I'm afraid to start exercing

maiasmommy

I am just new to this site, started my way to a healthier lifestyle on Monday. I am afraid to start exercsing until I start seeing some weight loss. I think I will be discouraged if I start going to the gym and I don't see anything from my muscles retaining water or inches loss.
Is it alright to wait a few weeks to start the gym regiment?

maiasmommy

I am just new to this site, started my way to a healthier lifestyle on Monday. I am afraid to start exercsing until I start seeing some weight loss. I think I will be discouraged if I start going to the gym and I don't see anything from my muscles retaining water or inches loss.
Is it alright to wait a few weeks to start the gym regiment?

Binkylove

Why dont you try walking about 20 mins 3 times a day (or all at once like me) I have been doing this and nothing else, and i am averageing around 1 pound off a week at the moment. Its just a suggestion. See what other members advise too.

Wishing you well on your weight loss journey

Pamela:flowerforyou:

dolphin7

I think the key to successful weight loss, is exercise, our bodies need movement, regularly, that is what helps us get in shape, by keeping our heart rate up for at least 30 min. But if your just starting the healthy eating and want to take it slow go ahead and wait, take one thing at a time, it is all a huge adjustment. I've been with MFP for a year now, and I exercise regularly every week, at least 4-5 times a week and at least 30 min. each time, and I find I crave the exercise now, I crave getting my heart rate up, because I feel so good afterwards, it has helped me be so much healthier this past year and I can keep up with my children a lot better, which has made our relationships so much better, I have 5 very active kids. I have had many friends, family ask me how I do it and when I tell them, I've changed how I eat, they agree with me, yes I can do that, but when I tell them how much I exercise, they make excuses, their too busy, a part of their body hurts them, the list goes on and on. There is so much different types of exercise out there, you don't have to do it all at the gym, and you can alternate, long walks, bike rides, mow the lawn, gardening, my favorite is my Elliptical and I do have a few videos I use regularly. I wish you luck, its a long journey, and I still have a ways to go, but I feel so much better, keep us posted, let us know how that first week goes at the gym.

jlhcrh3

I would say start doing something. It doesn't have to be the gym. Like the previous poster said, you could start with walking. Because really, there are going to be weeks that it shows on the scale, and weeks that it doesn't. That's why it's important to take measurements. I know it'll be difficult if the scale doesn't show, but why put off exercising another week? Good luck, and we're all here to help!

CasperO

Every step in the right direction is a step in the right direction. You need to proceed at your own pace. Adopting a healthier lifestyle is an enormous change in the way you live day to day and a big big adjustment to make.

It's actually fun and neato and very rewarding, but it's also a little scary. It won't hurt a thing if you break your changes up into baby-steps. I started on just dieting and did that for several months, then started an exercise regimen when I was ready. I did make progress on my weight by diet alone.

Here's what happened to me though...

As you make progress and log your progress, the program makes adjustments. When I started out I weighed 270 pounds. That's a lot of weight - and my BMR to heat-cool-carry all of that allowed me to eat 2000 cals a day and still reduce. However - as my weight came down the site adjusted to compensate for that and pretty soon my food allowing was 1800, then 1700,,, and that's just not enough and I got hungry and cranky.

I started exercising to "earn" extra calories, so I could be satisfied and not miserable, and I'm so glad I did. I now do a good 30 minutes every morning and it's been a great benefit.

Anywho - ya, baby steps are fine. Proceed at your own pace. You might make your goal in 4 months, or 6 months or a year - but as long as you don't quit you're still in the game, and the game is pretty cool.

Good luck, keep us posted. Cute kid in the pic BTW :happy:

jmdolan

You want to be careful jumping right into excercise to avoid any kind of injury. i would suggest a few minutes on the treadmill a few times a week to start. Then as you begin to lose you can start adding in more cardio as you feel stronger. Don't get discouraged. Even if you retain a little water at first or dont lose as much as you want right away, you will still know you are making a Healthier you. The weight will drop eventually.

dkell

:flowerforyou: I agree with walking. I think you can start out slow and add minutes and distance as you progress. I am putting together my daughter's wedding right now so I've been changing my eating habits and have lost my weight with little to no exercise. After the wedding I plan on starting a walking schedule and starting slow but increasing time and distance little by little. I plan to do this the rest of my life so I don't have to have it all right now. It took me a long time to get in the shape I'm in so I'll work on getting healthy the rest of my life. Hope this helps.:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :drinker: Remember to drink plenty of water.:drinker:

