Working Out When You Are Too Fat To Do Anything

MsTae84

You can do this!! Do not let what others are doing discourage you. You have to do what works best for you, if walking is what works best right now then continue to walk. Once you feel up to it add more things into your work out. I started out at your weight and I all I did was walk and I lost 15 pounds from just walking. Its all about what works best for you, believe me these people did not become marathon runners over night. Like they say you have to crawl before you walk and walk before you run. Remember we are here to encourage you because we are here for the same reasons.

divalovely

Be encouraged! I was almost 300lbs when I started my weight loss journey 13 months ago! A year ago I started walking on a trail near my house 20 mins in the morning and 20 mins in the evening. Now I'm doing 70 minutes of cardio a day and have completed two 5K runs, a 10K, and this Sept I'm completing a half marathon! You just have to start small and build your way up, but don't ever GIVE UP!! Feel free to add me as a friend, I love to encourage others, that's what MFP is all about.

Be BLESSED!!!!!!!!!!! Keep up the AWESOME work:)

red_hatorade

Thank you guys for all the support. You wouldn't believe how many friend requests I have been getting.

mandeiko

You are young! You have PLENTY of time to better yourself! Don't get discouraged so soon! I know starting out is NEVER easy... but try low impact and work your way up. All of what was said in this thread is GREAT advice. I hope you keep it up! Tell yourself you are going to, and hold yourself accountable!

RhonndaJ

As has been said, start small and increase slowly. You can't do everything all at once, your body has to become used to it, and trust me, it's stronger than you might think.

A few years ago, when I was heavier than you are now, I started going to the gym. I couldn't do five minutes on a treadmill. I was worse on the elliptical. The first time I tried it, three minutes and I thought I was going to die. ~quiet chuckle~ On the weight machines I couldn't do five pounds. Except on the leg press, but that's a whole other story.

That first day I was so depressed with how unfit I was, but the trainer I had repeated, over and over, that no one starts being able to do a lot. I had paid for three days a week for a four weeks so I figured I should at least use the time. So back I went for each session. By the end of the month I was able to do a fair bit more. Still nothing like those around me, but more than I had been.

I kept going to the gym up until my bike accident and had reached the point where I could do 45 mins on the treadmill or elliptical, though I still was not friends with the stairmaster. With the weight machines, the weights I could handle varied with the machine, but I was upping steadily in weight and reps.

I will say that now I find that walking in place is harder on my feet and back than getting out and walking normally. But the heat is too much to get out at this stage.

Next weekend, I'm going to check out a gym. If I like the equipment they have, signing up. No doubt I'll be starting back at the beginning. Small amounts. But those small amounts of doing will increase to more and more. I'm sure of it. It did before.

Someone actually has this in their signature. "The more you do, the more you can do."

JudoJones

Some tips:

Definition:
Workout = is anything that raises your heart heart rate for an extended amount of time.
+++ Meaning it may take less action to generate a great workout for you.

Workout TWICE a day to increase burn cycle.
+++++Again it refer to definition of 'workout'

After you have a good base of endurance, (see workout def.)
try interval training. Working on your ablility to jack your heart rate up and quickly recover. (start small, 10 seconds hard, 50 seconds to recover for maybe 6 cycles after your cardio workout.)
++++ This interval training my suck but it will be what allows you to climb a flight of stairs without getting ot of breath or just feel a little like you're able to move a little lighter.)

You are doing GREAT, you are asking the right questions at the right time. You are already being the person you want to be.

Be well,
scott

LuckyLeprechaun

Don't be too discouraged though, I've noticed that simply by watching my calories and eating healthier I'm losing the weight.

[quote/]

This this this!!!! The biggest impact comes from dietary changes, so be vigilant about that and do what you can for exercise as you can.

Schwiggity

What is "a lot" for one person is different for another. The extra weight can definitely make things harder to impossible, but you'll just have to see which exercises and workouts are the prior and which are the latter. The more you workout the more better you'll be able to workout. It's all about forward momentum.

cieraangel

Eating right is so much of the bigger picture in the stage you're in right now. Just watching your calories, even without exercise will help you lose. As far as working out, do as much as you can. Don't overdo it, but also make sure you push yourself just a little more everyday. I weigh more than you do and I can do high impact cardio for an hour without any problems. You can do it! It just takes time to adjust.

TDGee

Lots of great advice here, all ya gotta do is take it and follow it to THE BEST OF YOUR CURRENT ABILITY! I have a similar story, so I won't bore you. Another important thing to remember is NEVER QUIT. So you have a crummy day and inhale the contents of the ice cream truck. Don't beat yourself up too badly. Get up, get over it, and KEEP MOVING FORWARD!! Good luck! And remember, there is always a bunch of MFPeeps to help you, to listen and help you on your way. We are all in this life together.

