Although I am new to the lap band, I am not new to working out. I have been a gym member for over 3 years. That being said let me tell you that i go through spurts. When I go I feel awesome! But when I get discouraged I don't. When i first became a gym member i was going everyday only missing one or two days a week. I lost about 20 lbs that time. When i couldnt lose more i became discouraged and stopped going. i have always been heavy. but i have always been active as well. after a lot of tests the dr's found no reason why i couldnt/wouldnt lose weight. thus is why they thought i would be a good lap band canidate. at first i thought i was going to die. i felt like maybe i had made a big mistake. i hurt all over. i had never had any sort of surgery before and didnt know how i was suposed to feel. now that i am 5 weeks out i dont even notice its there anymore. i am now back into the swing of working out again. not makeing goals but achieveing them all the same. like yesterday i was on the "arc trainer" and i have been going for 35-45 mins burning the around 300-350 calories. yesterday i was able to stay on for a full hour and burned 473 calories. i felt awesome! i love the feeling a person gets after a good workout. it wasnt always this way though. i started a month before the surgery and was walking the treadmill for 20 mins. i got myself up to the arc trainer before surgery but topped out at 20 mins. after the surgery i was doing 15 mins but now have worked up to doing 35-45 on average. i try to burn atleast 350 calories, hopeing each time to do it in less time. so after all this rambleing i'm doing what im trying to convey is dont give up! its hard, i know! and also be willing to try something different. i would have never tryed the arc trainer if it wasnt for the curiosity of how something worked. i have bad knees from being over weight my entire life. the eliptical hurts my knees. the arc trainer is the next best thing to the eliptical. I LOVE IT.