Thin4payton

Make sure you take your measuments. Even if you don't lose the pounds right away, as long as the inches are decreasing, it's at least some kind of loss and that might keep you motivated. It really helped me in the past. I wouldn't lose pounds, but the inches were coming off and it kept me going. Hope that helps and definatly keep checking in here and post when you are getting frustrated. It helps so much! Great people here!!!

chicaloca6470

i cant afford the gym right now and plus im scared of the gym lolbut neway ive been doing my wii fit and walking/jogging

alligator1970

Start by doing step aerobics at home. Gget a step like 6 inches high and while watching TV just step on and off. Tiem yourself. Try startign with 10 minutes, then go to 15, then 20 etc. You don't even have to go overly fast. I do those with my regular routine. I talked my sister into trying it and she is amazed at the difference it has made...

sonjavon

I agree to start out slowly. The difference between this and other attempts to lose weight has been the exercise. I don't "work out" strenuously - I walk on my treadmill at home. I promise myself every day to do 20 minutes - and anything above and beyond that is a bonus.

Here's the thing... it's much HARDER to convince yourself that it's OK to make a bad choice when you've worked out that morning. It's also kind of nice to have those exercise calories to play with.

Take your measurements, drink plenty of water, watch your calories and do some moderate exercise. When you weigh yourself in a week - you'll see that it worked!

I have failed every diet that I have ever been on. I gained 30 pounds on weight watchers. I lost on Atkins - gained back twice as much. THIS WORKS... and it's easy! When I first started exercising, my attitude every day was... "whatever I do today is better than what I did last week (nothing)." I was amazed to find out just how much I could do without it hurting!!!

Poison5119

All these posters have great advise and words of encouragement, so I needn't add much more to it.

The question I have is "why wouldn't you want to?" It can only do you good. You have a beautiful new baby, and getting outside and moving around is precisely what the both of you could probably use.

My only intent when I started this new path was just to feel better and to sleep better and be healthier. The weight loss would come later. Don't delay, start today. I sound like a commercial.
You can start at least CONSIDERING what kinds of exercise you're interested in by reading the boards and doing a little research. This is YOU TIME, girl! Welcome to MFP!!

Phoenix_Rising

It's much harder to gain muscle than most people think. I doubt you will swap fat for muscle quickly enough to see weight gain from exercising.

Don't let that be an excuse. :flowerforyou:

Go for a walk. Start small. Get your lungs going, get that heart pumping. Losing weight without working out is like painting a car with a motor that is falling apart. Take care of your engine, not just your paint job.

bluroses

I just want to add to the chorus of those who are reassuring you that exercise doesn't have to mean jumping into an intense gym session every day. Walking is a *great* way to get some exercise! Our bodies are healthier when we use them. Start with a walk around the block. Or go the your library and borrow some low intensity dvds to try at home. When I started my journey, I could not keep up with the easiest program on the Biggest Loser dvd. But, I did what I could until I could do more... Believe in yourself - you can do it!

WallabyBob

My two cents...I agree with the above posts, ease into it don't try to over do anything intially. My advice is to think long term with regards to weight loss. Don't get sucked into the hyped up commercials of people losing tons of weight in 6-8 weeks or 2-3 months. You need think more like 6-12 months in terms of goals for weight loss. I thought I could lose most of my weight in 3-4 months but I quickly realized that wasn't going to happen so I reestablished more realistic goals, originally I thought I could lose 2-3 pounds a week no problems but soon had to scale that back to a more reasonable and normal level of 1 to 1.5 pounds a week. Right now my goal is 1/2 pound a week. So be realistic in your goal setting.

There is a lot of support on this site, make use of it. Don't get hung up in the scales unless you have the mindset of "it doesn't matter what it says I will still work out today". If you think of it as lifestyle change there is no end date, it is just something you do. The benefits will come.

CasperO

""If you think of it as lifestyle change there is no end date, it is just something you do. The benefits will come. """

And they will,,, good stuff Bob.

annaliza

Sure you can lose weight by only eating the calories alloted to you without exercising....

but you will just be a smaller flabby you rather than the trim, healthy you that only exercise can give.

Not to mention what it does for your skin and hair....

The choice is really up to you.

I didn't want to exercise because truthfully, I'm lazy - well ... and it was such a daunting task. But, once I got into it, I found that it really isn't all that bad and now I am looking forward to my next workout.

And when I'm done, I have all those endorphines racing through me...which gives me a nice, natural high. Yay for endorphines!

KatWood

Sure you can wait, but why?
You know exercise is good for you and that it will hope you lose weight even if you don't see results right away. Plus there are so many other great benefits that you will enjoy almost immediately including reduced stress and a better immune system. And it can be fun if you find something you enjoy!:happy: