Hey
aRandyOne,
I went with 24HR fitness. Their hours fits my work schedule perfectly. I work swing shift and other gyms are closed when I leave work.
I too had bariatric sugery. Hold off on the gym until your DR. gives you the all clear to lift weights. Unless your looking @ gyms for a cardio workout. The first two weeks following the surgery I walked for my exercise. Walking helps you recover faster from the discomfort of your main incision. When I was 6 months out from my surgery my Dr. gave me the ok to lift weights. I didn't go back immediately I wanted to see how far the surgery would take me. I lost a total of 160lbs with just the surgery. My preop weight was 379lbs. I've been lifting for a few months now to tone up and get my strength back. The only exercise I would caution you on would be deadlifts. When I reached 200lbs the weight started to put stress on my large incision. I backed off 20lbs and worked my way back up slowly over the next few weeks.
I was taking meds for high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. In all there where 6 different meds I used to control my problems. Now I take none. They have been replaced with vitamins and dietary supplements. My bloodwork comes back clean with only some minor tweaking with the vitamins I'm taking. The aches and pains I had before are a memory now.
I'm able to eat whatever I want just in small quantity's. Preop I was all about large quantities. Now it's about quality. Find a protein shake that you like. Postop this will be your food and your new best friend. The surgery might also change your tastebuds. Sodas taste terrible but I have grown to like yogurt. Everybody's different and their body's will react differently to this new change. Most of the changes are positive and some are negative. I've been cured of diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. My only bad side effect after 1.5 years is kidney stones. Since the surgery I haven't even come down with a cold yet (knock on wood).
My decision to have this procedure wasn't easy for me. I fought my Dr for several years before I finally decided to take is advice. My meds intake was increasing and the Dr added insulin to my drug therapy. The insulin use increased over the years. I knew the path I was going down was leading me to an early grave. My only regret now is I didn't get this done sooner. Good luck with your new journey in life.
Best Wishes
Munster