Balancing weight loss and heavy lifting for beginners

WailingDusk

I'm not a woman, but I was very morbidly obese. 2 years ago I was almost 400 pounds, and I started with a diet change first and foremost before I did any exercise. Once I got my eating under control, and made the commitment to avoid all processed and fast foods and keep my diet mostly whole foods, the weight started coming off very quickly. You have to be in a calorie deficit to lose weight. There's no way around it.

After a month, I noticed I had more energy and I started walking. Just walking, nothing else. I could only do about 10 minutes before I was too tired, but I kept doing a little more every day (when I first started, I would get winded just going to the bathroom). Before long, I was walking 1 mile, then 2, then 3. That was when I started adding resistance training 3 days a week, but still keeping my cardio and my diet in check. Starting slow like that allowed me to develop the habits I still have today. I never started out heavy lifting, I did light weight for more reps and gradually worked my way up. Since I got a shoulder injury last year, I still keep my weights on the lighter side, but opt for more reps to failure.

My advice as a formerly super obese person is to start slow when it comes to exercise, and I'd actually advise AGAINST heavy lifting right now. Your risk of injury at the moment is the highest it ever will be. The best thing you can do is clean your diet up, work through the triggers of binge eating (if you have it. I had binge eating disorder and had to make some pretty tough changes), and just start by walking. Just moving around when you're morbidly obese is more than enough of a workout. Trust me me on this. You're likely carrying an extra person in weight. Your body is going to get a sufficient workout if it's moving.

No matter how big you are, those little changes will make a HUGE difference. I promise.