I'm obese, where do I start?

A guide to get you started on your path to Sexypants

Losing weight is more about diet than exercise, so getting eating habits in check is a good starting point. I've done very little exercise aside from some walking and attempts at jogging.

Also are you seeing someone to help you through your anxiety? If not then perhaps that might be a good idea as well, because it having that much control over your day to day life may be hard for you to deal with on your own. I can only speak from what I know of my sister having similar issues, and we could only help her so much, but therapy gave her the tools to better cope.

I had a lot of anxiety about walking because i thought all those cars driving by were staring at me. Now I have my son so I sroller him and its not bad. (obviously doesnt help you). eventually I stopped caring, they really arent paying attention to you. Now I am comfortable enough to where I can start trying to jog a little.

Also home exercise is great. I do workout dvds in my bedroom. No one is there and no one can judge.

SkyeThePanda wrote: »

Wow! Thanks so much for the responses.

My MFP calorie said 1700, but I'm not positive if thats correct. I need to make sure I put the right numbers in. Right now I'm around 1500 a day - I've been logging everything personally for the past week. I'm going to definitely start utilizing the ap more. I don't have many friends (none actually) that use MFP so its a little weird to me not really having a support group. But I can still do it!

As far as anxiety, I am seeing a therapist to help me through my dealing with PTSD. She told me the same things about my anxiety levels going down as I lose weight. So I'm very excited! I have a long-term goal of being able to deal with my anxiety on my own without using medication (not a fan..since I've been on many different medications all my life because of UC and other medical issues)

I'm taking all of your advise to heart! Thanks so much again for the responses

http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

You can always look there to get another opinion on where your caloric goals should be based on your BMR and TDEE.

I have diverticular disease (diagnosed at 28, when it's normally something that is seen in geriatric patients), so I totally understand needing to control a GI disease.

Start adding friends as you talk to people in the forums. I don't have any "real life" friends I am friends with on MFP, either. But I have dozens I've met here; some I've helped, some have helped me and others I have something in common with.

If you really want to exercise, and I do heartily endorse it for the benefits beyond the calorie burn, search Google or Youtube for at home exercises. A lot of people here endorse programs like the 30 Day Shred or P90X but you don't have to pay for a workout if you don't want to because there are plenty on Youtube for free. You can also try things like jumping rope or good ol' calisthenics.

I'd also suggest doing some resistance/strength training. You can do body weight exercises like pushups, planks, squats, etc. that later you can supplement with resistance bands or hand weights. Not only will you get stronger but you'll retain more lean muscle mass that would ordinarily be lost along with the fat.

KylaDenay wrote: »

The very first thing you must do is eat at a caloric deficit. Most important for weight loss. Don't make it more difficult then it really is. Utilize the app, weigh/measure everything you put in your mouth and log consistently. You will lose weight.

Exercise is not necessary for weight loss, but only for fitness and health. Do what you can and do not push yourself to do something that you do not like to do. It takes time. Take it day by day.

I agree with this 100%.

Skye,

If you choose to exercise, just keep doing what you doing. Take baby steps. Mark the point in your mind where you stop walking this time, and the next time see if you can go a little further. If you can, fine, and if you can't that's fine too. Just keep doing what you want to do.

Always be patient, tolerant, and kind with yourself.

You've gotten great advice so far. I'd say one thing that is extremely helpful is just believing that you can lose weight, that this works, because it does. When I first started (years ago, since this was my second time losing lots of weight), I really didn't believe I could lose weight, and decided that my first focus would be getting healthier and more fit (which I could control), and try to have faith that the pounds would eventually come off. And of course they do. So I'd try not to overthink it or worry too much about all the numerous different things you find on the internet.

If believing it will work is something hard for you, as it was for me, I'll just say it will come, as you continue with this process, but maybe think about it as making small changes that are good for you in and of themselves.

1700 definitely should work for now, but so should 1500 if you feel good on that. Exercise isn't necessary, but is a great thing to do both for fitness and for confidence overall. If you can't go as far as you planned because of your anxiety, you are still making progress and that's great. Have you tried any DVD workouts like the Leslie Sansone walking ones? I believe there's a whole bunch on Fitness Blender too, where you can go through the internet, although I haven't tried those.

