I'm not one to have a problem with being overweight, since I am on the opposite end of the scale. I am also not one to lecture anyone about being overweight, but your husband is living very dangerously by carrying that much weight around. A story if I may...........

My son is 42 and was quite overweight. He was always a big eater and a lover of junk food. That, coupled with the hours he works and he most always ate a big dinner quite late, and then got no exercise before going to bed, the pounds piled up. He knew he had to lose because his back and knees were bothering him, he was always tired and wasn't sleeping well, and the pounds wouldn't come off no matter how he adjusted his eating habits. He also suffered from very severe sleep apnea, and was NOT breathing almost as much as he was breathing. Really pretty scary results came back from the sleep study. He wants to be a grandfather some day, so he knew he had to do something, or he'd never live that long.

A year ago he looked into the lap band procedure, and after many months of tests and seminars and psychological and nutritional counseling that is all required before the surgery, he had it done last September. The doctor's goal for his patients is to lose one pound per week in the first year. My son started out at 278 lbs and he's about 5'9". In the first 14 weeks, he lost 51 pounds, and as of a week ago, it was up to 63 pounds that he has shed. He goes back today for another weigh-in/checkup. His knees and back no longer bother him, and he no longer uses the CPAP - and he looks fantastic!!!! He wants to get to about 200 lbs, since he is big boned anyway, and he wouldn't look good weighing much less than that.

So his has been a success story, tho not everyone has such good results. You have to want to lose to make it work - it's no magic pill.

If you have medical insurance and it covers this procedure, you might want to consider it - especially for hubby. Most insurance companies do pay for this procedure now. In the long run, it's saving them money, since a lot of very serious medical issues can be avoided when a person is at a healthy weight.

Good luck