Tips for how to excersize when you are super fat? Back pain.

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Replies

  • abelthephotographer
    abelthephotographer Posts: 127 Member
    Take a walk! Seriously, I walked off my weight. It's a wonderful exercise when you have a lot to lose. You don't have to jump into difficult workouts to find success, especially in the early days of trying to lose weight.

    This.

    THIS!

    Walk. Walk a bit further. Walk a bit faster.

    I went from a 17-minute mile in January to half that in August (jogging for the first time in my life), and I've lost 30+ lbs. Diet and walking. Diet and walking. Diet and ... walking.
  • pkul85
    pkul85 Posts: 29 Member
    The best way- just get clothed up, and start. You may do 1 min, or 11, or 1 hr.. but the trick is to start. When i started working out, just stepping foot into the gym is what i called sucess. Then, .. lets do 10 min on the elliptical.. and if i feel bad, i STOP. The trick, i have realized is to always associate things with POSITIVE energry. I didnt want to get off the machine- huffing and puffing and feeling lethargic, sweaty and like crap. Sooo i took my time.. started out with 5 then 10... now about 45. I know i could do more..but for now this is good because now the gym is a happy place.
    I hoep this helps someone else becuase it took a while for me to learn that i DONT have to keep up with everyone else around me- i am the one who needs to return. THese other people have already found their happy medium, i need to find mine. Good luck!!
  • ozigal
    ozigal Posts: 173 Member
    Take a walk! Seriously, I walked off my weight. It's a wonderful exercise when you have a lot to lose. You don't have to jump into difficult workouts to find success, especially in the early days of trying to lose weight.

    100% Agree with this. I did exactly the same thing. I lost my first 50lbs by walking and watching what I ate. It was that simple. At -50lbs I started to run and at -70lbs I started cycling.
  • oldandhealthier
    oldandhealthier Posts: 449 Member
    Take a walk! Seriously, I walked off my weight. It's a wonderful exercise when you have a lot to lose. You don't have to jump into difficult workouts to find success, especially in the early days of trying to lose weight.
    excellent advice, walking is the only real exercise I have had. When I started I was about 300 lbs overweight and would get out of breath taking a shower and could walk only couple a couple of hundred feet and now I measure the distance in miles. Just start slow and work up gradually and you will make it.
  • lharri0209
    lharri0209 Posts: 128 Member
    Take a walk! Seriously, I walked off my weight. It's a wonderful exercise when you have a lot to lose. You don't have to jump into difficult workouts to find success, especially in the early days of trying to lose weight.

    Agreed! Walking is a great way to start exercising. Most importantly, weight loss is primarily diet, so don't stress out if you aren't able to go nuts at the gym right away. Eat right, track your calories, and do what you can in terms of exercise and you will start to notice big changes.

    I agree also. If you are a beginner then, walking is the way to start out. It takes the stress off of your back and will help you build up endurance for those other workouts later on.
  • fatfudgery
    fatfudgery Posts: 449 Member
    My starting weight was 546lbs. Walking or even standing for longer than 10 minutes would absolutely kill my lower back. Even after I started losing weight, working out was really, really painful for me for a long time. Then somewhere around 420-450lbs my wife convinced me to join a gym. At first I would walk for 10 minutes on the treadmill (I would support some of my weight on the side rails to alleviate my back pain) and ten minutes on the recumbent bike (which didn't stress my back at all.) As the weight came off my back got stronger and now I'm lifting and running something like 20 miles a week.

    Now, I know that most people are completely terrified of going to a gym, but I strongly encourage you to do so. They have equipment that can help you keep your workouts safe and pain-free, as well as varied and interesting. I was way bigger than you when I joined my gym and I can tell you it's not as scary a place as you're making it out to be in your head.

    Good luck!
  • ereck44
    ereck44 Posts: 1,170 Member
    First of all, congratulations on making this start!

    Persistence is the key!

    Whatever you decide to do, don't worry about getting through a whole workout (if you use home dvds). I was using Jillian Micheal's Fat burning metabolism boosting dvd and couldn't get past the 3rd circuit--my heart was racing so fast that I though that it was pounding through my chest. By the way, this was after I had been going to the gym for 6 months. Don't be so hard on yourself. I would do as much as I could and find that I can do more and more.I can make it through the dvd now. It's a process.

    Walking is a great exercise and very underrated. Make little goals for yourself--so that it isn't monotonous. For example, walk a half mile x 1 week, then increase the distance a little per day, or switch it up and ride a bike.

    They gym can be intimidating the first time you walk in, but it is usually full of friendly, willing-to-help people--most of them interested in improving their fitness and in losing weight. After a while, you will see the same people there and it is amazing and exciting the see the changes. Most of the gyms are affordable--if you decide to go this route, find one close to your home. The hardest part about belonging to a gym is walking through the front door. Trust me.

    I have to wear 2 bras to workout, and I am not that big chested, but was big enough that it hurt to jog on the treadmill, for example. I recommend it--a sports bra over a regular bra.

    Good luck in your journey.

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