Bariatric Fitness for Your New Life

Fitness or exercise may seem like a simple component in the treatment phase of obesity, and thus it is often underemphasized and overgeneralized. You’ve probably heard your doctor say that you need to exercise more; maybe they’ve even told you to start walking, or suggested that you do some water aerobics or join a gym. And herein lies part of the problem: Where do you start? What exactly should you do? How long should you exercise? How many sets and reps do you do? The list goes on. Although I applaud the physicians that encourage their patients to be physically active, exercise can be overwhelming for someone who is 50, 100, 200, or even 300 to 400 pounds overweight. And your doctor may not be the only one badgering you to exercise. Are your friends, family, and coworkers pushing you as well? You may have the best intentions to get moving, but you’re unclear about what to do and have added this outside pressure from others. Maybe you’ve tried to exercise in the past, but every time you do you’ve experienced some of this: everything hurts, breathlessness, you feel weak, you injure yourself, you’re not seeing results, you get bored, or simply give up. If you’re already exercising, you might be at a point of frustration because you’re not seeing progress with your weight loss. All of this may be weighing you down even more than your excess weight. I’ve been working with the bariatric population for over a decade and what I’ve described here is a reality for many. Bariatrics is a medical term that deals with the causes, prevention, and treatment of obesity. This includes both medical and surgical weight loss patients! This book, Bariatric Fitness for Your New Life, will specifically address the exercise component of obesity. Most health care providers will acknowledge the fact that exercise is an important component for improved health and decreased body fat, but few take the time or simply don’t have the knowledge base to provide a detailed program that will work for someone who is overweight to obese or has undergone bariatric surgery. Additionally, many of the mainstream fitness books, gyms, and programs are geared toward the moderately fit person with few to no medical conditions. Bariatric Fitness for Your New Life is all about exercise for long-term sustainable weight loss. If you’ve had bariatric surgery, this book is for you. Even if you’ve never had the surgery (but maybe have contemplated it), and desperately want to lose weight and—more importantly—keep it off, this book is sure to guide you down a path of exercise and long-term weight loss success. There is a science behind exercise for weight loss. I’ve spent most my health and fitness career helping overweight to obese people get fit and lose weight. Many of my clients have had bariatric weight-loss surgery, and through my education and experience, I have found the formula for long-term weight loss success, revealed in this book. It will inform, educate, and outline functional systematic exercise programs for those looking to lose the weight once and for all. Designed to be a self-help tool, you can jump from chapter to chapter in this book in order to gain valuable information to help you with your weight-loss goals. However, I highly encourage you to read the first two chapters before skipping around. The first chapter, Get Your Mind Right, is incredibly powerful because if you’re not in the right place mentally, you will struggle in your weight-loss journey. Chapter Two gives a detailed summary of how exercise will ensure that you keep the weight off. Once you’ve absorbed this knowledge, you’ll be ready to dive into the workouts for weight loss: mobility work, cardiovascular training, strength training, and balance training. You’ll also learn about bariatric nutrition and fueling for weight loss. Finally, any program is only as good as you are at following it, so methods for keeping yourself accountable will also be addressed. Before you begin any exercise program, you should consult your physician as well as identify your restrictions and what type of movements you must avoid as pertains to your limitations and current health condition. If one of the exercises fosters a movement that could hinder or further injure your condition, be sure to avoid these exercises (i.e., if you have osteoarthritis in your knees, do not do lunges or high-impact activities such as running). Generally speaking, avoid or modify an exercise if you feel pain in a particular joint. Joint pain is not healthy pain. If the discomfort is in the muscle due to the activity itself, you are generally safe to continue (unless you have injured the muscle itself)