Being too unfit to do any form of excercise ?

Hello All ,

Good to be on MFP . I love reading the success stories here . Gives me hope that I can lose weight too :)

My weight s 86 kgs . I am 25 years old female . My height s 5 feet and 2 inches . . I am not a very athletic person . I do not remember having participated in any form of sports in my school life . I used to love dancing however .

I have failed at every exercise I have attempted in the recent past! :( I am committing to lose weight and reach a healthy BMI this year . I attempted Power 90 a while back , I huffed and puffed on day 1 !! really couldn continue any longer . I then attempted zumba , I I could just do it for ten minutes . Yesterday I tried day 1 of the c25k , could do it with great difficulty only about 20 minutes . But these 20 minutes were a such a pain . I was winded all the time!! Walking was ok , but the running was horrible ! I kept begging for it to end !!. Finally I gave up after 20 minutes .
I always make these big plans to exercise and am always let down by my body .

I want to know how to move from this stage where I can exercise easily . If I just reach that stage I am sure I will lose weight easily after that . Just how do reach that point ??

Does everyone start out this way ?? I would like to hear stories of you all , about how you struggled initially but n the end you achieved your goals beautifully ??

Please show me there is hope ? I do not want to be trapped in this boday forever . I want to lean and healthy and beautiful :(

Please help me ... tips for exercise for an obese girl ??
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Replies

  • Everyone starts out this way. Do not give up, you may have only been able to do 10 minutes today, but push yourself to do 12 minutes tomorrow. You don't need to make large jumps when you first start out, just try to increase your movement by a minute or so every day and you will get there, I promise. As one of my friends on here says...if you can walk...you can exercise. Don't give up!
    Good Luck!
  • LizL217
    LizL217 Posts: 217 Member
    Well, I have 3 pieces of good news and 1 piece of bad news.

    Good news 1: The first time you do ANYTHING is always going to be the hardest. Once you've done it a few times, it will get easier and you will be able to go for longer and longer the more you do it.

    Good news 2: Exercising for 20 minutes, or 10 minutes, or even just 5 minutes is not a failure. It is better than 0 minutes, and that is what counts. Any decision you make to do something healthy rather than do something unhealthy is a step in the right direction. Also good ol' fashioned walking is great exercise. A 30-minute walk every day will help get your body used to moving without putting too much strain on it.

    Good news 3: You can lose weight without exercise. Granted, it is BETTER to incorporate exercise so that you retain muscle mass, improve your metabolism, improve your bone density and heart health, etc. But there's no reason why you can't lose weight without exercising as long as you are eating at a caloric deficit.

    The bad news: Exercise should really never be easy. It can be fun and enjoyable, but it should always be at least a little bit hard. If it it isn't hard, it means you aren't challenging yourself. You'll never know what you're capable of if you stay in your comfort zone. Try new things, try hard things, huff and puff for as long as you can, and you will be greatly rewarded for it.

    Good luck!
  • bmstee03
    bmstee03 Posts: 119 Member
    It is unrealistic to expect to be able to jump into exercise without any huffing and puffing. You are going to be uncomfortable and really sweaty. If you're not then you are doing it wrong.
    Stop giving up on yourself. You are capable of more than you are giving yourself credit for and giving up after one day or ten minutes or twenty and then never doing that exercise again is silly. No one is perfect the first time, so try again. It will get easier each day and before you know it you will be working out much more than you ever thought possible.
  • Consistency is key!! If you keep trying something then waiting weeks or months to try again you are losing all of the benifits.

    Starts small and always progress!!
    So start with something simple like walking. Do it everyday. Every time you go on a walk challenge yourself to go a little farther, walk faster, seek out hills ...

    Once you have a month or so of consistent walking move up to C25k. Running is really hard when you are significantly overweight. You may have to repeat weeks on c25k and that is fine. The key is to keep moving forward, and not quitting
  • JRaeZins
    JRaeZins Posts: 171 Member
    If you have access to a pool and any water fitness classes(or you can look on line for a series of excercises you can do yourself in the water). Water walking/aerobics is a wonderful way to lead into land excercise. It is not just for old ladies!!! The water can help you build your fitness level without too much stress on your body.
  • ejwme
    ejwme Posts: 318
    you're getting good advice so far, I second all the comments above.