DancinSMartiPants

Everybody is different. Believe me. I know. But you CAN do this and you're never too fat to move. Those are the mental roadblocks trying to impede your success. Be resonable, but I weigh more than you do now and I jog about 3.5 miles 5 days/week. No bragging. I started off with Couch to 5k and used their slow progression to move forward. My point in giving that example is to say that your WEIGHT might not be what is stopping you.

Best of luck. :flowerforyou:

ResilientWoman

I started in tears on April 2009. I had tried everything that I researched and found safe. I couldn't even walk my dog outside a few feet to relieve herself without feeling anxious, like I was going to die and that I was a failure. I weighed around 323 lbs then.

Found a coach to teach me strength training as a last resort but she was more interested in helping me regain lost mobility and neural functioning. Fast forward over more than 2 long, fascinating, often frustrating and miraculous by turns, years, I have shed 102 lbs. I now have the strength to carry my aging dog around when she cannot walk. I can lift my sleeping daughter from a carseat (about 50 lbs) without waking her, carry her into our apt across rain-slickened Seattle sidewalks without fear of slipping and falling, get her inside, changed into pjs and not even wake her.

Today I acknowledge that at 40.6% body fat, I still have 1-2 years to reach my goal of 20% body fat. I can choose to focus on my growing strength, healing body and happy family or I can choose to emotionally neglect/abuse myself with unkind/impatient words.

Thank you for loving yourself enough to start this profound journey and for sharing what many of us often feel. You can do this, you may need new tools, new movements and new support structures to accomplish your goals, but you can do this. And, as I suspect has already become clear to you, you have lots of people with you on your journey. You need not be alone.

KeriA

Yes that is my 1st rule - Don't give up, my 2nd is log. Do you see anything about exercise? No. However I am really big on exercise and you are doing it. However I started exercising before I got on here and didn't lose much and most came back. It was the logging that worked. However I still do it because I don't just want to weigh less I want to be healthy and trimmer. I guess the 3rd rule is improve each day or week. Make some progress. I started very close to the weight you did. I have only lost 27 pounds but I am doing Zumba and C25K now. I didn't at the beginning though. Now I am wearing clothes I did 10 years ago at a lower weight so exercise has its benefits. The good news is that right now you do not have to do as much as those others to get just as good a calorie burn as they do. That is the real way to look at the effectiveness of the exercise right now. You also can eat more calories and lose. So when you need to you will be able to do what you will need to to burn more calories. My favorite exercise and it was the first one I started with besides walking is aquafit. It is so much better than most people realize. It is really resistance training. I am still going because it still is slimming and firming me and holds it own with all the other exercise and I think it is the reason I can do alot of what I am doing now. I now do things harder and faster in the pool than I did at first. It is the primary reason I am losing inches besides walking - that is so great. You need to find a way to do this in a sustainable way. If you get too perfectionist about it you won't be able to make the 1st 2 rules which are more important than many fancier things you can do. I recommend that you get yourself a group of MFP friends that have similar goals here as you do and are in the same situation as you. I joined a group when I first got on here that someone posted to lose more than 100 pounds and now we only have 3 of us posting but they are great. Yes I have alot of friends here that are at different levels but generally they have something in common. The whole thing is finding out what works for you. You don't have to lose anyone elses pounds and get anyone else's body fit. Just yours. What works for one may not work for you or for you right now. Of course the last issue here is time but I feel everyone else has spoken elequently in that regard. Your timing will be specific to you aswell. To end I am very impressed with the progress you have made and we all understand why you are discouraged. We feel it too for similar or different reasons. And you did the right thing about it. Letting people know. Yay! MFP!

eeeekie

When I started my journey I was about 12lbs shy of 400lbs. I started with very short walks, an every couple days I would work myself up to a new goal...something further than what I had left off at. If I stopped at the stop sign I forced myself to go to the speed sign which was 20 more steps. It's the LITTLE THINGS that add up and eventually you'll be walking 2+ miles and 1 mile will be a teaser for you. If you can't do her video don't hate yourself, change videos! Leslie Sansone has AMAZING walking videos (1mi & 2mi) and they are so awesome and I'm 100% sure you could do them. Push yourself though, if you keep saying "I can't" you're not gonna be able too. CANT is no longer apart of my vocabulary. If I catch myself saying "I won't do that because I'm too fat"...I do it. If it scares me, I try it. JUST PUSH YOURSELF...it's all about pushing yourself. My ankle bone still pops and creeks every time I do my workouts, it doesn't hurt but I hear it and I continue on. Pushing yourself is the best thing you can do for yourself. If you're making excuses as to why you CAN'T do something then you will never do it them and you won't progress mentally, physically, emotionally.

