To those of you who say you don't have time for exercise or you don't like to...I'm sorry but to me all I hear is excuses excuses. Yeah you may have a busy lifestyle but after getting the lapband put into your body to make a "lifestyle change" how can you do that without getting some exercise in? What is an hour out of your entire day? You have 23 hours to do everything else you need to do..and if you know you will tone your body and loose even more weight from it why wouldn't you take advantage of that? I think you guys need to step it up and quit making so many excuses...I have a life too...a job, family, boyfriend, pets, house to take care of, appts to go to in between everything else..and every single night I come home and get my exercise in. I have lymophdema in my legs and as much as it hurts to be on my feet and my ankles are so big it looks unhuman but I do not miss it...because I didn't get this lap band put in me to just sit back and watch the weight fall off...I'm working my ass off and don't understand why you can't either!!!

Do you want to end up like the people on here who are making a post in 1 or 2 years saying they only lost 30 pounds? If not, you need to make the change now...and if you don't want to..then I really don't understand why you got the band in the first place.

Wow Violet a 'rant in red'

I have to say that although your words may seem harsh to some they are in essence the way forward for a lot of people who are banded. Having the determination that you have expressed goes a long way to making this band work.

I know there are days i really dont feel like exercising myself, and in the beginning weighing so much it was awful but the only person i was letting down was myself, yesterday i cycled 25 miles on the exercise bike , even tho i had a bad hungry day i did extra miles to cover me for the few extra calories i consumed ...

I, like you was not prepared to have all this done and go through what we have not to change our whole life ..

Good luck to you and i wish you every success, for those who are struggling read Violets words as a motivation and not a criticism ...

Feisty aren't we!!! Lol Jk.. but I get your message it's the truth..the lap band isn't going to be some miracle cure to make you lose weight. You have to work with it by eating right an exercising..I have yet to be banded but I took this 6 months to I guess train myself into working out every day even when I don't feel like it..so after my surgery it will be second nature for me. I understand everyone's schedule isn't the same and unlike me people have children and other obligations..but I think it's safe to say that almost everyone can spare at least 30 minutes out of their day to work out...its worth it.

I hate working out. I really hate it. Even as a child, I wasn't athletic. However, having surgery to lose weight was a last resort and an act of desparation to be healthy. It was a gift to myself because I love me.

I refuse to sabotage my efforts by failing to give 100%. Although I will never be a gym rat, I find ways to be more active. At work, I park on the third floor and the farthest end of the parking garage which adds a nice fast walk and stair climbing to my day. Since I have a sedentary job, I make every effort to be out of my seat as much as I can. My husband and I have been walking in the evenings after dinner. When I go to a store, I walk the entire store.

I will swim when I can. I have an exercise and I do use it. I will never be an athelete, but I owe it myself to be active.

I'll be honest, at first I tried to put myself in the mindset of "I love to excercise" but to be honest it sucks! But guess what, I have to do it, right now I'm doing c25k which right now only takes a half hour out of my day three days a week. The other two days I do weights at the gym while watching tv, so how hard is that? In defense of some people who have very busy and unpredictable schedules (I was one of them) you sometimes lose that motivation to go to the gym when you're up and down 20 plus times a day from a desk. The job I have now thankfully is very structured hours, I sit at a desk all day and only get up to make coffee, go to the bathroom or get water lol. But by the end of the day I have pent up energy to get out and going to the gym helps. I hate it, but I do it!

I wish I could say I like to work out also. But I don't. I've been extremely consistent for over a month now, and they say it takes a month to make something a habit! So now, the gym is a habit! My only problem recently is that I've been struggling with a lot of dizziness and I just can't imagine going some nights. I've always gone AT LEAST 4 times a week, but my goal is 5. It's really frustrating when I can't make it 5 times. I beat myself up over it. So my advice to anyone reading this is: If you hate to work out, make yourself do it for a month. I'm pretty sure by the end of the month, you will just get used to it. You will love the results you see so much, you won't WANT to stop! Don't forget to measure either!

Ummm DITTO!

Sometimes getting yourself a friend who will walk with you, or go to the gym with you helps. I don't like public exercise at all, but I do swim. So, that is my last resort. I prefer to be home on the treadclimber, but if that seems too daunting, the pool is a great option.

YES, they are excuses & I use them too BUT let them stay where they are and you GET YOURS girl! :-)

WOW the truth hurts dosen't it? LOL... I am a single working (Mon-Fri 8-5) mother of two, an 8 yr old and a 2yr old. But I get up every morning at 4am and do 4-5 miles of cardio (1hr) and sometimes even strength training. It's the only time when my children are asleep and I have time to myself. Why??? Because I know I wont be able to fit it in at the end of the day. I'm too tired..but I also know that a good cardio workout in the morning will give my slow metabolism a extra boost for the day, it will help tone my body and the green tea I drink before my workouts puts me in a better mood and gives me a little extra energy to deal with my daily duties. Do I love it?? Not really but I will admit I do like how I feel after a workout. I do love the way sweat helps release negative toxins and feelings. and I also love a good stretch in the morning. I guess what I'm saying is you may not love it but it works, it's important, and your grown to like it if you find a program that you enjoy.