    I'll add - I've been running most of my life. every time I put on my shoes it's hard. I huff and puff. But the difference is that is my goal. I WANT to huff and puff. I WANT to turn beet red and ooze sweat like a squeezed sea sponge I WANT to end the workout beaten and exhausted and trembling with weak limbs, panting and laying on the ground.

    The trick is just to let yourself recover, and go back and try it again. You've got a long list of things you've done once - try a second time. A third time. You may need to repeat day 1 of couch-to-5k for a few weeks, but I guarantee at some point it will be easier than it was the first time. Then you move to day 2, and it's harder again - but again, it will get easier. That's the amazing thing about the human body - it can learn, and adapt, and improve, just give it a chance.

    You can totally do this, just keep at it.
  • dmpizza
    dmpizza Posts: 3,321 Member
    Worry about what you CAN DO, before you worry about what you can't do.

    You can probably jog at a slow pace for some distance, start there.
    Within 2 weeks you will feel very different and go from there.

    Good Luck.
  • jzammetti
    jzammetti Posts: 1,956 Member
    Walk, walk, and walk some more. 30 minutes a day should get you there and then you gradually increase you time and/or pace and before you know it, you are much more capable and don't hate it anymore. You can do this!!
  • RobinC37
    RobinC37 Posts: 242 Member
    Unfortunately if it's hurting and you're winded, you're doing it right.
    That being said- exercise can't necessarily be categorized. You like dancing, right? When you hop out of bed in the morning, do a little 15 minute dance session. It will wake you up and get you energized for the day, and dancing is a great calorie burner. Set yourself little progress goals: Today on my lunch break at work, I will walk up three flights of stairs. The next week, bump it up to 5 flights.

    You don't have to be "hardcore" in the gym and doing Insanity to make a difference in your health. If you believe something is impossible, then it is. I tried P90X when I was 60 lbs heavier and there WAS NO EFFIN WAY. So I bought a cheap used bike and started going for rides instead. At first it was no picnic to ride to my friend's apartment 1km away. Soon, that friend and I were going on actual picnics in the countryside 10 or 15kms away by bike.

    If you want to start doing balance and core strength, try practicing yoga. Vinyasa (flow) yoga is great for working out. Yoga can teach you how to control your breathing, which has crossed over to running for me. It increases your flexibility which helps prevent injury. It improves your balance and builds up your muscles with very low impact. If your legs can hold you up, you can do yoga. Just YouTube "Yoga for Beginners" and you will find hundreds of videos. Try for one that is 10-15 minutes to start. It is not strenuous and you can adjust poses to your ability, but you want to do the whole set of movements to really get the benefits.

    Can you do wall sits? With your back flat against the wall and your knees at a 90 degree angle? These are easier than boyweight squats but work the same muscles. Try holding a wall sit for 10 seconds. Work up to a minute. Same with a modified plank. Can't do a pushup? Try pushups off a wall.

    Keep your head up! It's not impossible. If you really really feel like it's too much though, it will get easier when you lose weight. Your range of motion will increase and your center of gravity will shift. Like another poster said, you can lose weight without exercising. If you are just overwhelmed at this point, give yourself 20lbs. Go for a 20 minute walk 4 times a week and watch what you eat closely. When you are down 20, try working out hard again. I bet it will go a lot better.
  • Mjhnbgff
    Mjhnbgff Posts: 112
    I'm the same height as you but I weighed more than you when I started exercising. Granted, I used to be quite active in the past so I was not new to exercise. I started out walking a lot and using the elliptical machine. I walked 9 miles every Saturday or Sunday for 6 weeks. You don't have to walk that much but even a brisk walk will get your heart pumping and burn calories. I am used to walking a lot so maybe the walking was easier for me, but I did not even attempt to run until I had lost 50 lbs since running is hard on the joints and I knew that I would have issues if I tried running at my heaviest. When I started C25K, I was able to start with week 2 with no problems because I was in much better shape from all the walking and my gym workouts.

    Start out slowly and give it lots of time. I highly recommend lots of walking and take the stairs whenever possible. When I start to get fatigued and I think I can't go on anymore, I just make myself push through and finish because I know how good I will feel when I finish.
  • leankaybee
    leankaybee Posts: 24 Member
    Awww .. I am overwhelmed by all of your replies . :)

    I am letting it all sink in :) Thank you sooo much !
  • 5stringjeff
    5stringjeff Posts: 790 Member
    Walk, walk, and walk some more. 30 minutes a day should get you there and then you gradually increase you time and/or pace and before you know it, you are much more capable and don't hate it anymore. You can do this!!

