Beginner walking

ArtCorvelay

For the last few days I've been walking a mile each day. It takes me about 28-30 minutes to complete a mile. I'm at 360lbs right now and I'm pushing myself as hard as I can to achieve that time and distance. Am I doing enough? I've been very VERY sedentary the past 6 months and it's tough beginning to exercise regularly but I'm giving it everything I can. But I have very little frame of reference about what I'm doing, should I be doing more time than that on the treadmill each day?

jemhh

You are doing great. I started with 15 minutes 3x/we and worked up. Whatever gets you up and moving is great. If you've been seriously sedentary I would caution against pushing too hard at first. It's fantastic to get moving but sometimes there's a tendency to do too much right away, get hurt, and that can be disheartening or demoralizing. I'm not saying to cut back or anything, just don't go crazy gung-ho

Good job so far!

hamelle2

In addition to your longer walk try to get up and walk every hour. 250 steps minimum.

jessicastanfill

Congrats!! My gauge is if it's moderately difficult but I can keep going, then I'm getting more fit. Also I feel it is so important to be consistent so if you can do the walk everyday and are not discouraged by it, then that is better than getting frustrated because it's too hard and then not doing it.

smit7633

If you are doubting whether or not you are pushing hard enough then sounds like deep down you might think you could do more...

bebeisfit

hamelle2 wrote: »

In addition to your longer walk try to get up and walk every hour. 250 steps minimum.

Totally agree. Even if it's 100 steps, just do it, take any opportunity to move a bit more. Taking those few extra steps throughout the day, every day will add up to many miles.

And know that you won't be perfect, if it doesn't happen for one day, just re-group and re-commit and look at the progress you've already made and get back on track.

ArtCorvelay

Thanks to you all for the encouraging words. I feel like I'm giving it absolutely everything I can. After pushing myself for 30 minutes I am a quivering wreck with legs like jelly. My concern was that my current goal of 30 mins per day is enough. Of course, I am walking throughout the rest of the day as well, not a great deal, but I am trying to not have long spells of not moving around and making the effort to increase my daily step count.

holly_roman

Keep up the great work. it sounds like the 30 min walk is really pushing you which is fantastic, just be cautious not to overdo it. You will know when you hit that point. Start with that for the week. see how you feel after, and set goals for yourself. Start with the 1 mile this week and maybe next week add another .25 miles to that and keep going every week. Or instead of increasing it every week you would try improving your time every week. try to shave off a half a minute each week until you are doing a mile in 20 min then try increasing the distance. there are a ton of different methods but you have already begun which was the hardest step. Keep it up and you will notice in a couple months that suddenly a mile isn't so hard and before you know it you will be doing several miles. Good Luck and great job!

maureented

Great job! Since you've been very sedentary and have only been walking a few days, you might want to just keep doing what you are. Definitely don't increase too quickly and get injured. Maybe pick a time frame that you like, such as two weeks or a month and after you've been walking your mile consistently and feel confident in that, then slowly increase your distance or decrease your mph pace.
Main thing is just keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep on going. Congratulations!

blues4miles

holly_roman wrote: »

Keep up the great work. it sounds like the 30 min walk is really pushing you which is fantastic, just be cautious not to overdo it. You will know when you hit that point. Start with that for the week. see how you feel after, and set goals for yourself. Start with the 1 mile this week and maybe next week add another .25 miles to that and keep going every week. Or instead of increasing it every week you would try improving your time every week. try to shave off a half a minute each week until you are doing a mile in 20 min then try increasing the distance. there are a ton of different methods but you have already begun which was the hardest step. Keep it up and you will notice in a couple months that suddenly a mile isn't so hard and before you know it you will be doing several miles. Good Luck and great job!

This is good advice. OP you have only been at this a few days. Often we want to get better every day, but really it will usually take a week or several before we improve. Keep doing what you are doing. Next week or the week after, add a little bit of distance. Try to be consistent which it sounds like you already have a good handle on. Getting out there every day and doing something is more important than always going further or faster.

meritage4

30 minutes (or so) of walking a day is awesome! Keep it up and it will get easier.!

whmscll

ArtCorvelay wrote: »

Thanks to you all for the encouraging words. I feel like I'm giving it absolutely everything I can. After pushing myself for 30 minutes I am a quivering wreck with legs like jelly. My concern was that my current goal of 30 mins per day is enough. Of course, I am walking throughout the rest of the day as well, not a great deal, but I am trying to not have long spells of not moving around and making the effort to increase my daily step count.

It is enough!! Let your body be your guide. Keep doing your 30 minutes consistently (don't forget 1-2 rest days a week!) until it starts becoming easier for you. If that takes weeks, so what. It's not a racw. Then slowly add more. Like 5 minutes a day. Your body will tell you when it is ready for this. When that gets easier, add 5 more minutes. Soon you'll feel like superwoman!

Silvervixen79

Its amazing how quickly your fitness will increase! I am 280 lbs and when I first started I could barely manage half a mile, I felt dead after it and ached for the rest of the day and the day after! I am now doing 2 miles in 30 minutes about 3 days a week and hoping to bump that up to 3 miles over the next month or so- YOU CAN DO IT!!!!

gothomson

Your doing great! I started with walking for 10 minutes a day every day at lunch, then increased it to the point I'm at now. One thing I'll say to you is this - don't set the bar too high, what your doing is right, the thing is to get into the habit of doing regular exercise and if that means 5 - 10 minutes a day to start with then good - it means you develop the habit of moving everyday. After its a natural part of what you do look at ways to increase it. Its a long, but worthwhile journey, and YOU can do it, heck you are already!

Qskim

ArtCorvelay wrote: »

Thanks to you all for the encouraging words. I feel like I'm giving it absolutely everything I can. After pushing myself for 30 minutes I am a quivering wreck with legs like jelly. My concern was that my current goal of 30 mins per day is enough. Of course, I am walking throughout the rest of the day as well, not a great deal, but I am trying to not have long spells of not moving around and making the effort to increase my daily step count.

I started to think if I'm going to sit on the couch all day anyway that I may as well walk and then sit on the couch..at least I've got a reason I'm sore. Then overtime I got faster, increased distance and came home and had the energy to keep going.

Also, the exercise helped with feeling positive and better adherence to calorie level.