Mental Illness and Weight loss?

LokiiDokii

Hello,
My name is Kayla, I'm 23 years old , 5'2 and weigh 153 at present.
It's not incredibly overweight, but it is enough to make me feel uncomfortable with myself.

The weight started piling on after getting out of an abusive relationship, in which I was forced to be very skinny and forced to skip meals. I weight 85 pounds when I finally left him.

In the years following I was mugged and beaten, and suffered from depression and anxiety.

In the last 4 years the anxiety problems have taken on a life of their own, and I have become house ridden and diagnosed with agoraphobia, and have only been outside my home a hand full of times in the last 4 years. I have a very supportive boyfriend now who is patient and loving and encourages me to fulfill my dreams and to find peace in my life.

I want to lose all the weight I have gained, down to a more healthy weight of 120-130. In the past year I have lost and regained about 20 pounds. I find it very hard to maintain any sort of motivation or exercise routine while tightly confined in my small apartment home. (my boyfriend bought me an elliptical trainer, but we are in the middle of trying to fix it ever since a spring broke and now it makes a terrible screeching noise each time it's in use.) In the mean time I have been trying to do little workouts to keep on track, but haven't been able to have the same success, and have, as mentioned, gained all the weight back.

Long story short:
I am looking for apartment friendly cardio workout routines, or any advice on how to stay motivated whilst having no day to day variation in my life due to crippling agoraphobia.

I am on Venlafaxine 150mg if that makes any sort of difference.

I really appreciate any help you can give
Thank you!

mrtastybutt

I know how bad agoraphobia can be, I've suffered with it too. I spent a major part of 10 years inside.

Not having motivation sucks. For me, what helped most was finding some music that I liked and just dancing my *kitten* off while knowing that no one could see/watch was the most helpful for me. I had a hard time following or getting the motivation to do any type of work-out. I'm not that disciplined. I always did it with headphones/earbuds. That way I didn't feel like anyone could hear or judge me for the music.

Eventually, I ended up in exposure therapy and that really helped. It took about seven years to work up to joining a gym, but it's been worth it!

ElizabethOakes2

Home work-out?
There are some GREAT youtube videos for all kinds of weight, dance-fitness, Pilates, yoga, and other programs. I really enjoyed dance fitness before I hurt my back. Look for something that's fun that you WANT to do, because if it;'s not fun and you hate it, you won't want to do it. I have a hula hoop that I use almost every day, and it's not only great cardio, but it's really helped my core strength, too.
I also found that resistance bands were cheap, easy to have in house, and there's tons of youtube videos to get you started. They also are small and store in a drawer or closet, so great for tiny apartments.

Congratulations on getting out of the abusive relationship! It's a hard road to find yourself again after that kind of thing. You can do this!

Cherimoose

Strength training can be very empowering, both physically and mentally. And of course it burns calories. You can improvise weights with anything heavy, like a bag filled with cans of food, for example. For workouts, try Nerd Fitness or Fitness Blender.

kelisueray

I've found REFIT to be the best at home workout I've found. They offer a streaming version (both live stream and 24 access to previous sessions) through their website refitrev.com

I subscribe for $10 a month and I love it. If you enjoy dancing and music it's totally worth it.

Also, congrats on having the strength and courage to do everything you've done so far. Hi five!

LokiiDokii

Thank you all for the responses and the ideas.

MelaniaTrump

Eating right is 80% of the weight loss battle. Exercise for your health.

shadows2424

As was stated you can lose weight without exercise at all, but you can check on fitnessblender on youtube. Youtube is great for finding in home work outs. Id suggest you start there.

namelesshere

You have a lot of baggage to work through. Are you seeing a therapist? Is there one that will come to your home, if not? You will enjoy life so much more if you can drop the baggage and move forward. As for the weight loss, CICO starts with knowing what goes in. Make sure you are weighing and logging accurately. You can eat anything, just not as much as you previously did and not all in one day. By staying close to your calorie goals, you should be able to lose the weight you want and not obsess about it. Congratulations on getting out of the abusive relationship.

Psychgrrl

Sorry for everything you've been through! I admire you so much for wanting to move forward when it would be so easy to just stay still!

Fitness blender is good--you can find them on youtube. Depending on where you live, if it's urban/suburban, you could hire a trainer to come to you.

Weight loss starts in the kitchen. Exercise is for fitness.

SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage

Sounds like you've overcome a lot in your short life. Weight loss, by comparison, will not be nearly as difficult as what you've already accomplished. Exercise will be great for your mood but it's not necessary for weight loss.
Others have mentioned online videos, which are great. You may like a kettle bell workout or using a TRX suspension trainer too. A lot will depend on your budget.
Best of luck! You've got this!

RodaRose

This an other "body weight" exercises on YouTube do not require equipment.
"Kelli's Favorite Bodyweight Workout - Total Body Toning & Functional Strength Training Exercises"