Working out over 300 lbs

MzCara148

I am doing well with counting calories. Macros aren't perfect but getting there. I have come close to eliminating take out (down to an occasional subway). Getting there with drinking my water.

I can't get my mind around working out yet, though. I'm in New England and it's cold - and we are expecting a freakin' foot of snow in 2 days, but that's probably excuses. I'm just not feeling the love.

So how/when did you add excercize? Right from the start or after loosing some weight? Did you wait until you hit a particular goal? What did you start with?

meldwel

I’m fairly new here too. I started exercising after my first week about 3-4 times a week. All I have been doing is walking. It’s been raining here in Texas for the last 2 weeks for the most part. I just try to find a break in the evenings. I just walk around the neighborhood. I started with 20 min then go a little further each day. I have also done some walking videos but I don’t enjoy them very much. I believe there are some on YouTube you could do inside until it warms up a bit. At first I couldn’t finish them but I just did what I could. We have an elliptical machine and I have gotten on it, but I can’t do it very long...but I’m working my way up to that. Do it little by little and before long you will surprise yourself with what you can do.

As far as the macros go I can’t get them right either. I try to get as close as I can but I’m either too low on proteins or too low on carbs. I seem to be over on fat everyday. I was driving myself crazy trying to get them perfect and then I just told myself that’s not the biggest deal right now and I just need to focus on calories. I was a big soda drinker and I’m proud to say that I have not had even one since I started, so that’s an achievement in itself!! I try to drink at least 15 cups a water a day. Some days I do and some I get close.

Dad4Myla

I started taking walks this week which is my 3rd week. I started with a mile and then I did 1.73 miles. And today I went 2.73 miles. I’m not really looking for distance just to the point where I walk an hour or so. I also went to the y this week and played some pickup games of doubles pickleball and that was Great workout to

bigghunny

Hi as for me it was really difficult to walk as I have osteoarthritis and walk with a walker. Did some research on youtube and found chair workouts. I was amazed to see how many there really were. Boy did they kick my butt in the beginning! After awhile I got it up to 60 mins on good days. Being at higher weight suprisingly burns alot of calories. Days that I can only do 30 mins or so I lift my small 5 lb weights doing differant lifts. That way I feel like I am moving. Start small and as you make it into a routine it does suprisingly gets easier. Hope it helped
Good luck on what works for you just make sure its enjoyable for you so you can stick with it.

bmeadows380

@MzCara148

I hear you completely! I detest regular exercise. And when I say detest, I mean hate it with such an intense passion that I'd rather have a root canal. Every time I try to start a regular exercise program, it takes me hours to actually force myself to start, and I hate every minute of it. And even when I can actually keep at it consistently for a while, I STILL hate it. I hate treadmills, elliptical, sit ups, crunches, workout videos - I can't keep myself going with any of them.

Unfortunately, I've cut about all the calories I can cut. I've tried being at a 1400 calorie limit since Christmas, but I just cannot stay to that limit - every day I'm over to the tune of 50 to 200 calories. *sigh* which means I need to start upping the CO of the equation, which means "exercise". *groans*

I've tried walking at a mall, but hated it and I felt so self-conscious. I hate walking in public - in fact, the last time I had any success at actually walking consistently, I went to a nearby cemetery!

I like doing hard manual labor - building things, yard work, digging ditches, planting bushes, etc, and I need to do a lot of it this year, but the weather isn't there yet. the warm spell from last week is over and its been so rainy and wet that I can't get outside. I keep trying to hold out, though - about another 3 or 4 weeks and the weather will start to turn, and then I can to building my planting boxes and my chicken coop, make my clothesline poles and get them in the ground, and when I sell my house, I can buy my cement blocks to build my 50 ft long, 5 ft high wall - AFTER digging out the bank behind my house so I can extend the back porch and hopefully get the wall put in to stop the mud coming down off the hillside. All of htat work has got to count for some sort of exercise, right? lol

MzCara148

I've never liked exercise but I at least used to be able to make myself do it. Maybe 5 or 6 years ago, I did C25K and actually shambled my way through 3 5Ks. The first one took almost an hour and the organizers were getting mad at me because I hadn't finished yet - but I did it. Then "took time off over the holidays" and that was about 150 lbs ago, lol!

My latest NSVs are:

I took my daughter to the mall and the only time I sat down was in the changing room, I didn't have to stop and rest between stores.