At the same time I want to stress..don't beat eachother up. This is a lifestyle change and for some it harder than for others. If you haven't been working out to help out your band, today is a new day and it not too late.... To the OP every pound is a success 30 pounds is not bad maybe they could have lost more in a year.. maybe not. Anyone who has lost 30 pounds is 30 polunds healthier in my book.

Tell the Truth!!!!

I've actually lost 100 pounds in 8 months and am 30 pounds to goal with very little exercise. Therefore, there is no direct correlation between weight loss and exercise for me. With that said, I certainly need exercise to tone up and for heart and other health benefits. In short, there's plenty of great reasons to exercise but it would not be accurate to say it is always necessary for weight loss or lap band success - at least not for everyone. And you are dead on about excuses - everyone can find time for 30-45 minutes a day 4-5 times a week - period.

Allison- for every one of you, there are 100 other people who need to exercise to make this work...so its just not realistic to think that you can just loose the weight as you did without it. But honestly, while that is really awesome and I'm happy for you...don't you think you would have done better and toned your body the whole time if you exercised this past 8 months? That's why I think its so important...I don't want loose skin...and I really don't want to loose the weight super fast so that my body stays tight.

I also would like to say that while yes I do enjoy exercising a lot of times...esp. after I have gotten through the first half of it, the other half is easy for me..because I feel like I'm giving up if I don't just finish it...there are plenty of other times that I don't feel like it...whether its I'm just not feelin it or my ankles are hurting me like crazy...I just force myself to do it. I don't even go to the gym! I really don't like the gym...I do mine right at home in front of my tv whenever I feel like it. I do Walk Away The Pounds with Leslie Sansone DVDs and I change it up between the 3,4, and 5 miles. I never said it was always a blast to do- but its something we SHOULD be doing.

Leslie Sansone "Walk Away the Pounds" is my staple too.. I also switch between 3,4,5 miles daily and my 5 miles dvd has the Firm Band.

Great topic here. I'm 5 weeks out PO and although I'm close to losing 20lbs, I can see it in my clothes big time since I'm working out at home. I don't like going to gyms either. I have a library of VHS tapes, yes, I said VHS tapes, as I've used them over the years and got lots of great workouts with them. Now I'm into the DVD's and love Leslie Sansone's Walk away the Pounds. I'm stuck at the 3 mile mark of her 5 mile DVD and hoping to move onto the 4th mile one of these days. I try to do it 3-4 times a week, alternating with the treadmill. I like the treadmill as I have a good playlist of music on my Ipod to keep me going but for some reason, Leslie seems to be winning hands down these past 2 weeks as she gets all aspects of your body in motion where the treadmill is limited. Thanks again Violet for reminding me that I had this particular tape, I mean DVD, as the original 4 mile one I was using wasn't cutting it.

I also choose Leslie Sansone's videos as my exercise. I had been going to them gym, but I didn't like the atmosphere and the traveling to get there. Now, I do my exercising at night after the kids are in bed. I alternate between 3 and 4 miles with the stretchy band. My DVD only as 1,2,3,&4 mile workouts. I'll have to try and find a 5 mile. I love her videos because she does a little bit of everything. Some evenings, I don't really feel like doing it, but I do. I will admit that some day's, I'm so tired from work that I only do the 2 mile walk, but I figure it's better than doing nothing.

I'm in a plateau right now, so I'm going to step it up to 5 nights a week and see if I can get out of it.

I actually loveeeee fitness now. Like many of you, I didn’t at first. It was a chore, but I did because I had a goal. But then I found something that I truly enjoy (for me, it’s running and Triathlon). Now I have a passion for it. I’m a middle of the pack guy in the races I compete in. I don’t ever see myself competing for a top spot on the podium but I do consider myself an athlete all the same. I run, bike, or swim 5-6 days a week and really really enjoy it. I no longer do it for weight loss because I am at goal, now I do it because I enjoy it and I know it is good for my overall health.

Allison, I don’t mean to be rude – but that is a careless comment and one that can give people false hope.. While there may not necessarily always be a link between exercise and weight loss, there is actually a concern about the type of weight you lose. You want to lose fat, not muscle. For the first 6 months after banding my weight was flying off without exercise, but I found out that I was losing too much muscle. I know this because I had proof by way of a hydrostatic dunk test. After that discovery, I started eating more Protein and got into a regular exercise routine. I was quickly able to turn the trend around and started to gain muscle and to lose fat. I got down to 15% body fat and have never looked back.