Starting exercise?

elmacdee
elmacdee Posts: 8
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi Folks, I'm looking for some tips and ideas. I am very overweight, 19 stone at the moment and have a pretty sedentary job and lifestyle as a whole. I feel very unfit and want to address that, I'm planning to cut out the rubbish and eat good healthy food and keep a close eye on portion sizes but I would like to start a bit exercise and wondered what people could suggest to break myself into it gently? I like swimming so was thinking I could start with that once or twice a week, but is there anything else you might suggest?

Replies

  • brianmcg321
    brianmcg321 Posts: 18
    In addition to swimming twice a week I would start with walking 3-4 times per week.

    Start out just walking 5 minutes. Then every week add 5 minutes until you get to 45 minutes.

    Just keep the walking easy and slow. Only walk fast enough that you feel you are exerting yourself but you should still be able to talk if someone was walking with you.
  • cafeaulait7
    cafeaulait7 Posts: 2,459 Member
    You might enjoy yoga! Most beginner's classes or DVDs are gentle.

    There is a DVD that I highly recommend, but I don't necessarily recommend the dancing part, ironically. It's called Dance with Me Ballet Workout by Stephanie Herman, and it has this long, gentle mat work that is fabulous! It's Pilates-inspired and has moves I also took in physical therapy, and it has a bit of yoga at the end. It's just relaxing yet works everything (in a Pilates kind of way). The barre stretching chapter is also nice (but unnecessary), and I actually don't like the dance part much at all, lol. You might, though (?), so check it out :)
  • hedwardsb
    hedwardsb Posts: 201 Member
    A pedometer is a good way to motivate yourself to move more and to ease into greater daily activity.
    I got myself a fitbit last January, and knowing a short walk can push me closer to my daily goal is enough to get me moving.
    A nice side benefit is seeing how many extra steps & flights of stairs I get when I do laundry after work motivates me to get more laundry done during the week.
  • stplatt
    stplatt Posts: 44 Member
    First of all, Welcome to the forums. I must admit, I had to Google how much a "stone" was (Silly Americans). :)

    Swimming is and excellent workout. If you enjoy it...definitely do it. It is a fantastic cardio workout, and it is easy on the joints as well.

    But in addition to that, pretty much anything that keeps you moving. Rowing machine, treadmill, spinning bike, stair climber, elliptical, etc. Movement is key. The more you move, the more calories (or whatever you call them over there) you burn.

    I would also add some strength training. Now, you don't need to bulk up like you are going to the Olympics, but just some basic, overall toning. Muscle is the furnace for burning fat. The more you have, the more fat you will burn.

    One more thing. Don't worry about what everyone else says. You might feel self conscious because of your size...DON"T. This is YOUR journey, not theirs. No one is self conscious when they go to a hospital because they are sick...don't feel that way by going to a gym when you don't look like everyone else there. My wife used to be larger than you are. She was able to lose more than 7 "stones" (see how I am with the Scottish lingo there?) by going to the gym and just moving for 2-3 hours a day. After a while, she was surprised when others were telling HER how much SHE motivated THEM. Yeah, she was larger than they were, but when others see that you are committed and not going to back down, they respect that. Keep on friend.

    Blessings,
    Steven
  • Korresia
    Korresia Posts: 2
    walking is the best - and you feel great after
    we have just bought a vibrapower disc from ideal world
    £150 half price offer at the moment
    3min every other day
    we have had ours a week, we both have back problems and already we feel an improvement
    Sue
  • elmacdee
    elmacdee Posts: 8
    Thanks Brian, I suppose I just need to get my head around the idea that any exercise is better than where I am at the moment. I do need to start gradually I think.
  • elmacdee
    elmacdee Posts: 8
    Thank you that sounds perfect, funnily enough I love ballet, I was a dancer in my young days, when I was slim but I was looking online last night to see if there were any ballet based fitness dvd's out there. I'll look that up... brilliant!
  • elmacdee
    elmacdee Posts: 8
    A pedometer is a good way to motivate yourself to move more and to ease into greater daily activity.
    I got myself a fitbit last January, and knowing a short walk can push me closer to my daily goal is enough to get me moving.
    A nice side benefit is seeing how many extra steps & flights of stairs I get when I do laundry after work motivates me to get more laundry done during the week.

    I had a pedometer but I lost it somewhere so this is good incentive to get another one. I did find it made me much more aware of keeping moving. Thanks
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Thank you that sounds perfect, funnily enough I love ballet, I was a dancer in my young days, when I was slim but I was looking online last night to see if there were any ballet based fitness dvd's out there. I'll look that up... brilliant!


