Excercises you did when you were Morbidly obese

If you can walk, you can SKATE (but wear knee pads and wrist guards). Skating does WONDERS and is less impact than walking, but more aerobic. When I started, I couldn't even skate non-stop the length of one 3-minute song. NOW I can casually skate for three hours straight non-stop (except for sips of water). My endurance is THRU THE ROOF.

This is a great idea. Skating, especially if you don't know how to now, is great for your core. Just trying to balance yourself on skates will provide a great workout. Ditto for roller skating.

at 250 and 5'5" I am considered morbidly obese.

But I do fluidity or barre workouts since they are body weight, low impact and ballet based ( I was a dancer in HS and college). I find that they get my heart rate up, work out my whole body and at about 20 minutes a workout make me feel accomplished.

I also lift weights and love it. Even if you start with soup cans and work up it's more than nothing. I started with 2 pound weights and now, after roughly 4 months I'm up to 10 ponders. I use workouts I find on youtube on a subscription (XHIT). I love them. They are short and there are so many that I can choose from so I never get bored.

I also walk but I hate the bike and I'm not a fan of running. Also, I love the water and once the pool by my house and at my mom's is opened I will be in them!!

But, I'm not the "average" Morbidly obese person either according to my doctor ... I've always been very active playing sports and dancing which is part of why my internals are in awesome shape. I'm just trying to get the outside to match the inside lol.

Good luck to you!!
(PS feel free to add me as a friend!!)

Water based activities like swimming and aqua aerobics are a great way to start because you can get your heart rate up without putting unnecessary stress on your joints. I started that way and moved on to more land based stuff as I got lighter and stronger.

Do what you can, and don't be afraid to modify movements. The key is to keep at it - you will get stronger and fitter!

Walking. I live in a major city with tons of people, and since I was never comfortable being fat and exercising in public, I actually began walking late at night. It sparked off a deep love for night walking that I still have.

I loved walking so damn much that, to this day, it's my preferred workout. I speed walk though, at a pace that out performs many joggers and slower runners. I typically do 8-10 miles when I do walk, it gets my heartrate up pretty high, drenches me in sweat, and it burns a ridiculous amount of calories. My wife became a novice runner doing the C25K and she was floored that she couldn't keep up with me on a walk even while running. She was exhausted in the first 5 minutes.

I really wish more obese and morbidly obese people would stop lamenting about joining a gym, or starting with high impact aerobics that they can't do well, and realize that we're made to walk, and it's a GREAT way to get into the swing of things.

Believe it or not, I started CrossFit bootcamp done by a personal trainer when I was about 240. I am only 5'2!! I did one session, simply to let people enjoy laughing at the funny fat girl trying to exercise. I went back again, then again, then again........now its been 5 months and I am a bad *kitten*!!!

Walking is great! Swimming is really good too, especially for your joints. I have a hard time with DVDs, I just can't get into them (and I have a bunch). If you have access to a gym, the elliptical is good, too. I have a bike, but only go bike riding in a closed-off park (I'm too afraid of traffic). But we go as a family and it's great fun, too. Good luck to you, sounds like you are on the right track!

When I started, I walked and then started Biggest Loser DVDs. They are great because they give you variations for all levels. He shows you steps to do that take out the jumping and don't use weights all the way up to advanced movements and you can always up the weights as you get stronger. When I started getting accustomed to the walking and it didn't seem like as much of a challenge, I started adding speed bursts and really all I could do at first was about 30 seconds but I can now run 12 miles! You are doing great, just keep going and you will get there!

Treadmill, elliptical. I started Couch to 5K once, but life interfered.

Right now, I do a few things - Wii Fit for awhile nearly everyday (but I had to lose about 30 lbs before I wasn't too big for it), jogging/walking intervals, and high intensity circuit training with body weight in lieu of weight training (google 7 minute workout - ideally, you'll work up to 3 circuits - all the exercises can be replaced or modified for your fitness level). I need to get back to doing the HICT circuits at least twice a week. I've been slacking.

Yoga isn't bad either, but I have to modify so much that it's not really fun for me yet.

Belly dancing is a lot of fun, but you need a good video or good instructors/fun class.

I hate Zumba.

Step aerobics. Chasing my monkey of a child. That's pretty much it at the moment.

Walking, Dance Dance Revolution, Wii Fit, having a dance party for one while you clean/do the dishes/make lunch/take a shower... There are so many ways to get active. I LOVE doing 5ks and I am still at a BMI of 42.2 Completing a 5k is an amazing experience, or at least it was for me. My favorite are obstacle courses.

The main things to focus on are:
-Tracking, track your food no matter how good or bad you have eaten. (Eventually planning ahead to some degree will help a lot with this.)
-Get active but listen to your body. It will tell you when it has a hurt that is something you can push past and when it has a hurt that you should stop for.
-Build a good support system on here and in person.

I am sure others would have more advise but those are the key points for me personally. Feel free to add me if you need some more support!

Swimming and Yoga (I do what I can in the Yoga) are the ones I do the most
I tried fitness walking to Leslie Sansone and hurt something in my foot badly. 2 months later it still hurts.

I also do stretches while I am sitting (legs, ankles, wrists) and I try to not use my hands/arms to get out of chairs and sit etc. (use your legs and your stomach muscles)

I also found this Youtube Video for my husband to try (he's 400lbs) It's seated exercises

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPJKAG0mknI

This is quite a late response, but I wanted to throw an endorsement in for elliptical machines. It's a nice step between walking and jogging, and is easier on the knees. I started at 300 lbs, and even as I progress closer to 200 lbs, running too much starts to pain me (knees, hips, sometimes ankles). But I can use the elliptical machine frequently and for long periods of time much hassle. Typically I use low incline and higher resistance, but everybody has their settings.

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Thanks so much to everyone who has contributed in this thread so far - very awesome information!