Overcoming Fitness Fears After Bariatric Surgery

Having weight loss surgery is an important first step in your weight loss journey. However, after surgery your success will depend on the lifestyle changes you make, including getting plenty of exercise. If you haven’t exercised in a long time, you may feel anxious about starting a new fitness routine. Let’s take a closer look at some of your fears about exercise and how you can overcome them after bariatric surgery.

Overcoming Fitness Fears After Gastric Band Surgery

You never have enough time.

Perhaps the reason you’ve stayed out of the gym for so long is because your schedule is already packed. This is a common obstacle in today’s world, but it’s one you can overcome by prioritizing and organizing your time accordingly.

Try finding time to exercise in ten minute intervals throughout your day. Maybe you can take a ten minute walk after lunch at work and walk the dog for ten minutes after dinner. Can you get up ten minutes earlier in the morning? You don’t have to do all of your physical activity at once for it to add up. Three sessions of ten minutes still adds up to thirty minutes of extra activity.  And the benefits gained from this extra time are almost the same as if you did it all in one stretch.

You don’t feel comfortable in a gym.

A large fitness center can be intimidating for anyone, especially if you are out of shape or your size makes using some of the machine difficult. Many people are so intimidated by the gym environment that they avoid physical fitness all together. But you don’t have to spend time in a gym to get the benefits of exercise.

Remember that physical activity is about moving your body, not working out on certain machines in a special building. If going to a gym intimidates you, think of other ways to get active. Walk, ride a bike, or play with your kids outside. Invest in a set of resistance bands and do strength training in your living room.

If you’re committed to losing weight after weight loss surgery, meeting your goals may simply be a matter of doing some creative thinking. Take some time to consider what has prevented you from succeeding before and come up with new solutions that will work for your lifestyle.

What you may not realized yet is that as you lose weight after bariatric surgery, you will have more energy and should find it easier to move about.  Getting active and exercising becomes easier and more enjoyable as moving becomes more comfortable. Before long many of the fears you now have about exercise will be gone and you will be well on your way to better health.