I can now stand up to towel off and get dressed (except for pants) after a shower rather than covering the toilet with a towel and doing it sitting down.

I can put my left sock on by just crossing my ankle over my knee - not the right one yet.

So I am making physical progress, I guess. Not much to write home about though. Am I being unkind to myself when I think I *should* be doing more? Or am I being lazy because I'm not pushing harder?

I can never figure it out. Too much thinking, maybe?

cnavarro002

You need to remember that weight loss is 80% what you eat and 20% exercise. So if you can't or don't get out and exercise it's not as important as what you put in your mouth. I am not advocating no exercise at all, just saying it starts with what you eat. Now that I've gotten that out of the way let me tell you what finally worked for me. Accountability. I know that there is no way I can do this on my own. If it were easy I'd already be skinny. I need help. I recruited my mom to go to the gym with me. She pushes me when I don't want to go. She guilt trips me (because I've asked her to). She makes me go. If it were up to me I'd go less often. However, after a few weeks of going to the gym my body craves it. I now want to go and hate when I miss a day. You can do this. Recruit a partner and don't give up. It sucks at first, but you will get used to it and build endurance.

bmeadows380

@MzCara148 Definitely too much thinking! For me, focusing on what I think I "should" be doing is always a recipe for depression, because I've got a really bad tendency to have entirely too high expectations for myself - no one is harder on me than I am! Of course, I do have times where I find myself making excuses - I've been doing way too much "okay, so I blew it today, but we'll get back track tomorrow!" - lately and really need to jerk myself back in line, but usually, I'm too focused on what I haven't done or what I think I should have done and beating myself up for not meeting this impossible goal my head sets up for myself instead of gaining confidence from what I HAVE accomplished. I'm the sort who sees the glass half empty, and I have a hard time seeing the forest for the trees! Or rather, I finally get up the mountain, but can't see where I've come because of all the doom and gloom clouds blocking my visibility

tammyfranks2

I sit and do stuff in my chair , like the rubber bands , they are the ones you get at the sporting goods stores , I work on my legs and my arms , I am also walking farther when I go places , But my legs hurt so badly , it's hard to walk for to long , but it will get better, they already are feeling better. stronger. I think when you are needing to lose as much as I am , just moving is exercise .

theowlbox

I started swimming at 375 lbs and almost immediately became a 6x a week swimmer. I swam for a year and lost no weight because i ate back the calories. A year or more later i started addressing the calories, now i swim 1 to 3x a week and walk 3+ times a week. I switched to walking more because I think I was pretty aggressive with my workout goals initially because they were coupled with physical therapy goals. The intense swimming made my shoulders kind of tender so I enjoy walking to give my upper body a break.

I think you can find a middle path between nothing and crazy. Launchpad is on youtibe and it's a workouy for larger people. I am always an advocaye of swimming because it addresses a few irritating issues: you dont feel yourself sweat, you have low to no impact, and you're fairly well covered in the pool if you are self conscious.

I'm currently focusing on steps because you can add to it inside or while on errands. Everything does count but it's easier when you have a running total. You might give it a try by turning on a tracking app on your phone to see how much incidental exercise you get and then yrying to increase it.

fatoldladyonamission

Hi, I started at 325 and because I simply couldn’t face going out to do any exercise whatsoever in public (some so called friends ripped me to pieces over my weight and destroyed my confidence in the process) I just went and bought a treadmill. When I started with it I was doing no more than 2mph for about 6 minutes tops. Now I’m at 3mph and can do around 45 minutes at a time. It’s also made me feel better about walking in public too, because I know I won’t get totally out of breath in short distances now. Admittedly I was lucky and hubby let me use a good amount of our savings to buy a really good treadmill but you can buy good ones without going mad. Second hand ones too. I’d heartily recommend it. I do at least 5 miles a day on mine now! It’s fab. Plug in my earphones, music full blast and away I go. Still walking, not sure I’ll ever run but it’s helping and I seem to like doing it! Good luck with whatever you choose to do.

theowlbox

Also, there are people with nothing but time to create workouts for you. At the beginning you need to be careful about how much you do, how often, and which exercises you do. But here is an example another mfpeep posted.

http://thelivefitgirls.com/2014/05/10/fight-flab-arm-routine/

You could do something like this at home, find something else, and gain confidence. Then going to the gym would be less of a step than it is now. And if you never want to go, the internet is crammed full of routines and YouTube videos!

