Loosing weight before starting exercising

whitej1234
whitej1234 Posts: 263 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am 5'10,
CW: 215
SW: 225
GW1:198
UGW:175

I know the right way to loose weight is 90% diet 10% exercise, and that exercise is mainly for health and making sure you loose fat and not muscles.
But I was thinking if exercise should be more then the recommended to all to stay healthy (walking 10,00 steps, staying on your feet, occasion swim) right from start or is it enough to kick-start, and when the body weight is closer to normal weight then tuning it.
Serious cardio is too hard at the moment (running is out of question, I did elliptical for quit some time as the main cardio but it feels I only burn muscle and not gain it). Weight training at the gym just feels awkward for a newby, while body weight exercises are too tough too (since the body weight is high - making squats, plunges, etc is just not something I can't sustain for long, tried before, dropped really quickly off). Not to mention that the diet is making me weaker...
Does it actually make sense to go down to 190-195 and then start training to tone? It feels like the extra 20lbs should make a difference.

Replies

  • Barbonica
    Barbonica Posts: 337 Member
    I agree with serindipte, losing weight will not make it easier to exercise. Pick something you like to do, or want to do. Ride a bike, walk, dance, play tennis, swim...it doesn't matter what. Then pick a goal and start working toward it. At 5'6", SW224#, my goal was to do a boy push-up. Took me a year and a lot of work, but i did it. I was so happy I kept on working with weights (and some cardio) and now 7 years later I "compete" in power-lifting meets. Current weight is 165ish, and has been there for about 4 years. I think the key is - find something you like or that will help move you toward what you will like even if you cannot do it now, set a goal, and work toward it. If it was easy, no one would grumble about working out, right? Good luck!
  • astrampe
    astrampe Posts: 2,169 Member
    edited June 2018
    Sounds like you are looking for a reason not to start exercise now....Exercise will burn more calories, you will look better than when you are losing weight without exercise, you will feel better and it will be better for your health...
    Eat enough to sustain your body while exercising, find something you like and stop making excuses....NIKE says it best - just do it...
    For the record, I started a gradual running program when I weighed 230lbs. It helped me get into it and it helped me to lose the weight.
  • cecekay19
    cecekay19 Posts: 89 Member
    It's more of a 70/30 proportion.

    There is no right answer as to how to start losing weight. You can start your weight loss by increasing exercise, or you can start changing your diet, it doesn't matter. Starting off with exercise may be what you need to put your mind into the space you need to achieve your goals.

    When I started off, I swam. I'd do laps in a good sized pool (around 25 yd) and it encouraged me to keep going because it was something I enjoyed doing. No diet or exercise routine will survive if you hate what you are doing. The only one that works is the one you stick with.

    It sounds like you could stand to do a few things, just to start: walking, swimming or cycling, just to get moving, and stretching exercises to improve your flexibility. The important thing is to find what you like and just get moving, and then start challenging yourself to go farther/harder/longer but at a sustainable pace.
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
    just start out slowly exercising. you dont have to go all crazy, but just start by walking or something simple . Just try and do a little more today than you did yesterday. And if you need help doing something like squats, try a suspension trainer (TRX) . It will make them easy to do and as your weight drops, you can use less and less assistance. There really is no reason to not ever be doing a little exercise each day, regardless of your body weight.
  • whitej1234
    whitej1234 Posts: 263 Member
    Re-reading it again does sounds like a lot of wining, I know.
    What I meant was not no sports, but was to keep the sports at the level of active person, not a person who trains. Yes, going to the gym once a week for basic cardio, swimming once a week, walking 2-3 nights a week, just keeping healthy.
    As you wrote in the comments, doing more will just make me miserable and I don't see it sustainable.

    The question was, does a person who is in the process of loosing weight, needs to do more then that to be healthy (more then a person that is doing maintenance). I dropped weight before on more or less diet only, didn't see any problems with my health as a results, but I am going for a bigger weight loss this time and thinking if I "have" to do extra sports or I will severely hurt my health.
  • whitej1234
    whitej1234 Posts: 263 Member
    P.S your stories are amazing, and the suggestions you wrote are great. Taking them into account as well
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    You aren't a motorbike - you don't have a kick start. Well maybe mentally as you seem to be looking for excuses to put off exercise when the right time is to do it is now.
    You even say yourself that exercise helps retain muscle while losing weight - so do you want to be in your best possible shape when you get down to 190-195lbs or do you want to be weaker, less fit and potentially worse body composition?

    Why does cardio have to be "serious"? Make it appropriate to your current fitness level. It doesn't have to be intense to do you good, it doesn't have to hurt.
    Of course you don't burn muscle by exercising, you lose muscle by either not exercising/not being active or a seriously sub-standard diet or a massive calorie deficit. If your "diet is making you weaker" then maybe you are trying to lose too quickly?

    If weights feels awkward as a newby then you need to stop being a newby by actually doing it!
    That you can't "sustain for long" means you have to be realistic about your fitness level and build it up.

