Just starting, need advice

Just increase your activity. I do very little formal exercise, but make an effort to be more active. For me it means walking more, mowing the lawn, gardening, and playing more with my sons.

Congrats on your decision to start your fitness journey! It all starts in the mind first, so you've already taken the 1st step!

To answer your question, I think doing a simple exercise like walking would be ideal. Listen to your favorite music and just go for a 15-20 minute walk. Each week, try to pick up the pace a little. If you watch what you eat and continue burning calories while walking, you'll see results. Period.

As far as not liking to sweat and not liking exercise, you're going to have to make an exception. BUT, exercise can be fun too, it's just a matter of mind.

Best wishes to you and congrats on starting!

I my mind, exercise needs to be fun or else I would hate it. You have a Wii so buy ea sports active 2. Start off by doing cardio kick start. You can choose easy, medium or hard. Then move onto the 9week challenge. Again, you can choose the level I bought mine for £13. It's meant to be £70 ish rrp.

Yup, a lot of it is about attitude. If you are feeling negative about something you aren't going to do it. So, find something you do like.

For example:
- Walk (I love to listen to audio books while I'm walking), it can be great exercise and nice "me" time.
- Use your Wii, that can burn lots of cals.
- Take your kids to the park and chase them around
- Go out for an outing with the kids on bikes or scooters (or pram, depending on age) while you walk, that will keep you moving!
- Keep an eye out in your local community for a class that sounds fun - like belly dancing, or zumba or self defence or aquarobics or anything that floats your boat.

Focus on diet, a large part of losing weight is about eating, exercise certainly helps but is not the essential component.

Good luck!

I am just starting to try losing weight and getting healthier again and I need some advice. I am 5'5ish 231lbs and I lead a mostly sedentary life. I know I need to start exercising so that I become healthier, lose weight faster, and avoid loose skin but here is the problem - I dislike exercise. I hate running, I hate sweating, and there is no way I would be caught dead in a bathing suit anywhere but my parents' house. However, swimming there involves floating around watching my kids instead of really actively swimming so I doubt I have ever burned many calories in the pool - not is it likely I would be able to swim laps without them. Not to mention, I get bored, discouraged, and don't have the willpower to exercise for the health benefits alone so it has to be exercise disguised as fun.

I have a Wii with Just Dance 2 and Michael Jackson the Experience, both of which I do like playing and both of which kick my sedentary butt after a few songs.

If you were starting from a dead stop, completely out of shape and hating undisguised exercise, how would you build up your exercise routine?

The reality is that MOST of us who are significantly overweight hated exercise and hated any sort of physical discomfort whatsoever. Many of us just had to get to a point where the physical discomfort of being fat outweighed the potential physical discomfort of exercising and dieting, LOL.

What I did initially was just focus on diet. That alone was a huge step. I think if I had tried everything all at once, I may have failed. Instead, I focused on diet (which is 80% of weight loss anyway) for the first 3-4 months and really changed my food lifestyle. I lost about 30 pounds, which then made exercising easier.

I started out slowly. Just 1-2 days a week. BUt, then at a certain point, I just did more.

I recommend walking. It's low-impact, but you can still burn a lot of calories. I *LOVE* my nightly walk - I burn about 500 calories in the hour (a brisk walk) and I get to see wonderful things in my neighborhood that I never knew existed. Cool houses, sweet little parks, trails, animals, etc. It really clears the mind to be outside with nature and it gets you moving and builds up endurance. I do occasional jogging sprints and what not. And, now I do some gym exercise certain daya week (step class, weights, etc).

It is really hard at first but if you can push through the first few weeks and start to see results it will get easier. I agree with everyone about walking. It's so nice to get out and see other people in the neighborhood, even if it's just to wave. It helps you forget you're exercising. Start small so you don't get discouraged. One of my friends has lost over 30 pounds this year. She started by walking back and forth to the mailbox. Get a friend to walk with you. It makes the time go by much faster.

And food... I'm guessing lots of snacking? Personally that's my downfall. So I just can't keep junk food in the house. Just don't buy it. When I log my food it keeps me honest.

Good luck! You can do it! If you even lose 10 or 20 pounds you will feel so much better.

I sucked it up and did some exercise.

You probably don't like it because you suck at it

People just starting training make amazing gains and progress, it's an amazing feeling