Making Exercise a Habit after Weight Loss Surgery

Though your bariatric surgeon in Ypsilanti or Saginaw will help you adjust to your changing diet after weight loss surgery, you’ll need to start adjusting to your exercise needs as well. Many people have trouble making exercise a consistent habit and this can make it hard to maintain your progress. Regular workouts are an important part of building a strong body capable of keeping weight off—skipping them will do you no good.

It can be hard to incorporate daily exercise into an already-busy schedule, but there are many strategies that can help you stick with your workout plans. Though creating an exercise schedule is a good first step, it’s important to follow through on your schedule if you hope to get the most out of your exercise program.

Ready to stick with your exercise commitments? Many things can help, including:

• Accountability. It’s easy to bail on workouts you plan alone—you’ll only be disappointing yourself. You can improve your commitment to exercise by involving others in your workouts. Get a workout buddy, hire a personal trainer or join a class. These last two options can be especially effective, as the money you spend on them will be wasted if you don’t attend.
• Practicality. You’ll need to fit workouts into your schedule at times when you’re most likely to follow through. It may seem most beneficial to exercise in the morning, but this isn’t realistic for everyone. It may also be unrealistic to expect yourself to always be motivated for exercise after you get home from work. Think about the times you’ll be best able to exercise and remain flexible about fitting in your workouts. Remember that you don’t have to get your exercise all at once—breaking a 30-minute workout into 10-minute chunks will be just as effective.
• Technology. You may already use your smartphone or computer to schedule important meetings and appointments—why not do the same with your workouts? Try setting up your exercise schedule with Google Calendar or an app that you can access anywhere to make it easier to keep track of your planned workouts. You may even be able to set up notifications to remind yourself when it’s time to exercise.
• Variety. If you get bored, you’ll have no trouble coming up with excuses to skip your workout. Continue engaging yourself with new activities and devote your time to exercises you enjoy.

You’ll need to make exercise a habit if you hope to meet the exercise guidelines provided by your bariatric surgeon, so try hard to follow through on every workout plan you make. What else has helped you exercise regularly after weight loss surgery in Ypsilanti or Saginaw? Tell us in the comments below!