

261.5 at orientation

235.5 at surgery (6/8/05)

155 today (size 8)

--- wrote:

> I need to know what you have done to lose the 10%.

> I am having my

> surgery in Fremont and was told I could start losing

> before the

> orientation mtg, which is Aug 19th. It is hard for

> me to exercise

> because of osteo arthritis and the pain, but, I am

> determined to lose

> as much as I can in the next 5 wks. I need to lose

> about 27 lbs to

> meet my 10% goal. Donna, I know you have had a

> great success, as well

> as a lot of others. Can you give me some ideas? I

> am really having a

> difficult time getting up to move and I know I have

> to. I am going

> tomorrow to get vits. Any help is greatly

> appreciated.

> Thanks, ---On Angel Wings

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

>

> I need to know what you have done to lose the 10%. I am having my

> surgery in Fremont and was told I could start losing before the

> orientation mtg, which is Aug 19th. It is hard for me to exercise

> because of osteo arthritis and the pain, but, I am determined to lose

> as much as I can in the next 5 wks. I need to lose about 27 lbs to

> meet my 10% goal. Donna, I know you have had a great success, as well

> as a lot of others. Can you give me some ideas? I am really having a

> difficult time getting up to move and I know I have to. I am going

> tomorrow to get vits. Any help is greatly appreciated.

> Thanks, ---On Angel Wings

>

you have to reduce your intake, try 700-800 calories a day, and drink

a ton of water.

Kerry

[Guest guest]

Good luck in your journey! Tried to just move. Any movement will

help get you going. I am firm believer " dance like no ones watching "

My family think I am nuts but it helps to 'shake around'

I also drank lots of watered down prune juice and snacked on those 100

calorie snack packs, I liked the chex mix ones. Also chicken broth

and cottage cheese. It took me about 6 weeks to finally lose the last

11 lbs that were nagging me for a long time. I took so long to lose

the weight it became a joke with the nurses at Richmond.

I started in March of 03. I didn't ever follow the 1200 calorie diet

until feb of this year. I thought I could do it on my own. As if 'on

my own' didn't get me where I was to begin with.

You can do it! Just move around when ever and where ever you can.

Good luck!

Bobbie Jo

3-03 228

surgery 4-06 199

today 162~~~

[Guest guest]

With my arthritis and fybromyalgia the pain does get bad, but let me tell you after you get some weight off and the more you exercise and work all the muscles and joints they become less stiff and easier to use. It was very hard at first, so I went to the health education at Kaiser and got the tape Chair Dancing, when I first started it I couldn't do the whole work up, I just stuck to it day after day and then I was able to do the whole tape and walk alot before surgery came. Right after surgery I walked and never stopped just keep increasing the distance and later shorting the time. Then I started other things like bicycling, and swim aerobics and I love them both. Now I do yard work, keep the house, paint the house, run with the children and so much more. I still have pain days and I know when I've over done, but I found that heat always helps. I do better in summer than winter. So I bought an electric

blanket and even if it's warm out if the pain is bad I turn it on get under it for about 5 minutes and the pain is better, than a warm shower on warm days, in the winter I leave it on low all night and I'm not stiff. I use to not be able hardly to get out of bed in the morning if my pain was bad at night. Also make sure your getting all the water, we never realize how it helps even our muscles. I hope some of this helps you, don't give up due to the pain, because after the weight lose you will improve and you will love life so much better. The pain will never be totally gone, but for me such an improvement, I can handle it and am willing to do so many things I never dreamed I would be doing. Take care. Donna J wrote: I need to know what you have done to lose the 10%. I am having my surgery in Fremont and was told I could start losing before the orientation mtg, which is Aug 19th. It is hard for me to exercise because of osteo arthritis and the pain, but, I am determined to lose as much as I can in the next 5 wks. I need to lose about 27 lbs to meet my 10% goal. Donna, I know you have had a great success, as well as a lot of others. Can you give me some ideas? I am really having a difficult time getting up to move and I know I have to. I am going tomorrow to get vits. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks, ---On Angel Wings Donna JordonDSJordon@...

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[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I see that you have already gotten some good advise from Robynn, Bobbie

Jo and others - so excuse my chiming in.

