308 Days....

Start slow and work your way up. Walking or any kind of exercise that gets your heart going is good.
Good luck!

Welcome!! I found some pretty good workouts on Cox On Demand in the Free Zone a while back ago, assuming they still have this feature. They had a variety of different types of workouts but they changed them out every once in a while so i ended up purchasing the DVD for a few of them. It was nice because i could try them out before i bought them. Youtube can be a pretty good source as well. Oh yeah and Hulu has some good yoga workouts. I have a friend doing them and she has really enjoyed them because they have different types and levels of yoga.
I agree with the previous posters in taking it slow and becoming accustomed to a new, healthier lifestyle. And don't think that you have to deny yourself of every indulgence. The way i see it is as long as you are within your calorie goal, you can indulge a little bit. After a while, you won't even crave all the things you might now.

I have found some great online yoga/pilates/exercise videos for free at Hulu. com The are easy and beginner to advanced.
I have also gone to a garage sale and gotten a small weight set along with a treadmill (the people were moving) which would be a good starting point for you also. I have found that these help me when it is hot outside because I can do this in the privacy of my own house any time I want.

The single thing that helped me most is weighing myself every morning no matter what!! No matter what! Because I knew I'd have to face that scale it has kept me from nighttime gnoshing that has been my biggest downfall. Do it 1 day at a time and the more you see the scale move the more motivated you will be. Don't beat yourself up with lack of exercise. The desire may come as you lose. If not, you'll still be losing by eating less and learning to keep portions down. Good luck and good attitude!!

Hi and welcome!

Like Marina, I started off with the calorie monitoring. Then I started walking a bit, then I started walking more. Then I consulted a nutritionist and I'm still making one change at a time with him. Recently I started aquafit classes and then a couple weeks later started strength training twice a week. So it took 6 months for me to start the weights and maybe 2-3 months before I started walking so take it slow and go at your own pace. The best advice though is this: DON'T GIVE UP! You're going to have bad days and times where you just want to quit. Go to bed that night telling yourself that the bad day is over and you WANT this so tomorrow you start again.

This of course is what worked for me but as you go through this, you'll find what works for you.

Good luck and have fun!

PS. I started a group called "Quirky challenges for the "Lighter" side of health". If you're interested in joining us, I'm giving out one food challenge and one fitness challenge each week but they're made to be fun as well as challenging and they're made to motivate and make you laugh while helping you get fit and healthy!

Moving gets easier the more you do it and the smaller you get. My sister has lost 40 lbs in 4 months by simply walking 2-3 miles a day and eaing about 1500 calories a day.

Keep at it - I wish you the best of luck!

Hey Lizzie.

First of all, welcome!

Second of all, you're awesome for taking that step and wanting what you want. I've only just started out here myself and this place is full of helpful tips and tricks.

For me, this place made me realize how much calories you actually burn simply from walking! So instead of taking public transport between work and the trainstation. I try to walk it as much as possible. Walking is simple, not so straining on the limbs, because when I tried running/jogging my knees and ankles started to protest, but walking seems like something I can do for eternity.

I'm keeping close tabs on calorie intake, but also keeping tabs on healthy food. I've been doing that little under a week now and I am actually actively feeling the results. I just feel better being me.

Best advice I can give is that you find something that fits you, and stick with it. Things might not always go as fast as you want, but you'll get there, I'm sure you will.

Good luck!

I understand your motivation, my motivation was to save my life.
My suggestion, is eat plenty of vegetables, especially green leafy ones like kale.
I try to have a green smoothie every day, and it's helped me not only loose weight, but to be healthier...

4 -6 cups of kale, 1.5 cups water, 2 bananas, 1 -2 cups of frozen fruit... Tastes like a fruit smoothie thats green, add some sesame seeds for extra calcium...

1 ounce of sesame seeds have 277mg of calcium... much more than dairy... 1 ounce of whole milk has 31.6mg

Good luck... You will succeed if you stick with it...

Welcome! You can totally make that goal.

