One of the reasons that yoga is often beneficial to bariatric patients is the breathing. Obesity can cause added pressure to build on the lungs, often making it difficult to breathe. Following weight loss surgery, the lungs may become compressed as a result of anesthesia. Many overweight individuals also suffer from high stress or anxiety levels that make breathing difficult. Yoga implements deep breathing exercises that help you to move in tune with your breaths. This can help you to develop deeper breathing techniques that may help you to feel more active and healthy.

Yoga is also beneficial for the mind. Losing weight can be a stressful process, one where you are constantly thinking about the number of calories that you have taken in or the amount of weight you have lost over the past week. During yoga, you will have the opportunity to push all of those thoughts far out of your mind. This can help you to focus on your breathing and exercise routine, and allow you to return to your daily weight loss plan refreshed instead of overwhelmed.

It’s becoming more and more important to maintain a supportive network of like-minded people who are facing the same struggles in achieving a healthy weight, as well as keeping track of your own progress. People are looking for more convenient ways to stay on track, in addition to turning to a weight loss surgeon in Naples for medical help. So, it’s no wonder that technology has become the latest ally in accompanying you on the path to reaching your goal.

Your own laptop or smart phone is one of the most valuable resources you have to help you form a support network. According to a number of studies on weight loss, people are more likely to succeed if they feel accountable to someone, and the internet is home to several virtual support groups. The process of actually telling another person what your goals are makes it more difficult for you to slack off; and it becomes more and more difficult the more you get to know them! Support groups also give you a platform to exchange advice, frustrations and encouragement.

Of course, there’s more to losing weight than encouragement, and everyone who visits a weight loss surgeon in Naples will leave with a plan of action that involves monitoring your progress. After a complete health assessment, you’ll be better able to consult a specialized app for a diet that targets your needs. Whether it’s a virtual pedometer that tracks the number of steps you take, an online calorie counter or a video diary that records the ups and downs of dieting, technology is a large aspect of the new face of a successful weight loss plan.

If you really want to lose weight in the winter, just keep these tips in mind and don’t cut yourself any slack.

Don’t Stop Moving: In the wintertime, we want to bundle up indoors and get warm and cozy. This is a great way to end the day, but you need to make sure to stay physically active while you’re up and about. Walk when you can, even if it’s cold. The exercise will warm you up.

Expose Yourself to Some Sun: Believe it or not, the lack of sunlight can do some damage on your metabolism, seriously slowing you down and causing you to gain more weight. If you want to stay fit, then make sure to get some daily sun, even if it’s cold out. If you’re not activating that vitamin D in your skin, then you may wind up a lot heavier and a lot less healthy by the end of the year.

Eat Healthy: You can eat healthy and still fill up without feeling deprived at all. There is a lot of fresh produce available in Ft. Myers during the winter. Take advantage of the warm climate and spend your time browsing what is in season instead of what type of cookie you want to make for a winter get together.

Take Up a Winter Sport: The summer is often too hot to get outside and play team sports, but the cold weather can be a great opportunity to meet people. There are winter leagues for soccer, kickball, flag football and many others! By being on a team you are more likely to stick with the weekly workout for the entire length of the season.

What Makes Walking Better Than Other Forms of Exercise?

Many surgeons would agree that walking is the best form of exercise following lap-band surgery for numerous reasons. The ability to walk is rarely limited by safety concerns, as it is one of the safest forms of exercise. Just 30-60 minutes of walking at a brisk pace will cause your body to redirect nutrition toward building lean muscle and maintaining strong bones. This will increase weight loss by speeding up the metabolism, which can dramatically lower the risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and osteoporosis.

Walking also improves circulatory function, as the repetitive flexing of leg muscles helps blood travel against the pull of gravity. A strong circulatory system aids in stress relief by improving blood flow to the brain. This can also help relieve anxiety and depression, elevate your mood and decrease reliance on pain medicines. Other exercises offer similar benefits, but walking does it while minimizing risk of injury.