    This. I walked for the first three months I was on here - that helped me lose 20 pounds. It's a good exercise to start with because it will make you realize that you CAN do it!
  • jimmie65
    jimmie65 Posts: 655 Member
    Adding another vote for walking.
    When I started, I would get on the treadmill and set it for 3.5 mph, with occasional "sprints" of 5 mph. If I was lucky, I'd make it 30 minutes.
    That was a little over 2 years ago. I'm now lifting heavy weights and running 5ks (I could run further but I prefer lifting).
  • walking is a good start. park far away from entry doors, take stairs for 1 or 2 flights

    I would suggest looking up "lazy girl" exercises, or doing a little yoga. Nothing too intense but start to build some flexiblity and strength which will help as you get more fit
  • Download the app Striiv on your phone, it's an excellent and FUN way to keep track of the amount of steps you take and gives you mini goals and levels to achieve. I LOVE IT
  • dorianaldyn
    dorianaldyn Posts: 611 Member
    Everyone else has already given you such great advice. From what you've described, you're not too unfit to exercise. It really is 90% mental. The biggest eye opener for me in all of this was the surprise that I experienced when I realized how MUCH my body could do if I only asked it to. Just ask it to. When you're huffing and puffing, congratulate yourself for doing something right. Appreciate your body and what it is able to accomplish. If you can only manage 20 minutes today, try for 22 minutes tomorrow. You'll be surprised at how quickly your endurance improves.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Consistency is key!! If you keep trying something then waiting weeks or months to try again you are losing all of the benifits.

    Starts small and always progress!!
    So start with something simple like walking. Do it everyday. Every time you go on a walk challenge yourself to go a little farther, walk faster, seek out hills ...

    Once you have a month or so of consistent walking move up to C25k. Running is really hard when you are significantly overweight. You may have to repeat weeks on c25k and that is fine. The key is to keep moving forward, and not quitting

    This ^^ You listed some pretty intense exercises. Start slow but always keep increasing. When something gets easy, move to something harder.

    At any weight, walking is good exercise.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    Just keep going and add a little more each day. It took me two weeks to get through "week 1" of the couch to 5k, but I slowed my pace down and kept at it. I didn't have to repeat any weeks after the first one. GO SLOWLY! It's about endurance, not speed.
  • Omg i thought I was the only with with no upper, lower or any form of any body strength to do these crazy workouts!!!!
  • ValerieMartini2Olives
    ValerieMartini2Olives Posts: 3,024 Member
    You are never too unfit to just get up and walk.
  • k8blujay2
    k8blujay2 Posts: 4,941 Member
    Since everyone gave great tips on walking and getting there... I will hit a different point (but really the same message)

    Did you like Zumba? The biggest point of Zumba is just to move... you don't have to do all the steps exactly or even at the same impact as everyone else... Just move... get those arms up in the air, your booty shakin', and your feet movin'.... like everyone else said you will get there. :D

    btw: my av is me and my Zumba instructor.
  • azwen
    azwen Posts: 237 Member
    A Leslie Sansone video might be perfect for you! Check her out on YouTube. Try a one mile walk. She's very encouraging.
  • froggysgirl
    froggysgirl Posts: 6 Member
    Don't try to jump in head first...start out small. Start out walking and increasing your time each day. Then try to tackle the C25K. I can just about guarantee it will be much easier if you are already used to walking for 20-30 minutes. I am starting it on Wednesday, and I have been trying to condition myself by walking faster & faster each day on my breaks at work. The first day of walking I thought I was gonna pass out because I could hardly breathe, but I noticed each day got easier. And I also broke it up....20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the afternoon. As long as you don't give up and keep pushing yourself a little more each day, I'm sure you will do great!!!
  • tequila09
    tequila09 Posts: 764 Member
    if working out was easy they wouldn't call it work! it should be challenging because you're body isn't use to it.. if it was easy it wouldn't really be effective. i would suggest start walking or swimming and go from there.
  • Just_Ceci
    Just_Ceci Posts: 5,926 Member
    When I first started riding my bicycle again last summer, I could barely make 1 mile. Now my average ride is closer to 10 miles. In July, I could barely walk around the block. Yesterday, I ran with my dog about half way around.