YOU CAN DO IT
YOU CAN DO IT
YOU CAN DO IT
YOU CAN DO IT
YOU CAN DO IT
YOU CAN DO IT
YOU CAN DO IT

NeuroticVirgo

It just takes time. I started out at 272lbs, and was only walking. Now I'm doing the C25K program, but its almost been a year since I started. Your body will slowly build up to be able to do harder exercise .

SunnyDispo619

Swimming is an excellent exercise to try, and will be a great workout. Also, if no one else has mentioned it, look at your food diary and see if you are drinking your calories. I found that cutting out the lattes and replacing them with coffee or chai tea eliminated a nice chuck of empty calories from my day. I also replaced butter and olive oil for cooking with fat free/zero calorie sprays. Switched to bagel thins (110 cals), and egg whites for scrambled eggs. These changes aren't my first choice foods, but they are small steps that allow me to not feel deprived.
Most importanly, don't be too hard on yourself. You are working at it, you've lost some weight and that's fabulous. Keep at it! DO NOT compare yourself to anyone else. If it comes off to quick, you'll put it back on quickly. Focus on the mental/lifestyle changes. Even though these take time, it increased the chance that when the weight comes off, you'll be less likely to put it back on. Good luck!!!

mamagooskie

When i was at my heaviest....which is around 50lbs MORE than what you are now, I just walked. If you can only do 5 min now fine but keep doing it, Next week aim for 7 min or 10min. a month later maybe you'll be up to 20, and keep going.

eventually you will go farther and faster and who knows what you can end up doing. Do small things like park farther at the mall, walk stairs when you can. Sit and do arm exercizes to burn calories, swim it's lower inpact and burns calories and you don't even feel like you are sweating or overly hot, there is tons of stuff you can do.

If you told me 17 months ago I'd lose 143 lbs and do P90X 6 days a week and run and be wearing a bikini I'd have laughed at you....but here I am.

Dtho5159

Im at 248 currently and started out at 298.. When I was nearly 300lb, I just walked.. When I hit 255ish I started trying Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. I miserably failed the first 2 attempts but at 253 I finally succeeded in doing Level 1 from start to finish. I tried Level 2 and it was wayyy too hard for me so I stay with Level 1.

CeejayGee

I was about your weight when I started and everything was SO hard, but I just kept at it. If a 5 minute walk is all you can do, then do the 5 minute walk. Then later in the day, do another 5 minute walk. Do that as often as you can! It doesn't have to be all at once.

When I first started, I decided I'd run. i was SO not ready, so I just walked. Then, after some walking and losing 30 pounds, I decided to start running. (And by running, I mean a jog that sometimes is outpaced by pregnant racewalkers, but that's another story!). At first, i couldn't even go 1/4th of the way around the track - or, 1/16th of a mile. Now, I can run twice around the track without stopping, or 1/2 a mile. And, I can walk miles on end. Last week I did a challenge where I walked at least two miles a day, but a couple of days I did 4, 2.5, 3, etc.

Just move your body as much as you can. Challenge yourself, but don't injure yourself.

tammykoon

Some tips:

Definition:
Workout = is anything that raises your heart heart rate for an extended amount of time.
+++ Meaning it may take less action to generate a great workout for you.

Workout TWICE a day to increase burn cycle.
+++++Again it refer to definition of 'workout'

After you have a good base of endurance, (see workout def.)
try interval training. Working on your ablility to jack your heart rate up and quickly recover. (start small, 10 seconds hard, 50 seconds to recover for maybe 6 cycles after your cardio workout.)
++++ This interval training my suck but it will be what allows you to climb a flight of stairs without getting ot of breath or just feel a little like you're able to move a little lighter.)

You are doing GREAT, you are asking the right questions at the right time. You are already being the person you want to be.

Be well,
scott

This works for me too. I was really freaked out about working out. At 372 lbs, when I started, moving was painful. I was truly afraid that a heart attack was knocking on my door. So, I would get my heart rate up, then back off bit. Now I work out 30 - 40 minutes 3 times a week and walk on my "off" days.

Here is an odd piece of advice, hope it doesn't offend anyone. I searched MFP for people who were larger than me. I figured if they could move so could I. We have to MOVE. It's not always easy. It is often uncomfortable. And to be honest it can sometimes be embarrassing. But we HAVE TO do it!