Go easy or flog it - HELP???

AussieGem
AussieGem Posts: 96 Member
edited September 29 in Fitness and Exercise
Ok. I am new to counting calories and tracking, especially with exercise. I am currently 271lbs and have had a sedentary lifestyle for waayyy to long. Alot of people have told me that I need to slowly ease into exercise by walking for a few weeks then building up my workout intensity. Can anyone tell me if this is true or can I hit it hard (begin 30DS, elliptical workout, Zumba etc). I know this may sound silly, but today I took it easy exercising but I am not sore.tired and feel like I can certainly do more, but not sure if its healthy???

Replies

  • jmatthews75
    jmatthews75 Posts: 525 Member
    couch to 5k... look into it, it helps you go from the couch to running 3 miles and might answer some of your questions. Congrats on your first step in your voyage, being here and looking for support.
  • Motherjoe
    Motherjoe Posts: 5 Member
    If your doctor gives you the "OK", you have no injuries, pulled muscles, etc., then flog it!! Ever watch The Biggest Loser? After they are given the green light by all the doctors, Jillian works them until they puke! Nothing wrong with doing 60 minutes on the elliptical in the beginning. Do what you can, set the resistance to what feels comfortable for you (don't worry about what others are doing), make sure you are sweating, breathing hard, and keeping good form. When your form starts going down the tubes, then you're prone to injure yourself - take a few minutes to rest, when you're ready get back at it. Good luck! :)
  • homeport51
    homeport51 Posts: 198 Member
    Your body will tell you what you can do. My suggestion is to go for it! If you feel you can do more, then do it! You know what feels ok and what doesn't. Especially the kind of cardio that you mentioned. You are a young woman and I'm sure you are capable of much more then even you realize.

    Good luck!
  • EmmaLogan87
    EmmaLogan87 Posts: 7
    Your body will tell you when it has had enough, if you think you can do more then try a bit more. If you have Jillians 30DS she says we can do more than we think, and even says how we're told to just do little things, but she had people at 400+ lbs doing long workouts on the biggest loser.
    Doing exercise will not only help with the weight loss, but usually help in losing the inches as creates muscles which also help increase metabolism, which in turn helps weight loss
  • AussieGem
    AussieGem Posts: 96 Member
    Thanks for all of the responses! I am going to flog it! I will see what shred + extra cardio does, then work up to c25k after I have strengthened my knees. A shotty knee is no good for anything!

    Thanks again..... I love MFP!
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
    Hello and welcome!!

    Here is my humble opinion: Ease into it.

    I jumped in all excited to get healthy. I hurt myself-2 weeks off. I overdid it and got sick of it-a month off. I didn't have the time due to work/family/illness-another month off.

    When I started with a promised 30 min exercise each day, and worked up to higher intensity, I saw the pounds slip away.

    Also, your body gets used to what you are doing FAST! Just think of the young farmer boy who has to lift the bales of hay. At first he can't budge them and daddy has to help. He then works his way up to being able to throw it into the truck with ease. He is not huge and built like the Terminator. No, he is sinewy with muscles made just for lifting that bale of hay.

    Good luck!! :flowerforyou:
  • kr3851
    kr3851 Posts: 994 Member
    I started off at roughly the same weight as you - probably more like 300lbs. For 3 months during a work Biggest Loser challenge I just walked for up to an hour along a pretty flat road near my house (just up and down the flat...) each day and ate about 1200 calories (I was on a meal plan where everything was delivered to my house so I didn't think about food at all). In that 12 weeks, I lost 33lbs, which was awesome! I then stopped everything for a month and put 15lbs back on.... very disheartening.

    This time around, I've been sticking with MFP's guidelines (especially regarding eating back exercise calories) - trying to do some form of cardio for roughly 5 hours a week and two strength training sessions. Often the cardio is split up into two 30 minute sessions on weekdays.

    I love that I CAN actually eat whatever I like - I could live on chocolate and chips if I wanted to make that decision (although I'd be paying for it in other ways). I'm learning so much about processed v fresh foods, making informed choices, and making exercise a regular habit rather than a chore that will be over once I reach my goal. I know now that I'm going to have to 'be good' for the rest of my life, but that 'being good' doesn't mean being boring.

    This time around, it's been 2 months and I've just got under where I finished last time. I feel a lot better - that I can keep this up forever. Last time I was counting down the days to the end of the challenge because I'd been depriving myself of things that I wanted so it wasn't really effective for me. I've realised now that I was probably running myself into starvation mode last time.

    I've just started 30DS and I can feel my muscles peeking out from behind their fat layers. You WILL get there. Start with changing the small things - add things like sodium, fat, protein and carbs to your diary so that you can track them and see where you might be going over. Push yourself in your cardio - but not to breaking point. You don't want to hurt yourself, but you do want to challenge yourself.

    And finally, get a Heart Rate Monitor. How can you eat back your exercise calories if you don't know how many you've burned?

    Good luck on this trip..
  • Marig0ld
    Marig0ld Posts: 671 Member
    I know now that I'm going to have to 'be good' for the rest of my life, but that 'being good' doesn't mean being boring.

    Love this!!!!
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