I have searched the threads and what I have found people mentioning is that when you start to exercise the weight loss will slow down do to the fact that they are building muscle. My problem is that at this point I want to lose the weight more than I want to gain the muscle. I have to see the scale moving in the right direction. So what Im considering is not exerciseing until I have gotten to onederland, atleast 199.9. I dont want to start exerciseing now and risk losing the weight. I understand that I would be buiding muscle and losing inches, but if the scale stops moving Im going to get really discouraged. Is this a good or bad ideal? :help:

Speaking as a nurse that used to work at a hospital....I believe word of mouth is absolutely the best....especially if its a nurse or doctor that had the procedure done.

You'll find anyone say good or bad.....but if you can talk to people that have had it done or work at the hospital where they do it! They generally know the inside scoop!

Good luck!

Travelbug: Im glad to see that Im not alone in my thought process. You have done exactly what I was considering, lose half the weight first and than start tightening up. I think what Im going to try, is to start slow with walking again. I have a walking video from other failed weight loss attempts and see how that goes. Right now Im losing. So once I start exercising Im going to see if the lose stops and if so Im going to stop exercising until I get the weight to start again and get under 200, than start exercising again. Than I may alternate with if while Im not exercising if the weight stops to start exercising and vice versa. Hope this works. Also I think Im going to check out the bodybugg thread and see if this is something that may work for me. It seems to be a bit expensive but Im worth it. My kids are getting older now so its my time. :clap2:

Monica,

I understand your thoughts behind not exercising until you are under a certain weight, but you are going to be losing massive amounts of muscle if you don't exercise. You need to start exercising now to maintain the muscle that you DO have now, and make exercise a part of your life forever. You are going to lose more muscle than fat without exercise. Sure you will lose weight, but most of it will be muscle. So when you get down to 200 you are going to have less muscle and more fat on your body compared to if you started exercising now, you would have less fat, more muscle. Does that make sense. Just do it. Don't worry so much about what the scale says. It's just a number. Go by how you feel and look. I am now wearing clothes that I had to be 15-20 pounds lighter before, but because I have leaner muscles now, I am smaller at this weight than before when I did Weight Watchers and did no exercise. I would way rather have a bigger number on the scale and be smaller that vice versa....think about it and then do some research. Deanna

Its true, your thinking is just incorrect - the weight loss WONT stop if you exercise it will accelerate! And it will be more fat than if you werent exercising.

I'm going to chime in too.

Think of losing weight as repelling calories. Sure you can reduce the calories that go into you mouth with surgery. But you can get rid of many too by burning them off.

There is added benefit, like being muscularly stronger, increased matabolism, looking firmer, the endorphin rush, the sweaty cleansed pours making your skin prettier, and making your skeleton stronger. Reversing the damage of beign obese on your body ASAP is a benefit too!

Also, the few people on the bell curve who actually hit their goal weight are exercisers, and I would wager that had been from even before surgery.

And for one last kind of negative comment, sounds like you're looking for excuses not to exercise. You're having surgery to change your life. So change it, start exercising.

Also, you'll be in the company of some of the most positive people on this board.

Juli

i have to add my .02 too ...

my starting weight was 402.5... exercising was the FURTHEST from my mind.

i got banded and starting working out. my first day on the treadmill i lasted about 7 minutes. by the end of November, I could go 35 on the treadmill. did i like it? NOPE! but i saw major results.

since then, i have realized that i really like to exercise. it is ME time. i now go 6 times a week for at least 30 minutes. if i do not work out, i do see a stall. my time on the elliptical burns a ton of calories.

i have lost almost 117 pounds in under 9 months....

just do it!! :confused:

WOW...you ladies are such inspirations!!! I wish the exercise thread got as much traffic and posts as the other ones....this would be one STRONG site..LOL...Keep up the good work and remember that muscle is leaner, sexier and tighter than fat is....so EXERCISE!!! Deanna

I just dug out some photos of myself at 28, and 78kg, same weight I am now at 39. Nuff said. I was podgy when I was 28, I'm lean now. I weigh the same but I have a lot more muscle and a lot less fat. And I'm an entire dress size smaller.

NIce Jacqui, that says a whole lot about what muscle does for a person. Muscle makes you lean and sexy, fat makes you fat and fat!!! I way perfer exercise and muscle to eating very little and not having a lean muscular body!! Deanna

Ohhh! Exercise! When you exercise pounds melt off and you feel like a big Chocolate bar melting in the desert sun! Exercise speeds up the entire weight loss process. Go for it!!!!

Thanks again, everyone. I do think that Im trying to make up excuses to not exercise. I am going to stop with the excuses and get started. I know that in the long run it is the best thing. Plus it will help to keep me motivated. I dont have to be a work until noon so I just need to drag myself out of the bed a little earlier and get it done.

Shoot Monica

I just saw you got your surgery in Groveport. Are you a Columbus girl? I am! I nearly had my surgery done by Viglianco, but my insurance said no, so I had to go to OSU!

I'm so glad to hear you're going to exercise. And you need to email me off this board so we can encourage each other! I'll be your own personal cheer leader!!!

juligirl01@sbcglobal.net

you know I have been busting my butt on the hills at lunch and the scale has not budged at all....buttttttttt........I FEEL SOOOO GOOD DOING IT. IT IS WELL WORT IT

The lap band is what takes away the physical ability to intake as much food as you once ate. But the desires and old habits can still be there.

This is partly why exercise is so important.

I had my surgery on 4/9/07 and I have lost 65 lbs so far. I am firmly convinced that it is in large part because of my exercise regimen. I walk/run on the treadmill 5 days a week, then I lift weights 5 days a week and on m-w-f I go back to the gym a second time during the day to work out some more. There is no question in my mind that without that regimen, I would probably have lost only 30-40 lbs by now.

But what is even better is how great I feel. It's incredible to me that I have so much energy.

So I do absolutely encourage and recommend lots of exercise. You will see results. I guarantee it.

Aside from all these wonderful advantages that you all have mentioned, one of my favorites is that nagging voice finally goes away!! You know the one! That voice that is constantly harrassing you: "I really should be exercising."It gives you such a boost to your self-esteem to know that you're really doing everything you should be to get healthy. I absolutely love it!! I work with a trainer and wish I had the $$ work with him 5x a week. I've already seen some wonderful improvements in the 2.5 months I've been with him.