    Baby steps!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Worry about what you CAN DO, before you worry about what you can't do.

    You can probably jog at a slow pace for some distance, start there.
    Within 2 weeks you will feel very different and go from there.

    Good Luck.

    This is good advice. Too many people try to go from 0 exercise to balls to the wall over night. You do that, and for one, you're not likely to stick with it...secondly, you're likely to hurt yourself. Gaining or re-gaining your fitness takes time...it doesn't happen overnight.

    I started reacquainting myself with fitness and exercise a few months ago. I'm still not in great shape, but I'm well on my way. When I started back in November, basically all I could handle was going for a 30-45 minute walk at a semi respectable clip. Just doing that would get my heart rate up to around 130 - 135...that's how un-fit I was. I started out doing 3x weekly...once it became too easy I upped intensity by trying to run a bit...then I started throwing in HIIT sessions and upping to 5x weekly. Now I do some form of cardio 5-6 times weekly pretty religiously with 3 high intensity days and 2-3 lower intensity days with my HR just in the fat burn/heart health zone and I lift 3x weekly.

    I can no longer just walk and get my HR up to anything that remotely matters...I can't get it up over 120 when I'm just walking, even if I'm going at a pretty good clip...it's all about progression and pushing yourself a bit beyond your comfort zone without actually hurting yourself. It doesn't have to be balls to the wall insanity hours on end. I do my stuff in 30 minutes...no more, no less.
  • ValerieMartini2Olives
    ValerieMartini2Olives Posts: 3,024 Member
    Also try doing things like parking farther away from the door. Take stairs instead of elevator/escalator. Do anything that will force you to move more.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    yes, everyone finds it hard when they start out.

    Set small targets, if you can only do 10 mins of an exercise video, then just do the first 10 mins each day. try to make it to 11 mins, then 12 mins etc, until you can do the whole thing. then build up by trying to do the whole thing at a higher intensity, then work your way up to a more difficult video.

    I second the advice about walking, and activity in general, e.g. taking the stairs instead of the lift, etc. This helps get your basic level of fitness up as well, that plus increasing how much you can do of the videos etc will help too. And your body will adapt to it, your muscles, heart and lungs will get stronger, and you'll get fitter and fitter

    you can do it :smile:
  • belgerian
    belgerian Posts: 1,059 Member
    If you can walk you are not unfit to do any form of excercise. It will be hard you may even want to quit at times (I love to run and in the middle of my run I still think what the hell am I doing). But you need to push yourself just move be active if walking around the block is all you can do then do it, then when that becomes easier walk two blocks. Take the stairs instead of the elevator if all you can do is one flight then do it. Im sorry sounds too much like I was. You just have to move your body. As you move more and more you will want to do it more and more, everyone started somewhere. Get some dumbells and use them while your watching tv, sit on the floor and do leg lifts while your watching tv, or hold your arms out see how long you can do it. There is always something you can do. No excuses. Myself I started out on eliptical then moved to treadmill i could barely run 2 miles at a about a 14 minute mile. Now I love to run outside run 3-5 times a week 8 miles a time unless its fricking freezing cold and snowing like it is now even on those days I go out of my way to walk more and take stairs more. I am fortunate I work maintaince at a large facility so I can walk alot and up and down stairs.
  • Lisafrazier71
    Lisafrazier71 Posts: 59 Member
    The first time I tried to work out I thought I was going to DIE!!! I got all out of breath and sweaty and my head was pounding and it was just awful. All I could think of was... My GOD, if there is a zombie apocolypse I am SCREWED!!! hahaha... I had to try a bunch of different things before I found something I could actually do without killing myself and settled on a work-out DVD called Hip Hop Abs. I couldn't do the whole thing, when I got too winded I would stop and just keep walking in place, but eventually got so I could do the whole thing (it took weeks, then months to move up to the more intense version). It's all dancing! Very fun & the guy is gorgeous :) You might try it, or maybe a video game that has dancing if you have a Wii or X-box or Playstation. We have Just Dance, 1-3 and it's REALLY fun, doesn't even feel like you are working out. Now I go to the gym and can do weights and cardio and all that good stuff, still get all out of breath and sweaty but I don't feel like a complete idiot doing it any more. Good luck!!! You can do it! Don't give up.