I truly know how difficult it can be to exercise with pain and

restricted mobility. Before my WLS I could barely drag myself around

on crutches and was rapidly approaching the point where I'd no longer

be able to even get on my feet. I have 3 squished discs in my low back

(how do like that for a medical description?), my knees are arthritic

and degenerated to the point of bone-on-bone and a nerve impingement in

my shoulder. Add to that the fact that I was carrying around 375

pounds on my 5'1" frame. I dredge up that picture to simply establish

that I do understand how challenging exercise can be.

Nonetheless . . . I steadfastly assert that anyone who is capable of

moving anything at all can exercise to some degree. Sometimes it takes

help and education, but it can be done. If you can't manage it on your

own - then have your pcp refer you to physical therapy.

The recommendations for chair exercise are good ideas. It seems that

most Kaisers do have "Chair Dancing" available for loan. Personally -

I really don't much care for that particular video - but I used it to

learn the exercise movements. I also used "Sit Tight"

video - which I liked much better. Unfortunately I've already given

away my copy - but it is still available. The best price I could find

for it was $13.99 at Amazon.com. There are also quite a few other

workout videos for folks with limited mobility or other special needs.

I went through the tapes a few times to learn movements - then I just

put music that makes me want to move on the stereo and danced in my

chair. It took me a while to work up to the point where I could dance

for any great length of time, but I just kept at it - several times a

day. I was SO glad that there was no one around to watch. It can't

have been a pretty sight.

Water aerobics are also a good idea. I found that working in the

shallow end of the pool was still too much impact for me, but the deep

water was great. In addition to the water aerobics, I also swam laps.

Remember that any and all movement counts - it doesn't have to be an

"official" workout.

You didn't specially address the diet part of your routine. How are

you doing there? Be careful not to try to restrict yourself too much.

You don't want to put your body into starvation mode and you do need

strength to exercise and you need to be healthy enough to have surgery.

Sorry that I've gotten so long-winded, but this issue really touches

something in me.

Any chance that you'll be attending the Fremont WLS Support Group this

coming Friday? I will definitely be there.

Take care.

Kay (in San Leandro)

open RNY 12/1/03

wrote:

I need to know what you have done to lose the 10%. I am having my

surgery in Fremont and was told I could start losing before the

orientation mtg, which is Aug 19th. It is hard for me to exercise

because of osteo arthritis and the pain, but, I am determined to lose

as much as I can in the next 5 wks. I need to lose about 27 lbs to

meet my 10% goal. Donna, I know you have had a great success, as well

as a lot of others. Can you give me some ideas? I am really having a

difficult time getting up to move and I know I have to. I am going

tomorrow to get vits. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks, ---On Angel Wings

[Guest guest]

--- In gastric-bypass-support-kaiser-patients , Kay <

>Thank you everyone who responded to my post. Great ideas and advice.

Wish me luck and success!! --On Angel Wings

[Guest guest]

Here's good thoughts for luck and success. Take care. Donna J wrote: --- In gastric-bypass-support-kaiser-patients , Kay < >Thank you everyone who responded to my post. Great ideas and advice. Wish me luck and success!! --On Angel Wings Donna JordonDSJordon@...

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[Guest guest]

Thanks Donna, I wanna be just like you!! Keep me in your prayers.Donna Jordon wrote: Here's good thoughts for luck and success. Take care. Donna J wrote: --- In gastric-bypass-support-kaiser-patients , Kay < >Thank you everyone who responded to my post. Great ideas and advice. Wish me luck and success!! --On Angel Wings Donna JordonDSJordon@... Yahoo! Music Unlimited - Access over 1 million songs. Try it free.

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[Guest guest]

You're in my prayers. Take care. Donna J Rhinehart wrote: Thanks Donna, I wanna be just like you!! Keep me in your prayers.Donna Jordon wrote: Here's good thoughts for luck and success. Take care. Donna J

wrote: --- In gastric-bypass-support-kaiser-patients , Kay < >Thank you everyone who responded to my post. Great ideas and advice. Wish me luck and success!! --On Angel Wings Donna JordonDSJordon@... Yahoo! Music Unlimited - Access over 1 million songs. Try it free. Talk is cheap. Use Yahoo! Messenger to make

PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates starting at 1¢/min. Donna JordonDSJordon@...

Yahoo! Music Unlimited - Access over 1 million songs.

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