Could you share your experiences as I feel like a FAILURE!!

I started out with an injury. Basically chair bound, but losing by staying within my calories. When the doctor cleared me for walking, I decided to tackle the house stairs. I was incredibly slow and it was painful. I went 3 minutes twice a day and thought I was going to die. Gradually I upped it to 5 minutes, 3 times a day. I'm still slow compared to most people, but more than double time to my original and I can now do 5 minutes just fine.

I've since added walking. I'm slow, but every week I gain speed and distance. I'm walking 4-6miles every day now. A few weeks ago, I decided to try the 30 day shred. I'm still not cleared for jumping around and had to modify more than 2/3 of the video. In other words, I didn't really DO the workout. I quickly realized, unless I did them in a pool, just about every workout DVD is out of my league for now.

Instead, as a compliment to my daily walks, I've added strength training 3 times a week and I'm loving it. I started with body weight, soup cans and milk jugs. I've since added in resistance bands. Did you know you can do push-ups against a wall and a lot of floor work on a bed? I didn't! I can't get on and off the floor yet, but those modifications have really broadened my exercise horizons. I struggled with 10 wall-pushups and body weight alone . Now I'm up to 3 sets of 12 with a resistance band across my back to make it harder. lol

I'm expecting the strength training to help with both the weight loss (eventually) and the loose skin/toning problems with losing so much weight, at least to some extent. I will caution if you try strength training though, to take your measurements. My scale didn't budge downward, even went up a bit for a couple weeks. I knew it would, so I didn't panic. I can't wait to see my measurements at the end of the month. I can see a difference now that I hadn't seen yet with just weight loss alone so far.

By the time I'm able to do all that bouncing around, I expect to be down quite a bit weight wise and in far better overall health. I may decide I'm happier doing other things for exercise. I was never a fan of aerobics anyways. :P

Let's help each other. I too get depressed very quick when I see no results after days of hard work.

I have tried 2 separate times to do Jillian's Ripped in 30. Both times, I did 3-4 days of week 1 and QUIT! Despite being down almost 40 lbs, I am still getting my butt kicked! Keep your chin up and keep trying Once I am down 50 lbs, I will TRY AGAIN! Maybe, someday, I will manage to get to week 2

Believe me, Jillian Michael's is hard the first time no matter WHAT shape you're in! The first time I did 30 day shred, I mostly stared at the TV saying "You want me to do WHAT?"

I've done 30 day Shred, Ripped in 30 and Banish Fat Boost Metabolism now. My best suggestion is not to worry if you can do all the moves the first time. Just try your best, and don't stop moving, even if you're just walking on the spot or swinging your arms. Keeping your heart rate up will help you get used to it.

Keep at it, it can only get better!

Start slow. You are not a failure. Take a walk and enjoy the sunshine. I've suffered from severe depression on and off for years. A walk, just 30 minutes each day, will serve as a great introduction to exercise. Soon you will find that you have more energy and an increased desire to move around.

And with the Jillian Michaels DVDs, they are tough! But they get easier with each try! Good luck and be proud of yourself for every step you are taking towards better health!

You are not a failure! I was like this myself. You will be amazed at how quickly your body will adjust to working out and being more active! My first day of working out after a long stretch of doing nothing was HARD and the gym I was at has a treadmill that you hang onto the heart rate sensors and it will increase or lower your speed to keep your heart rate at the optimum rate for weight loss. I put 3.5 mph in for desired speed and it SLOWED me down to under 3 mph--how embarrassing! BUT.... by the next week (going 3x a week) the treadmill was increasing both my speed AND incline! Yes!

Just keep going and you will feel GREAT! It will help with depresssion also. I know personally. You can do this!

That was exactly how I was in the beginning. I'm not running any marathons, but I'm able to do the entire workouts now without modifying the moves, for the most part. Today I did Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism which is about 50 minutes.

The best advice I have is to just stick with it and do what you can. Modify the moves where you have to, but my rule has always been to at least *try* the "hard" version. You might be surprised at what you can actually do, and over time you'll see yourself improve!

I didn't start exercising until this past February. When I started, 15 minutes on my elliptical at the lowest resistance setting left me tired and breathless. Now, only two months later, I can easily do 45 minutes on the HIGHEST resistance setting. Baby steps. Just like you didn't put on all of your weight in one day, you didn't become unfit in one day and you can't lose the weight and become fit in one day! Just keep at it and you will be surprised at how quickly you improve. Good luck on your journey.

