Dave,

I am about 7 weeks out from a Sleeve Gastrectomy. I have always been an active, sports-loving big guy (playing and ocachong basketball, walking the golf course, softball in my yute, etc.)

One of the biggest concerns for me with the surgery was (and is) about the ability to play sports and otherwise be active. I am 6'5" and was very concerned that the limited calories in the first year of post-surgery would turn me into a walking zombie, unable to be as active as I want to be.

I was very successful in the pre-surgery plan, losing 100 pounds on my own. That really helped me to restart some of the sports I had had to give up due to my deteriorating joints. I decided to continue through the process and have the surgery to help with my last 80 pounds of weight loss and for help keeping it off in the future.

Immediately post-surgery, I was up and around almost immediately, with much less pain and discomfort than I expected. I attribute that to the good shape I went in with. Within a week or two, I was back to exercising lightly, and after three weeks, I got clearance to resume weight training, except for abdominal work. I am not sure if this is likely for RnY patients. I spent some of my time off work walking the golf course and that went well as well.

Energy-wise, I have not had a huge dropoff during the day. The main thing I see is that when I go to bed, I am out really quickly, so i am sure that the low calorie input is having an effect. I am back to coaching (haven't played with adults yet) and am doing great!

Many others here have become much more athletic post-surgery than they ever were pre-surgery, so while it is not a guarantee, it is very possible (and encouraged by almost all programs) to be active and athletic post-surgery.

Good luck!

Rob

I had RNY in March of 2012, so I'm about 2.5 years out. I'm 47 years old and female. I started at 347.5lbs and I'm sitting at 175lbs today. So, I recovered from surgery quickly. I had surgery on a Friday, came home from the hospital on Sunday morning and never needed pain killers after that. It took about 3 weeks before I was cleared for exercise more vigorous than walking. That being said I didn't really exercise for about a year post op (I wouldn't recommend this, but it's what I did). I wasn't sedentary, I have small children and stay home with them but I surely wasn't working out. A year post op I decided to exercise. So, I've been exercising 5-6 days a week for about 18 months. I went from not being able to do a single push up to being able to do 100+ on my knees and 30+ on my toes (though I'll admit my form could use some work). I ran the Disneyland Avengers 1/2 marathon last Sunday and finished it. I have arm and shoulder muscles for the 1st time in my life and I lift more weight on a leg press machine than most of the body builder guys at my gym (though they KILL me on anything upper body related). I do a 45 min boot camp (crossfit like) class 4 mornings a week, I run for 60 min 3 mornings a week, I lift weights 3 days a week and I do some other form of cardio (bike, stairclimb, elliptical machine) for 60 min. 3 times a week. I'd like to drop another 40lbs so I'll need to start watching my intake a bit more now that I'm not training for the 1/2 marathon anymore. Between now and the end of the year I'm running 3 more 5K's, a 15K and a 5K obstacle run. So, will you be able to be active post op. Yes. Will you lose strength, perhaps some, but if you keep your protein intake up and exercise it shouldn't be too bad. According to the body composition analyzer at my surgeon's office I've lost a approx. 19lbs of muscle since surgery. The rest has been water and fat loss.