Need some suggestions on starting to excercise

soozquu
soozquu Posts: 66 Member
edited November 16 in Fitness and Exercise
I have been here for four weeks now. I now feel as if I better understand the how's/why's of calorie counting and have made it a habit.

I now need to add the next piece into my lifestyle change plan, which is to become more active.

Here are some of my challenges I'm dealing with which makes it hard for me to be active:

1. I'm a big girl. I'm 5'2" and have 200 pounds to lose.
2. Up until about 7 months ago, I had a completely sedentary lifestyle for about 3 years (during which I put on about 100 of the extra pounds I'm now carrying.)
3. I work in a big box retail store. I am on my feet moving 7-8 hours a day. By the end of my shift, the thought of more movement just overwhelms me.
4. I am nursing a couple months old sprained knee. In addition, I have a lot of pain in my legs, ankles, feet and lower back/hips when I am on my feet too long.
5. It is pretty much impossible for me to find shoes that are comfortable. (This is a recent development within the last two years or so.) I have short (ladies size 6-6 1/2), very wide (www+) feet. I can either find shoes that fit my toes (but then they slip and slide off my my heels) or shoes that fit my heels (but they pinch my toes terribly.) On any given day, I'm nursing multiple blisters/tender spots in various stages of healing.
6. Joining a gym/getting a personal trainer/getting a fitbit is completely out of my price range. Structured classes aren't a good option for me either since my work schedule varies from week to week.

I am lost on where to start. As I am sitting here, reading what I typed, I'm wondering if it might not just be better to wait to start exercising until I lose another 50 pounds or so.

At this stage, I am not concerned with knowing how many calories any particular activity is burning. Per my doctor, I am not planning on eating back any calories burned. I am perfectly happy to track my progress the old fashioned way .... in a notebook. :-)

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Replies

  • jenncornelsen
    jenncornelsen Posts: 969 Member
    Could wait.... or maybe buy a used exercise bike. Get shoes from a high quality store that can tailor to ur needs. Be worth it just for at work. Then u can do some walking. Get some easy exercise dvds. Buy free weights to start strengthening your muscles
  • samthepanda
    samthepanda Posts: 569 Member
    Swimming or aquafit? This is low impact, low cost and could vary times according to your schedule.
  • mieche
    mieche Posts: 4 Member
    I second swimming - no shoes required! Another great exercise you can do without shoes and shouldn't aggrevate your injuries is Pilates - you can get DVDs on Amazon for pretty cheap too
  • toughlove25
    toughlove25 Posts: 6 Member
    I would suggest newbalance shoes which contain some additional support for the arch of the foot. At that weight fallen arches are common(I speak from experience). I would start out slowly with a slight decrease in calorie intake weaning yourself off of the overeating first. Get a baseline record of how much your intake is for about a week or two. After that start to cut down but not a excessive amount starting too fast on the diet plan kills your motivation. Try losing some weight by diet before picking up something low impact to help preserve your joints like your knees,hips and ankles. Bicycling and water sports are excellent. Water sports especially since the resistance is about 3 times that of air. Once again start off slowly using only what you feel comfortable with. But also keep in mind that you should have goals to maintain. I have found that a combination of Cardio such as walking,elliptical and hybrid elliptical are great for my calorie burning needs. I also lift weights but mainly to tone, I use very light weight and do more sets. Otherwise you will add muscle bulk not lean out your body. I started slowly and inched my way up so I know it will take some time. How much time is determined by your personal determination and goals along with support from friends and family. Your weight loss is entirely up to you for you to set your own rate. I wish you the best and all the luck in the world. Its going to be a hard road but I for one will definetly be rooting for you!!!
  • zipa78
    zipa78 Posts: 354 Member
    Swimming, yoga, pilates, bodyweight training, walking. If you have problems with shoes, try to lace them differently. I have a wide foot so my heel is usually slipping, but I can fix that easily with a loop lacing lock: http://katierunsthis.com/2011/10/04/running-shoe-lacing-techniques/
  • Sarasari
    Sarasari Posts: 139 Member
    Walking is good. If there is something you are interested in like yoga, but can't afford a class there are some great videos out there on utube. You don't have to do anything fancy either you can just move more. Park further away when you go places, not miles, but the steps add up. Pace while your on the phone. If you are too tired to exercise at the end of the day, is walking at your lunch break possible? Or before work? If your goal is to exercise an hour a day you don't have to do an hour all at one you could do 6, 10 min spurts.

    If you know what you weigh you can use the exercise here for walking, yoga, swimming, and so on, you can track food in the diary here, it will do the math for you.

    Have you tried changing your socks often? If you sweat a lot that can bring on the blisters. If your shoe is rubbing they do make some products you can put in your shoe to make then more comfortable. Dr. Scholl's is one brand I've seen.
  • Velum_cado
    Velum_cado Posts: 1,608 Member
    You don't have to exercise to lose weight. If it seems unrealistic for you right now, you can absolutely put it off until you're feeling better about it. Weight loss is about calories, so as long as you're burning off more than you're eating, you will lose weight.

    I started with 200 lbs to lose as well. In the beginning, I bought a second hand Wii on Ebay and a handful of second hand fitness games. It was a really enjoyable way for me to start moving more. From there, I went on to workout DVDs which I did at home whenever I could. Walking is good exercise because you can do it anywhere, you don't need any special equipment, and you can go for as long, and as fast as you like. I also like the suggestion of swimming for something without impact on your joints.
  • WillowThorn
    WillowThorn Posts: 37 Member
    In addition to low-impact exercises like swimming, you can do seated and lying down exercises. There are plenty of weight training exercises where you don't have to stand up. Just look into body weight exercises, and weight training with dumbbells for suggestions. Once you work yourself to the point where you're ready to try more cardio workouts, start slowly. Most cardio class instructors give low impact alternatives to a lot of the movements in class, for example.
  • meritage4
    meritage4 Posts: 1,441 Member
    one of my friends teaches Above average yoga-something like that would be a good place to start or a home yoga video.
    Biking sounds good. A recumbent bike is easier for large folks to climb off and on.

    aquafit or swimming-some people feel better wearing a t-shirt over their suit

    what about a rowing machine? They are often for sale pretty cheap.
  • soozquu
    soozquu Posts: 66 Member
    Thank you all for suggestions. :-) The link to the ways to tie shoes differently to get them to fit better was especially helpful.

    From the suggestions, I like the swimming and yoga best. Both are activities I used to enjoy when I was younger. But, since there is no way I'm putting on a bathing suit, even with a tshirt over it, it looks like it will be yoga. So I found a couple of beginner dvds and will be starting, spirit willing, tomorrow.

    Wish me luck!

    <3 you all.
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