    Don't procrastinate, start doing the right things right now and build the healthy habits that help you both during weight loss and also when maintaining at goal weight.
  • BigMamaLynsey
    BigMamaLynsey Posts: 390 Member
    I have lost over 24lbs of weight not exercising at all. Just by eating alot better. If I don't have the motivation to do exercise I won't because if I feel I have to do it I'll lose my motivation and it's quite depressing for me. But I do know exercise would be a huge help to keep you feeling fit and it's helps to lose the stubborn weight. I'm on my 5th day of eating healthy and I feel so much better already. I am just waiting to get that motivation to use my trampoline so I'll wait till I know im ready :)
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
    you don't need to exercise, but i have to say i feel better.
    choose something you like to do. walk, belly dancing, hula hooping, yoga, pilates, zumba
    strength comes with time. angled push ups, forearm planks, plows, chairs against the wall.

    i started with aerial yoga, then walked, then ran, then aerial hammock and lyra'ed
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    My advice is typically to just start your body moving more in general. You don't and probably shouldn't just throw yourself into an exercise regimen. Start with going for a 20-30 minute walk everyday and try to get more movement into your daily life by parking further away from the office or other establishments, taking the stairs, getting up every hour to walk around for a couple minutes (like take a less efficient path to the bathroom or water cooler)...stuff like that.

    Once you get your body used to moving more you can start looking into more deliberate forms of moderate intensity exercise.

    I typically get in around 8-12K steps per day depending and cycle about 50+ miles per week and lift 3x per week...but I didn't start that way...I started by just going out and going for a walk most days. I've built up my fitness over the past 5.5 years and I'm actually doing a bit less right now exercise wise than I was a couple years ago simply due to time management issues.
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    You choose. You decide. You might be factoring in the impact on your joints and feet, knees, I don't know. I recommend swimming because it's lower impact on the body but you can still replace fat with muscle mass. Muscle mass supports the skin as you release weight. It's a balancing act and it goes Oooo sooo slowly. You don't create muscle mass with quick and rapid weight loss. That's imaginary thinking.
  • pinksunnyrose
    pinksunnyrose Posts: 453 Member
    You don’t need to exercise to lose weight but your body will look more toned if you do. Start by walking and for however long you can is good.
  • COGypsy
    COGypsy Posts: 1,325 Member
    I'd also point out that whether you weigh 100 pounds or 1000, getting in shape is something you have to push yourself to do in the early stages. It can be awkward and uncomfortable to learn new moves or huff and puff your way to improved cardiovascular endurance. That's just an unfortunate fact. But you have to start somewhere and I think that the benefits to both health and physique will be far more satisfying if you start with small steps now.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 33,589 Member
    It sounds like you may've fallen into the popular myth that if it doesn't make you miserable, it isn't "real" exercise. ;)

    Here's the thing: Moving your body is supposed to be fun. If it's fun, you'll actually do it.

    Just do things that involve moving more that you find fun, for now. Take a walk in the park, go for a swim, play ball with your children or someone else's, dance, whatever. "Normal active" vs. "training", for most of us, is an academic distinction. Just move more, in ways that are manageably challenging, that fit into your life well.

    As you get lighter and more used to moving, that will all start feeling pretty easy. At that point, look for some new things that require a bit more of you, that challenge you a bit more, but are still fun. At some point, that may include mega-sweaty HIIT cardio or power lifting or whatever, or it might just be walking daily and playing some softball or swimming or whatever. You don't have to go from your current activity to elite athlete training programs in one jump. Or ever, for that matter, unless you eventually decide you want to.

    You can lose weight with no exercise at all. Some exercise helps with retaining muscle, as you said. If you're already going to the gym once a week, walking several days, swimming now again, that's not "no exercise".

    One note: Quite a few activities will have some initial "newby awkwardness", no matter your level of fitness. The thing is, activities that are immediately easy tend to be pretty boring before much time passes. If you can try something long enough to get past that very awkward stage, you may find you really enjoy it, and a slightly more complex activity can stay interesting for much, much longer. We often feel like everyone around us in a gym or group class has been good at that thing from day 1. They weren't. They were new once, and felt clumsy. Most of them will remember that, and welcome you. The ones that don't are kinda jerks, and you don't want them as friends anyway. ;)

    Best wishes! :)
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    Just walking is a great addition to your health regime.
  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    I'm confused as to why you don't think you can exercise. I mean maybe you can't run, but I doubt it's an issue of weight. Underlying orthopedic issues, sure, but at 215lbs and 5' 10" it weight is very likely not the issue. It wouldn't have been at 225 either. Never mind too that there are all sorts of different ways of of exercising that aren't high impact (and thus making the weight issue even less of an issue).

    You don't have to exercise if you don't want to, but don't use your weight as an excuse. Note too that waiting until you get to X number of pounds won't make things much if any easier in your case. You'll need to get fit, cardio wise, either way.

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