    Ballet/Barre videos are actually very popular right now. The website below is great because it gives video clips & reviews

    http://www.collagevideo.com/searchresults.aspx?type=all&search=ballet
  • elmacdee
    elmacdee Posts: 8
    First of all, Welcome to the forums. I must admit, I had to Google how much a "stone" was (Silly Americans). :)

    Swimming is and excellent workout. If you enjoy it...definitely do it. It is a fantastic cardio workout, and it is easy on the joints as well.

    But in addition to that, pretty much anything that keeps you moving. Rowing machine, treadmill, spinning bike, stair climber, elliptical, etc. Movement is key. The more you move, the more calories (or whatever you call them over there) you burn.

    I would also add some strength training. Now, you don't need to bulk up like you are going to the Olympics, but just some basic, overall toning. Muscle is the furnace for burning fat. The more you have, the more fat you will burn.

    One more thing. Don't worry about what everyone else says. You might feel self conscious because of your size...DON"T. This is YOUR journey, not theirs. No one is self conscious when they go to a hospital because they are sick...don't feel that way by going to a gym when you don't look like everyone else there. My wife used to be larger than you are. She was able to lose more than 7 "stones" (see how I am with the Scottish lingo there?) by going to the gym and just moving for 2-3 hours a day. After a while, she was surprised when others were telling HER how much SHE motivated THEM. Yeah, she was larger than they were, but when others see that you are committed and not going to back down, they respect that. Keep on friend.

    Blessings,
    Steven

    Haha ... I forget that the rest of the world measures differently to us! What unique characters us Scots must be :P I have to confess that I don't really like the gym, but I was doing a bit of swimming during the summer and for the first time in years I just decided I didn't care what people thought of how I looked because I was enjoying it and doing something positive. Need to get my head back into the zone again. Thank you for the encouragement and well done to your wife, that is a brilliant achievement!
  • determined_erin
    determined_erin Posts: 571 Member
    It doesn't need to be complicated. All you need to do is walk. It's simple, easy, and something that you can commit to. You can get a pedometer or device (BodyMedia, FitBit, Jawbone, etc) to track your steps and miles you walk.
  • elmacdee
    elmacdee Posts: 8
    walking is the best - and you feel great after
    we have just bought a vibrapower disc from ideal world
    £150 half price offer at the moment
    3min every other day
    we have had ours a week, we both have back problems and already we feel an improvement
    Sue

    Hi Sue, thanks for the advice and encouragement, not sure what the vibrapower disc is but I'm trying not to spend much cash at the moment so I'll probably try and get back to swimming and try doing a bit of walking as well. I definitely need lots of encouragement so thank you all.
  • elmacdee
    elmacdee Posts: 8
    Thank you that sounds perfect, funnily enough I love ballet, I was a dancer in my young days, when I was slim but I was looking online last night to see if there were any ballet based fitness dvd's out there. I'll look that up... brilliant!


    Ballet/Barre videos are actually very popular right now. The website below is great because it gives video clips & reviews

    http://www.collagevideo.com/searchresults.aspx?type=all&search=ballet

    Great thank you, off to have a look :)
  • BlueBombers
    BlueBombers Posts: 4,064 Member
    When I first started I honestly just walked as I was very out of shape at the time. Swimming is also a nice low-impact exercise.
  • brandnewsnickerpuss
    brandnewsnickerpuss Posts: 110 Member
    Hi there! I agree with the above poster who was suggesting walking. I can tell you that just recently I wasn't feeling well enough to go out and walk around outside, so I just walked the halls in my apartment building, and went down the stairs. (My Fitbit was motivating me to increase my steps each day.) That was a great place to start. Thought I'd share!
  • lilawolf
    lilawolf Posts: 1,690 Member
    I would try a few different activities and see what you like. If none of this sounds like fun, then I agree with the poster that suggested walking and slowly adding time to that.

    Weight lifting - at some point you will want to do this. It will keep your muscle mass to keep your metabolism up. It will also help with loose skin.
    Zumba - try a free video on youtube then decide if you would like to buy dvds or join a class
    Any type of dancing with friends/significant other: dirty, square, swing, blues, salsa, whatever dancing!
    Elliptical/stair stepper/other machine
    Water aerobics, tennis, golf, gene simmons, even billiards gets you up and walking around!

    Good luck!
  • rhoule76
    rhoule76 Posts: 217 Member
    A pedometer would help you a lot. Also, If you want to do indoor walking, Leslie Sansone has some great DVDs. You can can get a great workout inside (if weather is bad). Swimming is also wonderful for you because of little to no impact on your joints. Good luck!
  • MuseofSong
    MuseofSong Posts: 322 Member
    I agree with whate everyone has said, do what you enjoy, don't worry about anything else. I like walking and stepping. I also enjoy tai chi. I'm very heavy, which my knees have had to put up with for a long time, so I take it easy on my joints.