I started my new healthy living on wednesday so it's only been a few days. Before I did nothing. I suffered from severe depression and spent my time eating and sleeping so my weight is 205 lbs (5ft 2) and my exercise levels are none. Even walking up the stairs causes me to be out of breath But today I attempted 10 minutes of a jillian michaels dvd and I couldn't even do all of the exercise and the ones I could do felt like they were killing me. It actually hurt to jump around. I know it's because all my lack of fitness but I feel like a failure for it. I did 10 mins (with a break!) and here I am sweating and purple in the face unable to move. Was anyone else like this?

You make your fastest improvements when when you're a beginner. Do an easier version of the exercises. Just move and don't jump if it hurts. Or find a different exercise - you don't have to go from zero to maximum effort. If you're starting from an exercise level of none, all you have to do is keep moving for 10 minutes or longer a few times a day.

I am 64 yo and was at my highest weight when I started back on a healthy eating plan. I cannot exercise or do anything outside without having an asthma attack. It is very frustrating.. I am managing to walk around .6 miles now without too much effort, now. I can ride a recumbent bike (recumbent because of lower back injury). I tend to want to quit because I can't do more faster. But, as it has already been said "the only way to FAIL is to not try". So, keep on doing the little you can do and it will get better as the weight comes off and your endurance gets stronger.

Jillian Micaels is NOT EASY for beginners. When I tried the 30 day shred in January I could only do one circuit before taking a break. But I took my breaks between circuits and finished the workout like that. After a week or so I was able to do two circuits, and eventually all three. Modify what you need to at first and be consistent and you'll be amazed at how much you can do after 30 days. Be proud of yourself for getting through 10 minutes!

When i started i could hardly walk a few steps without huffing and puffing. Climbing a few stairs was a mission, At 290 lbs. I tried the orbitrek but hated it. I found Insanity online and ordered it. I know it is really a hard program but ti worked for me. Because it is interval training you go for 3 minutes and then get a rest, so i only had to make it for 3 minutes before i could rest. You also modify it , like the push-ups i started on my knees, you do as much as you can, the jumping i modified in the beginning to do either squats or just lifting 1 leg instead of 2. i don't know for me it worked. The nice thing is the fitter you get the more you can do and it makes you feel really accomplished. The nice thing is you also don't need any equipment and the 1st month is only 45 min a day. You will be stunned at how much your fitness improves after 60 days, it blew my mind and i lost quiet a lot in the 2nd month. Maybe it doesn't work for everyone but it was my life saver. Good luck and i hope you find something, don't give up and trust the process ,you will get there just keep going!

Do what you can. Don't focus on what you can't. Today you got off the couch and turned on the DVD and did 10 minutes. That's more than you did yesterday. When I first started I would do dvd's and when I got too tired my goal was to just keep moving. Even if they were doing jumping jacks I would just lift my legs... just to keep moving. Find out what works for you.

You can do it!

Things will get better dear! You are just starting out so I know how that can be overwhelming and be a struggle. Over time you will get stronger..just keep at it..if you have to take a break then fine..just get back at it..keep trying. I started at 265 lbs..I am 5 foot 2 as well..I'm 222 now..I started with 30ds..I didn't take breaks but I did do modifications at first and each day I got stronger..it got to the point where I needed no modifications. I finished that video and have been doing banish fat boost metabolism for 2 weeks now. 40 minutes..no breaks. Now I'm a big girl but I know if I want to be healthy then I have to keep pushing! Believe in yourself..it's mind over matter in the end. :flowerforyou:

You are never a failure, never ever. I try to keep that word and thinking out of my vocabulary. Think positive. The sun is up somewhere in the world, we've been given life and the means to do anything we want. If you want to lose weight you have to work at it. Like any relationship it takes commitment, support, motivation and love, love for yourself. Good things come to those who work hard. Lasting weight loss is a job, once you reach your goal you will still have to work to maintain it, but you're worth it 100%! There is a key to it and its start out slow. Back in January I started my weight loss journey (I signed up on here only 40 days ago). I started out on my exercise bike for 10 minutes a day, its low impact, I knew I had to go slow because face it I hadn't done a lot for exercise in a couple years. By the end of January I was doing 30 minutes at a time. I did that for a while, trying to increase my distance. In February I was able to start going 45 minutes then when I was comfortable with that I would try to increase my distance, each month I have increased the time I was able to work it out and then when comfortable increase my speed and distance. I've also done the same with walking. I started out walking 20 minutes, did that for a month then when comfortable, I upped the speed sometimes added an incline, I am now after almost a full 4 months, I'm starting to walk 60 minutes and 5K. Slow but sure. I timed my length of walking/biking with my doctor's appointments (I see the doctor monthly) so the week I see the doctor is the week I change the length of time. It has worked pretty good for me, I am now down 24 lbs since January. I wish you luck, you'll do great!