Just realized how out of shape I am. Yikes.

JenMarieD87

Long story short, I've been the opposite of active my whole life. I just dont like to move much and I absolutely hate sweating. So I'm pretty much a couch potato. I'm also very overweight & trying to change it. In 2011/2012 i lost 110 lbs purely with changing my diet. No exercise. But I still had at least 70 lbs to lose and instead of doing that, I gained back 40. So I'm trying again. This time I decided to join Planet Fitness because I don't just want to lose weight. I want to make my body & heart stronger.
So today my husband & I went for the first time. I did 5 minutes on the elliptical on the lowest level & I was out of breath, head hurt and my legs felt like Jello. I feel pathetic rn.😅

Retroguy2000

On the contrary, you should feel pleased that you're making the effort.

You might be better off with a stationary bike or treadmill first. Once you can do 20+ minutes, increase the resistance/speed. The elliptical is going to be harder than those. Always try to be doing a bit more each week than previous week.

tomcustombuilder

If you stick with it you’ll be surprised on how quickly you’ll improve.

snowflake954

The first time is often that way. Don't worry, you'll get better. Don't push yourself too fast, and slowly increase as you feel you can do it. Starting from 0 is a big step. I applaud you. Just don't give up. In a couple of months you won't recognize yourself.

AnnPT77

Seconding that improvement will be steady, if you are steady in pursuing it.

Some free advice, probably worth every penny you pay for it: Don't go all out at the start. It's counter-productive for weight loss, it's counter-productive for fitness improvement.

High intensity exercise is a good thing in the mix . . . eventually. To start, usually the best route is to begin with endurance, i.e., slow and steady, gradually increasing.

Over-exercising to the point of fatigue can be counter-productive. If we are fatigued going into the rest of our day, we tend to rest more, do less . . . effectively wiping out some of the exercise calories. The sweet spot is exercise that's just a mild, manageable challenge to current capabilities. You'd maybe feel a little "whew" for a few minutes right afterward, but then energized going into the rest of your day.

Similar from a fitness standpoint: Going super hard initially isn't more effective. It's more time-limited (we can't keep it up for long) and creates more injury risk. Find that mild, manageable challenge, and try to gradually increase duration over time, keeping it a mild challenge. After a few weeks is the time to start adding intensity sometimes, with either a short intense workout or some higher intensity intervals interspersed in your base-pace workout - maybe once a week, twice tops.

All high intensity all the time is much hyped in the blogosphere . . . but elite athletes don't train all high intensity all the time. If they don't find it the most effective way to build/maintain fitness, why would us regular duffers want/need to do it?

Keep up the good work, manage it in smart ways, keep it fun (or at least tolerable/convenient), and you'll amaze yourself with where your arrive in a few weeks, a few months, and beyond.

JBanx256

But here's the thing - YOU DID IT!

And you wanna know what's even better? YOU'RE GONNA DO IT AGAIN!

Just keep at it, little by little - don't go crazy with it or anything, but stick to it. You'll see progress very quickly.

And congrats on what you've accomplished so far - 110 is a lot to lose, and if you did all that by diet alone, just think of what you're gonna accomplish with some good movin' & shakin' too!

BrianSharpe

The first step is always the hardest.

Focus on what you can do and build from that. 5 minutes may no sound like much but when I was a highly accomplished couch potato that probably would have killed me.

While it's much lower intensity consider spending some time walking at a comfortable pace on the treadmill or riding one of their stationary bikes, again at a comfortable pace. Both will help build cardiovascular endurance and are things you could, if you wanted, do every day.

Consistency if the key, make sure that you're active on a regular basis and you will find that both your physical health and sense of well being improve.