    If it's an exercise you like, do that, don't make yourself do things you don't want to do. I don't want to go to a gym, so I don't. I work out at home. If you want to go to a pool for swimming, you should go. :)

    If you don't enjoy it, you won't keep doing it, that's the main thing. We want to build healthy habits. For example, I do not restrict my diet ~at all~ as far as food choices go, and there's nothing I hate more than someone telling me, 'you can't have that.' But, I do measure and log my foods and calorie intake to make sure I'm aiming for a nice weekly deficit of -3500 calories.

    You know what motivates me to exercise? Delicious food! Oh man, that tres leche cake looks amazing. And I ask myself: am I willing to exercise it off later? If the answer is yes, hell yeah, I'm having some cake. ^_^

    2 same day workout sessions to burn off said cake tends to leave me tired, but I still chalk it up as worth it. :D Also, if you go over calories one day, it's no big thing, you can cut back a bit for a few days, and it all balances out.

    If you're brand new to diet changes and exercise or, in your case, maybe not new to exercise, but easily winded, just take your time with it. And welcome!

    Also, as the poster above me suggested, the Leslie Sansone - walk at home DVDs are very nice! You can check her out for free on youtube to see if you like that style.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I started out just walking just to get my body used to moving again (Sept 2012) I started with 3 days per week and then went to 5 and then to walking 30 - 60 minutes 7 days per week. I did this over the course of about 6 weeks or so as I recall.

    I figured the next logical step was to start throwing in some running so I started a couch to 5K program and went through a couple cycles of that and also started lifting weights (January 2013) again a few times per week. I did my first 5K in February of 2013 and then a Warrior Dash in April 2013 and a Father's Day 5K in June. I used the Father's Day run as a sprint triathlon training run as I had recently started training for a sprint.

    I spent last summer training for the sprint and logging a lot of miles on my bike, in the pool, and on my feet. I decided I wanted to do another mud run over labor day weekend last year and also decided I wanted to do some cyclocross as well...I figured no biggie...just a bit more volume to my sprint training. I ended up injuring my foot and unable to participate in the sprint and was sidelined for the entire cyclocross season as well. Lesson learned here...don't over-train.

    The only really good thing to come out of all of that over-training was that I discovered my love of being on my bike...so that's primarily what I do now for my cardiovascular fitness. I will probably do a couple mud runs here and there but by and large, running is extremely hard on my feet and other joints and I enjoy being on my bike a lot more. I also love hitting the weight room.

    TL/DR - ease into it with something you enjoy...if you enjoy it you're more likely to stick to the routine. work your way up slowly and don't over-train. make sure your body is also getting rest.
  • Rachzma
    Rachzma Posts: 11 Member
    I hated to exercise but wasn't get the results I wanted from just dieting. I started out slow. Walking the dog. I was up to 3 miles a day and then I started going to the gym. I was up to 60 minutes a day/ 5 days a week on the elliptical. I quit for about a year but maintained. Just joined the YMCA this morning so I can start back at it.
  • Katus130
    Katus130 Posts: 50 Member
    Good for you for taking this step. I think what people have written so far is great. I absolutely agree that you should start off with something you enjoy. Swimming is a wonderful low impact exercise. Also maybe look into water aerobics. There's sometimes a sort of stigma (like that it's intended for elderly folks) associated with water aerobics (at least where I am) but I'm a fairly fit 20-something and I love it. It's sort of funny since I really don't enjoy swimming laps all that much. Because I dislike going to the gym so much, I try and get all my cardio in outside (running, walking, ect) and only go to the gym when the weather is really rough (My membership is included in my university fees so I feel like I have to use it at some point). Something else you may enjoy is hiking. It's one of the few ways I can get my husband off his bottom and away from the computer. We try to hit a different trail or park each time we go.

    For me, I won't really exercise unless it's fun. Last year I took up figure skating and I'm having a blast. Try new things! Maybe Zumba or another dance class. As others have said, there are a bazillion videos on-line that you can get for free. Youtube has a ton. If you also have a subscription to something like Hulu or Amazon prime there are some really great one on there. I enjoy the Jillian Michaels videos (30 day shred, six week six pack, ect) and the Ballet Beautiful ones.

    It may also be worthwhile to invest in some weights and resistance bands to have at home. I usually workout while I'm watching T.V.
  • bease418
    bease418 Posts: 14 Member
    Hi and Welcome - When I started here last year I was like you. I didnt even dreaming of exercising. I started with comminting to 20 mins a day. Period end of story you are not getting more out of me. Now I want to walk and even up to 5 miles and some light jogging. You can do it.

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