How Often and When Should I Walk?

Like any exercise, walking is most beneficial when done regularly. Just how regularly will be most beneficial depends in part on your caloric intake. A nutritionist can help in determining the amount of exercise most beneficial to you. Find a time in your schedule when a daily walk is realistic and stick to your exercise routine.

The winter can be a great time to exercise, especially in Naples where the weather doesn’t get too cold. While weight surgery in Naples can help enhance your ability to lose weight, it’s important to balance weight loss with cardiovascular exercise and strength training so that the weight stays off long term.

When running in cooler weather, there are several important things to remember. Cold air can aggravate the lungs and esophagus, and body heat can be lost quickly during exercise. In addition, cold weather often leads to low humidity levels in the air. It’s easier to become dehydrated during winter exercise. Always drink plenty of water before and after any workout.

During the winter, try running in the late afternoon. The early morning is usually the coldest time of the day. The late afternoon is usually the best time to exercise, offering warmer temperatures and less wind.

When exercising during the winter, it’s essential to stretch and warm up the body before any vigorous activity. Cold muscles can tear without proper stretching. In addition, cold muscles require warmth to recover after a workout.

When you are running, it’s important to allow sweat to evaporate. Dense clothing can lead to sweat buildup under clothing, which often leads to an uncomfortable workout. Nylon and cotton based clothing can help wick away excessive moisture while running outside.

South Florida is a great environment for running and staying active year round. As cold fronts move through the area, don’t let a slight drop in temperature dissuade you from your daily workout. Staying in shape by running during the winter is one of the best ways to combat winter weight gain from holiday parties.

First, be careful not to overdo it at the beginning. If you’re new to running, you may be more susceptible to fractures, especially if you have a lower bone density. You’ll also want to pay close attention to your diet when beginning your running regimen. Most importantly, you’ll need to keep yourself hydrated by drinking water before, during, and after your run. Once you build up your intensity and duration, you may want to add a sports drink to the mix. Sports drinks contain electrolytes that replenish lost nutrients as you perspire during exercise.

Further, before heading out on to run consume a light snack about 30 minutes beforehand. Good ideas for light snacks include an energy bar, protein bar, or fruit. The small amounts of sugar in these snacks will jump start your energy to fuel your run.

When you first incorporate running into your exercise routine, don’t worry about not being able to run for long periods of time. You’ll need to build up your stamina, which will take a few weeks or months. Beginner runners often find it beneficial to alternate between walking and running. For instance, you may walk for 3 minutes, and then run for 2 minutes. Each day you run, you can add another minute to your run to slowly build up your running duration.

Before beginning a new running regimen, speak with your weight loss surgeon in Naples.

Change Things Up

Change things around to break through a plateau. The body is very good at adapting to exercise. Once it gets used to doing the same thing over and over, it needs less energy to do it. This includes types of exercise, and how much exercise. For example, if you have been running on the treadmill, switch to biking; if you lack the equipment, change the time that you run. One day you can do short intervals and the next session change to steady-paced running. Even small changes will help break through a plateau.

It is just as important to change repetitions and the amount of weight you are lifting on a regular basis. If you have been doing sets of 12-15 repetitions, change to 6-8 repetitions, increasing weight of course.

Rest

Rest is important for the body to reset and to make all of its repairs. You may see some excellent results exercising six days a week in the beginning, but eventually the body will lose its ability to repair itself quickly and instead of going forward, you may actually start going backward and lose all of your gains.

Fuel

While it may seem counterintuitive to eat more food when you are trying to lose weight, you need to fuel the body with enough nutrients to be healthy. Make sure that you are eating enough high-quality foods that provide the necessary minerals and vitamins for your body. This includes drinking plenty of water to remain hydrated.

Why Pilates?