I walk all the time. I've actually purchased a fitbit. It is a pedometer that links to myfitnesspal wirelessly so all my calories burned from walking are automatically added to my diary. If you plan to walk a lot you might like that.

Also, if you're walking outside and have a smart phone I highly recommend the mapmywalk app. It uses your phone's gps to track how far & how fast you walked. So you could manually enter the data into myfitnesspal also for your exercise.

I don't really do yoga. But I have found that my cable company has free workouts (including yoga) on demand. And they are free with your cable subscrption. I also go to a Zumba class twice a week but I love dance aerobics and since we all look crazy together I don't worry about how badly I dance in public there.

If you need friends or motivation feel free to add me. I'm always on here.

Neat! I'm new to apps (MyFitnessPal was my first), didn't realize this existed. Going to have to try MapMyWalk!

Welcome! I'm THE BEST at making excuses so I will only give tips on how to ensure success (and I still have a LONG way to go)! Make realistic goals that are achievable. Do not make a goal to work out every day for an hour at 5am. It's just not going to happen, and because I know I'm not a morning person, morning exercise goals are simply unrealistic for me (at this point). I started by walking for 10 minutes every-other-day during my lunch break. And even when it's super hot outside, 10 minutes is doable. Then 20 minutes at lunch. Then add another 20 minutes on a stationary bike in my home after my kids were in bed. I also know that as much as joining a gym sounded good, unless I went right away after work, I wouldn't go if I went home first and would need to drive back to the gym.

Then there were eating goals. Cutting out foods I loved was also very unrealistic. No pizza? No bread? No cheese? No sweets? No thank you!! So I decided to concentrate more on my portions and still allow myself the foods I loved, just in moderation. Can I have a cupcake that someone brought into work? Sure, but I don't need three. Or instead of 5 pieces of pizza, I'll have two with a salad, or another veggie to fill me up. I also allowed myself unlimited vegetables to help fill me up and slowly I noticed I was eating less, naturally, and becoming fuller faster. If I had fresh, ready-to-go healthy snacks in the house that I could quickly grab, those are the snacks I'd reach for. I also found that having one of those mini candy bars (those little squares) could curb my sweet tooth, and if I only brought one or two, that is all I ate.

Simply tracking what you eat, and EVERY LITTLE THING that you eat, helped a lot. It's the little things that add up quickly and I had no idea how much I was eating in just drinks, condiments, etc. Once you are aware of that, you will notice you will start making healthier choices.

Good luck!!

Edit - I wanted to add that little things add up. I heard once the key is to simply move more, and that doesn't necessarily mean scheduled exercise. Park further away at work, at the grocery store, etc. Instead of asking your kids or hubby to get you something, get up and get it yourself. Take the long way to the bathroom. Walk an extra time around the store. Stand instead of sit. Those little things burn calories and aren't a huge shock to your system all at once. The more you start moving, the more you'll want to move!

Results don't happen over night, so the best advice I can offer is to keep at it. Don't give up. You're in it for the long haul!

Welcome! You can do this and you have a great support team to help you!

I'm very nervous. I want to suceed. My biggest issue: exercise. At this size it hurts to move and it's hot. I live in a very small town the pool is basically a kiddie pool. My goal is to take advantage of our lovely walking path. It's 8 blocks to the path and the path runs 30 miles one direction, 25 the opposite direction. I've no excuses. This weekend we are going to a HUGE shopping complex and I'm buying some new tennis shoes. I know I should do some sort of weight lifting... I want to find a YOGA DVD.. Any suggestions of an introductory one?


Hey There, As someone who use to be 340 pounds I know how you feel and the key is baby steps, do a little a day and keep adding on when your body allows it. As far as DVD's I started with Leslie Sansone Walk away the pounds DVD's because i didnt want to be walking outside at 340 pounds as horrible as that sounds. Found it easier to do it at home private. They come in 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 -5 miles, each mile being 15 minutes and I found EXCELLENT to do. Lost a lot of weight with them. Hope I've helped and YOU CAN DO IT!