Hi Everyone,

I am new here, and I want to say good going to everyone that reaches out for support. I haven't even had my first appointment to get the process started, but I have been researching the lap band for months. I go in for my initial appt. on July 13.

I have a 43 BMI and have some of the usual health problems that go along with it. I have been up and down so many times, and have lost hundreds of pounds like most of us. I used to be a police officer and even went through the academy at 207 lbs. I got a fitness award at the end, and that goes to show you that you can be fit and fat at the same time. However, I would like to be fit and toned. I have gained back over 100 lbs. since that time, and had told myself that I would never be in this situation again. Well, here I am for the umpteenth time... eeeks!

I want to know if anyone is interested in corresponding about fitness. I recently made a goal to finish a sprint triathlon a year after my surgery. I just bought a nice Cannondale bike, and will be building up to the 3 mile distance run over the next year. I will probably have some pain and it will take a long time to get fit again, but if anyone else wants to try it and strive to be fit as well as thin, give me a shout!!! I truly believe there is an athlete in everyone, we may just be a little slower!

Aimee

Hi Aimee,

My initial consult with the surgeon is on July 14th (so very close to yours). I too have some pretty lofty fitness goals. One of the reaasons I have decided to have lapband surgery is that I have been working out for a year and 1/2 now and have not dropped any weight or just yo yo'd some weight. I have gained quite a bit of muscle in the process though. I had already started the ball rolling when I found out I was hypothyroid....but with a little over 100lbs to lose, I think the lapband is still needed. I can't seem to get eating and exercise under control at the same time, I'm hoping the lapband will aid me in this. I wanted to do a marathon about 3 years ago, but started having knee promblems during training at about 18 miles. I'm hoping that after loosing most of the weight I'll be able to revisit this and try to complete a marathon. My summer program is very relaxed...and not too structured (kinda go with the flow). But the rest of the year I do 2hours a day 5 days a week at the gym. 60-70 minutes cardio (elliptical is my favorite) and 45-60 minutes weights. On weights I try to mix it up, but my favorite routine is to do decreasing weight sets in groups of three on each machine...rotating upper and lower body days. Somewhere under all this fat there is some great muscle (I make hubby feel it regularlly LOL), just got to get rid of the fat layers on top.

Melissa