By Sandi Henderson

Would you like an easy way to get started exercising after lap band surgery?  The answer to how, at 424 pounds, I was able to incorporate exercise into my daily routine follows.  If I was able to do it, anyone can.

I know that exercise is good for you.  We all know that exercise is good for you.  We can't escape the fact that exercise is good for you.  We hear it on the radio, see it on the TV, read about it in the newspaper and on the internet, our doctors tell us, our mothers told us, and now our surgeons tell us that we can certainly get better weight loss with our lap bands if we would add exercise.

Just what does a 400 pound woman consider exercise?  Well to me, it was getting out of bed in the morning and making it into work.

Okay, so now that I've started to lose weight, what does a 350 pound woman consider exercise?  We were really getting extravagant with our physical exertion here.  It was actually getting out of the car and going into the supermarket instead of giving my husband a list and waiting for him to bring out the groceries.  I was now walking around the market.

The weight was still coming off and now what does a 300 pound woman consider exercise?  We're going all out here.  I needed new clothes for my new body so I started walking around the mall.  Now we're making progress.  I've added grocery shopping and clothing shopping and walking around the mall to my "routine".

That pedometer was starting to count some real steps.  I started feeling better about myself.  After one of my "walks" I would notice that even though my back and my knees hurt, my attitude was good and I was smiling.  Could this be the "happy hormones" working, or was I just glad for the change of scenery?  Perhaps it was both.  It didn't matter, I definitely felt good things were happening.

I knew it was time to do something besides my mall crawl.  I love swimming and the water supports your joints so I would not do further damage to my knees.  I found a family oriented club that had members of all sizes, shapes and ages as well as both indoor and outdoor pools and just joined.  No trial because that would have given me the option of quitting, I just bit the bullet and paid the fees.  Now I had to go swimming.  That meant after work, to the gym, put on a bathing suit big enough to clothe all of downtown Los Angeles, and into the pool.  Sounds great, right?

The first two weeks I made it three times each week and swam laps for five minutes each time, then walked a few laps, then took a shower and went home.  All of that dressing, undressing and showering for just a few minutes in the water.  Was it worth it?  YOU BET!  I started feeling really good, like I was accomplishing something else that was important for my health and well being.  This motivated me to try to add more laps, one minute at a time.

Within a few more weeks I was up to fifteen minutes of swimming laps, then twenty, then thirty.  That's right, thirty minutes of aerobic exercise three times a week!  I did it!  I reached my first big exercise goal.  I could check off another huge achievement.

I really can't find all of the words to describe both the physical and mental benefits.  I moved with more ease and flexibility through my day, felt better about myself, felt happier, felt more motivated to continue, and the other side effect was the weight continued to come off.  Now I started adding days and before long I was at the gym six or seven days a week swimming for thirty minutes, then forty five, then an hour on some days.  I got that hour in and burned 600+ calories as many days as possible.  That was more than I had imagined possible.

It felt good to swim, it felt good when I was done, it felt good just being me on a regular routine and knowing I was burning calories.  It became all about feeling good.  My bariatric surgeon was happy with me, my primary care physician was happy with me, and I was happy with me.

Here I am now, at sixty one plus years old, swimming four days a week, thirty minutes on the elliptical or treadmill and then weight training for thirty minutes two days a week, and bicycle riding or just walking on the beach on the seventh day.  What's the net result here?  I am literally in the best shape of my adult life, have made a bunch of new friends at the gym, and am addicted to exercise instead of food.  All this and 250 pounds lighter, with muscles in places I never even knew I had places.

Here's my formula - no magic to it:

• Choose a form of exercise you like.
• Set small, achievable exercise goals.
• When you reach your goals set the bar a little higher for the next goals, and be sure to put a time constraint on achieving your goals at each level.
• Write down each goal and the date it was achieved. Use this to remind you of your achievements on those hard to motivate yourself days. We all have them.
• Celebrate each goal achieved.
• Keep raising the bar.
• Try something new.
• Move it to lose it and you will just enhance your success after weight loss surgery.

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