There is much you can do inside your home - try looking for Leslie Sansone 'walking' videos on Youtube. Walking/running in place, active video games, other workout videos. LIving in the day of Youtube means you can try something out before investing $ in a DVD series!

I understand having anxiety and PTSD. There is hope I have managed to go to a gym (though I need a buddy to go with me). Walking is good even if it is just a short distance. The other thing that I find I do for exercise is either using the wii fit or exercise videos at home. I like Walk Away the Pounds, or something Zumba related. Making sure that you are watching what you are eating and staying within or under your calories is really going to help no matter what. I think it is commendable that you are ready to take this journey on. If you need a buddy feel free to add me.

Best of luck

First thing is get your diet under control. Start weighing & logging your food and trying to make better choices. One you see what you are putting in your mouth, it is generally pretty easy to eat less and eat better. (For me it was a lot of wait,. why did I eat that much pasta when I was already full?)

As for exercise, walking is the easiest, it requires nothing other than your time & some good shoes. If you want to do more than walking, or have anxiety about being outside for others to see you, YouTube is full of workout videos for every ability.

I started at 325, and I was always the fat kid too. I don't even know what I will look like at a healthy weight! Add me if you want, I'm on here a lot.

Do you have a Wii? You might try Walk It Out. Basically, you earn points by walking to the beat of the music. You use the points to build the town/countryside/city, make rainbows, get more songs, etc. If you are of a competitive nature (even against yourself) it might be a great start for you.

I just started 2 months ago, but down 28lbs. There are several obstacles I had to overcome. First wanting to change. Now this doesn't mean "oh I want to be a normal weight" because obviously I always wanted that, but I didn't want to make the sacrifices.
Going to have to put mind over matter and just eat less.
I also think it is important to not change too much at once. For the first 2-3 weeks I didn't do any exercise as I wanted to 100% focus on diet and making sure I am eating right (believe me it takes a while to figure this out. I made a lot of mistakes my first couple weeks)
Once I got that sorted out, I started adding in light exercise... Just 25 minutes of walking 2-3 times a week. This was more to get used to setting aside some time of the week for exercising more than the actual exercising. I quickly increased the frequency and time over the course of the next month. I am now doing 50-70 minutes 4-5 times per week. Again this goal isn't so much for the actual exercise as it is for setting aside time out of my day for actual exercise as the eventual goal in the near future (probably once snow and ice start making it hard to walk outside) is to join the gym.

Also try various things if what you start out with doesn't work for you. I tried pure calorie counting in the past, and while it works for many people it didn't work for me since I was always starving. Did I lose weight? Sure.. but hated every second of it due to my hunger. So I researched different things and went with low carb which works for me. Anyways this isn't to say you should try low carb, this is just to say if you find what you are doing isn't working for you (and put in an honest effort of 2 weeks) try something else. I went through 2-3 different things before settling on keto which I have stuck with.

Kalikel wrote: »

Get some therapy and try to remember that most people are too wrapped up in themselves to care about you and your fat. You're blowing that way out of proportion.

Also, remember that the very few people who might think or say something mean are doing that because they have their own mental problems. They're struggling and miserable and the nastiness is way more about them than you. So, go outside and enjoy.

When anxiety is a problem, just going out and "enjoying", is not always that easy.

OP- I don't have anxiety (thankfully because I see how hard it is on people who do) but I also struggle with being self conscious if I'm exercising in public. I am also bipolar which plays into that a bit.I always thought that people would think "oh, she's fat what good is the exercise going to do?" Or that they would make fun of how out of shape I am. What helped me, and might be somewhat helpful to you, is before I went out side I kept telling myself "everyone starts somewhere" and that down the road I will be glad I started when I did.

I also am taking things in baby steps. I started out only being able to walk 8 minutes before my back and ankles killed. So I stayed with the 7 minutes until I could do it with no pain. I then went to 10 and did that until no pain/shortness of breath. Everytime I felt comfortable I added a few minutes. It didnt seem like much at first but it has certainly made progress. Went I started my new job 2 months ago, I was ready to collapse if I had to climb 4 floors (I work in ems and not all buildings have elevators). Today I was able to go up 5 flights with no pain. I was slightly short of breath but it is a marked improvement. I take each day as it comes and not punish myself for slip ups.

Feel free to add me as a friend if you'd like. I love sharing tips Ive found helpful as well as learn what other people find helpful.

You can do this!

*different