Pilates is a series of fairly simple exercises with powerful fitness benefits. Pilates focuses on strengthening and toning your core. When you lose weight quickly, you may find that you have problems with loose skin. By exercising and toning your muscles, you can prevent or at least minimize this issue. If you are new to fitness, you may find a Pilates class at a gym to be too challenging. To prevent injury, start slow with these simple mat exercises for beginners.

Beginning Pilates Mat Exercises

• Pelvic Curl — Lie flat on the mat, with knees bent. Your feet should be hip-width apart and flat on the floor. Keeping your spine neutral and your arms alongside your body, use your abdominal muscles to slowly lift your lower back off the floor while exhaling. Lift until your hips and torso are off the mat. With controlled movement, lower back to the floor.
• Leg Circles — From the same position, extend your legs out in front of you with your arms extended to make a T-shape. Pull your left knee in, then extend your leg upward, pressing your heel toward the ceiling. Circle your leg around, taking care that your hips don’t move. Lower your leg then repeat up to 10 times. Repeat this exercise with both legs.
• Back Extension — Lie on your belly with your head down. You legs should be straight with your feet flexed and your arms should be against your side, with your palms pressing against your outer thighs. While exhaling, slowly lift your head and upper torso off the mat. While lifted, extend your arms to make a T-shape. Return your arms and lower yourself, in a controlled manner.

The study examined 33 obese patients who underwent gastric bypass Roux-en-Y and gastric banding bariatric surgery by a weight loss surgeon. The patients had an average body mass index (BMI) of 41. The study group was divided into a group of participants who performed in a high-volume exercise program (HVEP) and a control group who did not. The HVEP group participated in moderately-intense exercise resulting in expending of energy of a minimum of 2,000 calories per week.

The study participants were monitored and evaluated for 12 weeks. The findings revealed that people in the exercise group had a marked improvement in their step count at 12 weeks. Participants in the HVEP group saw an increase in their daily set count during the 12 weeks, from 4,500 to almost 10,000. At the end of the study period, over 50 percent of the participants could burn 2,000 calories per week via exercise, while 82 percent were able to burn 1,500 calories per week.

The study isn’t without limitations however. Short sample size, short study duration, higher control group dropout rate, and group dietary and exercise counseling (versus individual counseling) are all limitations of the study. That said, while this study offers positive encouragement for Cape Coral weight loss surgery patients, long-term studies still need to be conducted to evaluate the relationship between a HVEP and improvements in comorbidities and weight loss maintenance.

• Before Surgery – If they don’t already have an exercise routine in place, people who are going to be undergoing bariatric surgery should begin an exercise regime six to 12 months prior to surgery. For those who carry a lot of excess weight around it may be difficult to exercise, and for this reason it is good to start out slow. Some example exercises include walking or marching in place for 10 minutes twice per day. The goal should be to work up to 20 to 30 minutes of physical activity at least three times per week. Morbidly obese patients should receive a full physical and cardio work up prior to beginning a new exercise program.
• One to Six Months after Surgery – After two or three week’s post-bariatric surgery, the weight loss surgery patient should resume exercising. At first, the goal should be increased range of motion. Because muscle loss occurs with weight loss, strength-training exercises should also be introduced at this time. Walking, swimming, biking, using weight bands, dumbbells, and fitness machines are all good exercise ideas in the short term time period following your bariatric procedure.
• Six to 12 Months after Surgery – One year post gastric bypass surgery, most patients should be able to exercise for 45 minutes at least four times per week. Yoga, kickboxing, dancing, and aerobics are example exercises that fit in well six to 12 months after surgery. Balance exercises should be performed using a balance ball to strengthen the stomach muscles. Strengthening the abdominal muscles improves posture, which changes as weight is lost.
• One Year (or Longer) After Surgery – Many weight loss surgery patients have lost 100 pounds or more one year after their operation. While this amount of weight loss may make some patients think they no longer have to exercise, that is far from the case. Patients should develop the mindset that opting out of exercise is not an option. Patients over the one year mark need to continue to exercise for at least 45 minutes four days a week.