MzCara148

Step #1 -

Signed up for Liveexcercise.com and started the "launchpad" program. It has 3 levels. Level 1is seated exercises. Level 2 is mixed seated and standing and Level 3 is all standing exercises. The cost is $9.00/month.

Level 1 workout 1 - hmmm.... easy. Too easy maybe? I thought about skipping to week 2 but the way the webpage is structured is they have a calender with a workout every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Each level is designed to be 4 weeks. The programmer in me was unable to skip a week. Just couldn't do it.

Level 1 workout 2 - OK. Good thing I didn't skip ahead. I was using 2 and 3 lb dumbells instead of soup cans. Maybe that made the difference but it sure felt much harder and I felt that was a good thing. Now, about 5 hours later, I have a muscle in my back that hurts if I breath too deeply or move. I know I am horribly de-conditioned though so even if it still hurts on Friday I am doing workout 3.

evilfairies

Hi new friend! I'm in New England too, MA to be exact. I love walking when the weather is nice, but since it's been so gross here lately, I've been doing videos on YouTube to get me through. TheBodyProject is one of my favorite channels. They have some low impact workouts that are made for people like me whose only exercise previously was lifting cookies into my mouth. I did their low impact video for maybe 1-2 months before I could do the entire thing all the way through without taking a break. Now I'm working on their intermediate video. The guy leading it is pretty easy on the eyes so that makes it a little more tolerable!

bmeadows380

@evilfairies - when I ever get internet, I'll have to look into those videos lol

MzCara148

@evilfairies - hi there, waving from over in Westminster, MA! In case you don't know where that is, because lots of folks don't, it is in "the Worcester hills". Hills - yuck! If I take a left out of my driveway, there is a steep hill that goes for half a mile. If I take a left I can start with a down hill but that means it's up hill on the way back. So I usually walk either at a state park or a track. I have to search out fairly flat places because my neighborhood just isn't it, lol!!

I will have to check out TheBodyProject - I haven't tried that one. I am liking Launchpad but it isn't really aerobic - it is bicep curls and knee lifts and seated crunches and I need to add some cardio.

MzCara148

OK - I am going to post workout progress here to keep myself accountable and for anyone else that wants to know about the programs I'm using.

Yesterday was Level 1, Day 3 of Launchpad. The company that puts them on is based around a "resistance band" workout model, but they say you can use household items or just body weight. I got some 2, 3 and 5 pound dumbells. For Day 3 I just used the 2 lbs. I had done 3 on Day 2 and had a weird back pain thing so I thought I should start with the 2s. On Day 1 I thought the program was way to easy but I have to say by Day 3 I felt like I was really working. It isn't a cardio program, more like strengthening basic muscles so you can move through the world easier. I have been having left knee pain but it isn't too bad yet and I have knee problems so I plan to just work through it.

Today I did a Leslie Sansone "walking" video from YouTube. It should be really easy basic low impact aerobics and I picked a 15 minute "1 mile" workout. Not sure exactly how she decides it's a mile but I went with it any way. I am so out of shape I took 3 rest breaks in that 15 minutes. Looks like I have my work cut out for me to get back to any reasonable level of fitness. I'm up to the challenge though!

bigghunny

@MzCara148 way to go on opening up your options in the exercise category. We all have to start somewhere. Slow pace at the start is where we all started. Leslie is no joke I am right there with you on needing breaks. Proud of you keep it up!

MzCara148

Did week 2, day 1 on Monday. Trying to psych myself up for week 2, day 2. I have found a flaw (for me) with working on a progressive program like this. They up the difficulty with every single workout. Usually when I start a new program I get myself through the workouts by reminding myself "it will get easier, it will get easier". But - this program never does. Each one is designed to be a bit harder than the one before. It becomes a bit of a mind game, but I am going to keep plugging away.

On the alternate days I am doing Leslie Sansone. At least that should get easier.

Dad4Myla

@MzCara148 yes for now but it will start seeming easier. If you don’t believe it, after a month of following the program, go back and repeat the first workout and watch how easily it feels compared to how hard it was the first time

CheezWhiz88

I find creating my own exercise works really well. We just suffered a really awful storm and a huge tree branch came crashing through our fence. My husband and I decided to cut and haul the tree away ourselves (saves money and we will be getting a great work out for the next week, as we chop and haul it!)