Exercise Endeavors to Applaud

Watching for the first signs of weight loss after bariatric surgery is an exciting but nerve-wracking experience. You might be anxiously checking the scale every day or for signs of success, but sometimes this can leave you more discouraged than inspired. After Lap Band surgery, most patients can expect to lose one and a half to two pounds each week on average, but this will vary patient to patient—your Lap Band surgeon will be able to more accurately judge your expected weight loss.

The scale will always supply you with a definitive number to attribute to lost weight and improved physical fitness, but the number is not always reflective of the degree to which your weight loss and fitness are paying off. Instead of dwelling on the number projected at you from your scale’s digital display, focus on the other signs of success to stay motived for your weight loss after Lap Band surgery.

Here are some accomplishments for bariatric surgery patients to applaud today.

Pay attention to your clothes. This means not just what they look like on you, but how you feel wearing them. Just because the number on the scale isn’t dropping as fast as you might like, doesn’t mean your exercise routine isn’t helping you trim down. Try on some of the clothes you wore when you were at your heaviest and before you underwent bariatric surgery. You may notice that those clothes no longer hug your body in all of the wrong ways and might even actually be a bit too big for you now.

Feeling more comfortable in clothes that used to be too tight is an accomplishment in itself. You can even use this as an opportunity to buy a few new items that fit you better—but make sure to buy them with elastic so they can adjust as your body loses more weight!

• Tune in to increased energy levels. As you lose more weight and gain strength each day by exercising you will notice an increase in your energy levels, stamina that may well give you a mental boost. Exercising on a regular basis helps keep your brain mentally energized, leaving you feeling happier and more relaxed as the day goes on.
• Recognize workout milestones. If you previously could only walk or jog for a certain number of minutes in the beginning of your weight loss routine, try and see if your time has improved since. You may notice that where you only used to be able to jog for five minutes straight you now are jogging for a full ten minutes without needing to stop—and that is a feat worth celebrating!
• Applaud your weight loss commitment. Forget the scale—your undeniable commitment to improving your health and getting in shape after bariatric surgery alone is worth praising. Working out on a consistent basis is hard to do for even the healthiest of people, so you should be proud of yourself for committing to weight loss and making health your number one priority. Not many people have the courage and dedication to undergo Lap Band surgery and denounce their unhealthy past ways of living, so honor your decisions and keep looking up!

It’s exciting for bariatric surgery patients to keep a look-out for signs of weight loss and exercise success—just make sure you’re not relying on the scale to pat you on the back. Keep some of these exercise accomplishments in mind when tracking your progress of improved fitness after Lap Band surgery.